BBC Proms 2023: Prom 27 - Bellido: Perú negro; Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast (Wang / Hampson / BBC SO & Chorus / Mäkelä)

4th August 2023
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

JIMMY LÓPEZ BELLIDO Perú negro
RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast

Yuja Wang (piano)
Thomas Hampson (baritone)
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä (conductor)



The power couple Yuja Wang and Klaus Mäkelä performing Rachmaninov's much-loved "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini", what can go wrong? Nothing, if you like pyrotechnics. She has certainly come a long way since her 2011 recording with Abbado and it was evident in places like the mini cadenza of Var. XV that she has developed a significantly greater depth in her playing and matured from the sheer flurry of notes to more rounded phrasings and colourful tones. The problem was that the tempo was way too fast and they didn't allow slower moments like Var. XI to flourish, defeating its point of being a rhapsody. Quite often the over-zealous orchestra, fantastic as they were, drowned the soloist completely and tipped the sonic balance over. The units were individually impressive but the cohort gave the impression of being under-rehearsed - perhaps the time was instead invested in the mind-blowingly excellent "Belshazzar's Feast" by Walton that was to follow in the second half. It was 35 minutes of non-stop firework display for chorus and orchestra, and the BBC Chorus and Orchestra were on top form every moment. It was driven hard. The rhythms were incisive, the inappropriately erotic harmonies for a biblical story were all so well realised that every hair raised, and the diction from the chorus was impeccable throughout. Sure, the American baritone Thomas Hampson forcing a British accent with all the rolling Rs was quite amusing, but every time he sang he brought a breath of fresh air to the otherwise sumptuous-to-the-point-of-suffocating sound world. In the end, Mäkelä basically joined in to sing along till the end. It was a wild party. Please Decca, you need to record this. The evening started with Bellido's "Perú negro" which purports to celebrate the composer's home country's musical roots. Rhythmic orchestrations, mostly repetitive and harmonically stale, everything revolves around a single melody most of the time. Some find it entertaining, but unfortunately not my cup of tea. Impressive brass playing though.