BBC Proms 2023: Prom 55 - Simon: Four Black American Dances; Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947); Gershwin: Concerto in F; Ravel: La valse (Thibaudet / BSO / Nelsons)

26th August 2023
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

CARLOS SIMON Four Black American Dances
STRAVINSKY Petrushka (1947 version)
GERSHWIN Concerto in F
RAVEL La valse

Jean‐Yves Thibaudet (piano)
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons (conductor)



A night of intoxicating rhythms with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons. On paper, at least. The more I listen to Stravinsky's "Petrushka" (1947 version tonight), the less I enjoy it as a concert piece, because a lot of mediocre conductors perform it without considering its ballet origin and it ends up sounding like a patchy orchestral mess. Nelsons was great to remind us of the narratives, but focused so much on the very fine orchestral playing at the expense of the dynamic, "physical" side of the music, which made it stale and tedious as it went on. Was it the performance or the score to blame? I think it's both. Gershwin's "Concerto in F" received a rare outing after the interval. I always wonder, how much abandonment should one play Gershwin with? Do you play it like jazz and improvise? But "Concerto in F" is the more note-perfect side of Gershwin. Jean-Yves Thibaudet gave a punchy, rhythmically incisive performance that was easily more impressive than his 2010 recording. He was always (literally physically) searching for introspective dialogues with the orchestral solos, but the orchestra did not necessarily reciprocate generously. Individual players, particularly the brass, were impressive in bringing the spikes and the blues, but one could not help but think that American music might not be Nelsons' expertise. Those big tunes needed to be milked a lot more, for a start. The Prom started with "Four Black American Dances" by Carlos Simon who was in the audience tonight. It was easily one of the more successful and satisfying efforts to incorporate traditional black music into the symphonic form, from pacing to orchestrations. The rawness of the dances were highly enjoyable and the explosive applause to the composer was well justified. Ravel's apocalyptic "La valse" finished it all. It was suitably episodic, elegant and nicely paced. This was Nelsons at his best. If only that was also true for the Stravinsky.