Another Sinfonia of London Promenade, one other five-star live performance. Admittedly this programme of Technicolor masterpieces performed into the wizardly arms of John Wilson, a conductor whose respect and enthusiasm for the golden age of MGM is known. None of this was film music, nevertheless, and Hollywood panache is simply part of what makes this hand-picked ensemble one of many best orchestras on the planet.
First, there’s that full-fat sound, the place each musician is a possible soloist, but the mix is to die for. Then there’s the parade floor self-discipline and a willingness to comply with Wilson – who seldom lingers – into the very fires of Mordor. The spirit, too, is palpable. Entire sections sway as one, sometimes with broad grins on their faces, such is their delight within the music making.
If the conductor has a superpower, it’s an intuition for homing in on tiny particulars, not simply drawing them out however making them actually imply one thing. Take the fantastically articulated rustle of strings underpinning the poignant clarinet melody within the overture to Verdi’s La Forza del Destino. You’ll have already identified it was there, however seldom has it felt so important or so troubling.
A blistering account of the Verdi was curtain raiser to Walton’s Cello Concerto, a golden Mediterranean canvas undercut with sinister ticks and jittery cross-rhythms that really feel as in the event that they’ve wandered in from a Hitchcock film. Principal cellist Jonathan Aasgaard was the generous-toned soloist, articulate and technically immaculate, but refreshingly undemonstrative.
The second half was given over to Respighi’s Roman Trilogy, music with a fame for cinematic extra, but works that have been embraced by Toscanini who was definitely no vulgarian. Wilson performed the Albert Corridor acoustic like a fiddle, whether or not depicting the brazen pomp of the Circus Maximus, Neptune’s chariot rising from the Trevi Fountain, or nocturnal whisperings on the Janiculum hill, recorded nightingale and all. Because the Roman military swept inexorably down the By way of Appia, brass bands ricocheting throughout the balcony, the viewers rose as one. All that remained to make the night full was a rip-roaring William Inform chaser by means of an encore and cue credit.
Obtainable on BBC Sounds till 12 October. The Proms proceed till 12 September.
