Prom 56, 01 September 2024
BBC Singers
Orwain Park
Berlin Philharmoniker
Kirill Petrenko
BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall.
Thank goodness (and that’s a bit mild) that good sense prevailed and the BBC Singers were reprieved from last year’s proposed cuts and so are still with us. Their rendering of three Bruckner motets, all unaccompanied, was magically ethereal as their glorious sound soared and dipped to fill the cavernous space which is the Royal Albert Hall. Locus Iste, the most familiar of the three was especially moving not least because these voices blend so beautifully. Orwain Park, principal guest conductor is very good indeed at ensuring we hear every note, word, nuance and harmony. A choir like this is a great deal more than a sum of its parts and their performance was a fine prelude to Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony and the arrival on stage of the Berlin Philharmoniker.
One of the most gigantic symphonies in the repertoire, Bruckner 5 runs for a compelling one hour and twenty minutes. Among many striking things in this splendid performance: the Berlin Philharmoniker’s perfect pizzicato which, especially in the bass section but right across the strings, resonates with rich warmth – and there’s a lot of it in this symphony. Moreover the Berlin Phil does lush melody like almost no other orchestra. The second movement here was idyllic with especial sweetness at the brass entry. And the delicacy of the horn just before the end was spellbinding.
In a symphony which uses the classical four movement framework but weaves it with expansive and inventive romanticism, mercurial Petrenko makes the third movement feel like sparky fun. He starts the molto vivace section like the wind. At times in the trio he stops beating and simply looks at his players as well as swaying, almost dancing so that he conducts with his whole body. He makes the whole movement smile.
Then, just when you thought you thought it couldn’t get any better comes the finale played with as much drama and dynamic contrast as I’ve ever heard it – and finally sumptuous playing at the end with that fabulous bass tuba at the bottom of the texture. Petrenko is evidently totally at one with what must surely be one of the world’s finest orchestras and this was a concert which will not be forgotten by anyone lucky enough to have been there.
