Prom 4, 21 July
Hallé, Hallé Children’s Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Hallé Choir
Sir Mark Elder
Royal Albert Hall
Sir Mark Elder’s final performance with the Halle after 25 years in post as Music Director was bound to be a special occasion particularly in the Proms season opening weekend with the hall packed to capacity.
It lived up to every expectation. Sir James Macmillian’s Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia is a dramatic, celebratory homage to the patron saint of music, predicated on the doings of Alexander the Great as presented in John Dryden’s 1697 poem Alexander’s Feast; or, The Power of Music. It premiered in Cincinnati last year. This was the first performance at the Proms.
And with over 200 singers to work with, Elder made sure that at times the roof of the Royal Albert Hall was in danger of flying off, especially in the first section of this three-movement, continuous piece. The menacing bass drum in the middle section was a high spot as was the pianissimo (it may be marked even softer – I haven’t seen the score) string work under the immaculately trained children’s choir. Finally, the rousing climax at the very end, followed by one sung note, was electrifying. Moreover, and it’s a terrific achievement with such a vast choir , the diction was excellent. Every word was clear.
After the interval came the grandiloquence, pain, angst, warmth and challenge of Mahler’s 5th Symphony. It requires massive levels of stamina and control and got them in this powerful, moving performance.
Played like this, the delicious C sharp minor semitones in the opening movement sound unsettlingly exotic – highlighted by splendid work from the brass section. The second movement demands “grösster Vehemenz” and there was certainly plenty of that amongst the brooding disquiet.
The Scherzo is almost a horn concerto and principal horn, Laurence Rogers, moved one tier up to play it so that he could be seen. Elder found lots of tension in the subverted Viennese Waltz and the perfectly played pizzicato string work was made to sound sinister.
And so to the Adagietto. It’s hard to make something as well known as this sound heartfelt and fresh (and stop the audience imagining Dirk Bogarde in a gondola) but Elder managed it. It was actually an expression of love for Alma Schindler whom Mahler had just met – they married in 1902. Here it was played with all the quivering tenderness it needs and was deeply, richly compelling. Then came the cheerful resolution to a symphony which has earlier expressed a lot of distress. I liked Elder’s crisp delivery of the big orchestra sound and his very grand rallentando on the final page. Maybe there was a whiff of self indulgence here but I think he’d earned the right to that by then.
The applause was inevitably, and justifiably, rapturous. Because this was a valedictory concert, Elder then produced a microphone and addressed the audience with his usual fluent, dry wit. Finally, after a few words in praise of Elgar, he and the Hallé bade us farewell (for now – they’ll be back but probably not together) with Chanson de Nuit.
It made a very satisfying finish to the opening weekend of the 2024 Proms season.
