Guest reviewer Walter Fabeck continues our Proms coverage…
Monday evening’s Prom was a well-balanced but contrasting programme of 20th Century pieces. It included Knussen: Flourish with Fireworks, Op.22, Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43 and Shostakovich: Symphony No.11 in G minor, Op. 103 ‘The Year 1905’, played played by soloist Kirill Gerstein and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Søndergård.
Knussen’s 4-minute curtain-raiser was a miniature display of vivid orchestral colour introducing us to the technical mastery of the players without making too many demands, the musical language being both accessible and adventurous. It’s always reassuring to know that Prom traditions are still alive, as when the raising of the Steinway Grand Piano’s lid is accompanied by the shout from the arena of “Heave-Ho!” followed by the rapturous applause given to the principal violinist when striking the “A” on said instrument for the orchestra to tune to.
These fun rituals were followed quickly by the arrival of the Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein. The opening bars of the much-loved Paganini Variations did show a little disagreement between soloist and orchestra about the pacing of the first variations, with a slight sense that the orchestra were playing catch-up while the powerful pianist went his own way a little too readily; however, contact between soloist and conductor was soon re-established. Gerstein’s playing struck me as technically brilliant, but also allowing moments of real beauty in the shading of the inner voices. Such detailing from the piano is not always audible in the cavernous Albert Hall. As the famous 18th Variation arrived I heard a soft but unmistakable sigh of delight and recognition from many audience members, while on stage the whole team found a great balance between romanticism and keeping the music moving. Gerstein’s encore, Rachmaninov’s “Melodie Op.3” was softly shaded and with the piano bathed in its own golden light, the audience was entranced, right up to the very extended holding of the final chord until it had died away completely: one of the longest fade-outs I can remember!
Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony depicts the Bloody Sunday massacre of January 1905, when Tsarist troops fired on peaceful protesters attempting to deliver a petition to the Tsar. Played across all four movements without a break, the work unfolded as a single dramatic arc. The opening Adagio, full of an eerie tension wast soon followed by the terror of the massacre itself, with devastatingly powerful percussion and brass. The deeply touching third-movement lament and the resolute finale with its haunting church bells left us in no doubt that Shostakovich was a true master of an almost cinematic approach to symphonic writing, stunningly and movingly brought to life by this outstanding orchestra.
BBC Proms – www.bbc.co.uk/proms
By Walter Fabeck
Photo credit: Andy Buchanan