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Prom 12: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
- Date Saturday 26 July 2008
- Time 7.00pm - c9.40pm
- Venue Royal Albert Hall
Thomas Adès presides over this epic evening of orchestral splendour with a distinct Russian flavour. From the diabolic slumber party of Musorgsky's A Night on the Bare Mountain, via the rhythmic vitality of Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto to Borodin's ever popular Polovtsian Dances, orchestral virtuosity features large.
At the heart of the programme is Adès's own Tevot, which explores 'the idea of the ship of the world' (one of tevot's meanings is 'ark'). Celebrated bass Sir John Tomlinson reprises his magnficent Boris in scenes from Musorgsky's opera.
- Musorgsky, rev. Shebalin A Night on the Bare Mountain ('Sorochintsy Fair' version, 1880) (12 mins)
- Musorgsky Boris Godunov - Coronation Scene; Boris's Monologue; Death Scene (25 mins)
- Interval
- Thomas Adès Tevot (23 mins)
- Interval
- Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.1 (15 mins)
- Borodin Polovtsian Dances (13 mins)
Sir John Tomlinson bass
Louis Lortie piano
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Adès conductor
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Bartolo
This was an excellent concert, with a good range of music and a high standard of performance on offer. The CBSO and Chorus were outstanding and the extracts from Boris Godunov with John Tomlinson exceptional in the part of Boris. The atmosphere they created felt very authentic and had me reaching for my Cluytens recording of this great opera, which has Boris Christoff in the role. Vissarion Shebalin (1902-1963) 'completed' Musorgsky's opera Sorochintsy Fair in 1930, including the version of A Night on a Bare Mountain which we heard tonight. With leaner orchestration than the well-known Rimsky-Korsakov version, it made a distinctive impact.
Tevot, with the Composer on the rostrum, was a tour de force. The CBSO know this work better than anyone and gave him a performance to treasure. Ades's conducting was effective and interesting throughout but I thought a little more of the killer instinct, a whiff of malice perhaps, would have made a fine performance of the Prokofiev with Louis Lortie even better. The brilliant performance of Borodin's Polovtsian Dances which we had to finish felt brilliant and alive - not at all hackneyed. Yes, it was great stuff.
philip parker
When the Proms guide comes out I have to decide which ones I want to go to. Inevitably, with work commitments, transport etc it isn't always possible to go to as many as I'd like so it has to be whittled down. Oh, how I wish I'd chosen this one!! Caught it on R3 instead in superb sound - bravo to the engineers! Bravo to the CBSO and Thomas Ades as well - absolutely terrific performances. I went to the BPO/Rattle performance of Tevot and was glad to hear it again. Great stuff!