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Prom 35: BBC Philharmonic
- Date Tuesday 12 August 2008
- Time 7.00pm - c9.15pm
- Venue Royal Albert Hall
- Tickets £6-£35 price band A or Prom for £5
- Broadcast Live on BBC Radio 3. Available as audio on demand for the following week.
A winter holiday on the Ligurian coast in northern Italy provided the inspiration for one of Elgar's most popular concert overtures, a work with surprisingly dark undertones. Vaughan Williams's rarely heard Piano Concerto has a fierce, rhythmically vital quality that relates it to the Fourth Symphony (see Prom 10).
The soloist is Ashley Wass, one of the younger generation champions of the British piano repertoire. To end, marking the 100th anniversary of Rimsky-Korsakov's death, an evocation of tales from the Arabian Nights as told by the seductive princess Sheherazade. Vassily Sinaisky and the BBC Philharmonic have long been steeped in this richly coloured repertoire.
- Elgar In the South (Alassio) (22 mins)
- Vaughan Williams Piano Concerto (26 mins)
- Interval
- Rimsky-Korsakov Sheherazade (45 mins)
Ashley Wass piano
BBC Philharmonic
Vassily Sinaisky conductor
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Kevin, Portsmouth
My enjoyment of the Vaughan Willians was spoiled by the excessive compression of sound levels used during the solo piano playing. The dynamic of the piece was completely lost with the sound of rain and thunder at a deafening level along with the usual coughs and splutters from the audience. It is such a shame that a great deal of time and money has been spent developing top quality sound only for it to be 'dumbed-down' for people with a cheap transistor radio.
Martin August
I heard the Vaughan Williams Concerto travelling in the car - maybe not the best place for concentrated listening, but to me it was an extremely good work, very well performed. I also heard over the radio (not in the car) a very good performance of Vaughan Williams Symphony No.6 in another Prom.
John Adams
Ashley Wass did a superb job with this tiger of a concerto. Especially rewarding was the stamina and concentration he displayed. He was awarded with an enthusiastic response, well deserved.
Jakub, London
A surprisingly full RAH, the marvellous Sinaisky, an excellent Alassio, a particularly interesting rarity - the RVW piano concerto, complete with torrential rain and thunder for added atmosphere! - and a very good Scheherazade, all made for a great evening of music. Not the most challenging of programmes but I'd say a very clear success for the BBC Philharmonic all the same.