BBC Proms 2025: Sørensen: Evening Land; Clyne: The Years; Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Thomsen / White / Savage / Pałka / DR VokalEnsemblet / DR Symfoniorkestret / Luisi)

21st August 2025
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

BENT SØRENSEN Evening Land
ANNA CLYNE The Years
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

Clara Cecilie Thomsen (soprano)
Jasmin White (contralto)
Issachah Savage (tenor)
Adam Pałka (bass)
DR VokalEnsemblet
DR Symfoniorkestret
Fabio Luisi (conductor)



Here is an embarrassing confession - before tonight, I had never heard Beethoven 9 live. DR Symfoniorkestret, DR VokalEnsemblet and the criminally underrated Fabio Luisi came to celebrate the orchestra's centenary. Their 2015 4 h Nielsen Prom was one of the best concerts I have ever been to so expectations were high. They went well beyond that tonight. I had the rare sensation of being shaken to the core by the sheer power and emotion of the music and performance. It was clean, sharp, spirited, disciplined, dramatic, never sentimental, phrases finely accented and articulated, layers transparent without sounding HIP. Sure, there were murky brasses and winds here and there, but Luisi paced and balanced the music with such a stylish narrative that you can forgive the little blemishes. The timpanis were so effective in generating the earth shattering effects, always propelling the music forward. I felt that a standing ovation was needed even just after the first movement and by the time when the "Ode to Joy" fugue flourished, Luisi had become my favourite living conductor. But the real reason I was here was because of the opener "Evening Land" by the Grawemeyer-winning Bent Sørensen, a work that contrasts the cosmopolitan night of NYC with that of the Danish countryside. Sørensen's music got me through the early stages of the pandemic. His penchant for micro-fragments, microtones and micro-glissandi in a continuous flow generates music that are simultaneously serene and eerie. This is one of several pieces he has written that depicts microcosms during magic hours (c.f. two of his piano concertos). It is always an evolving contrast between local and global mysteries. It was sublime and beguiling, perfect for inquisitive minds, though perhaps RAH was the wrong venue for this sort of music. NY-based British composer Anna Clyne's pandemic-inspired "The Years" consisted of 20 min of repetitive, linear blocks of chords sung by a choir churning through a text against slightly more variable orchestral textures. It might appeal more to smooth classical listeners than fans of Danish New Simplicity. Both pieces were very politely received before the interval.