Golden threads of tribute to Mahler and Schumann

Published on Tuesday 6 July 2010 11:32

THOSE days when the BBC Proms were thought of as hideously jingoistic and exclusively English are far behind us, thanks to their extended accessibility through the digital BBC TV channels, BBC iPlayer and - if you really want to get some of the live action - cheap flights to London.

Coupled to that are the annual regional link-ups that enable audiences around the country to experience the Last Night of the Proms in their own way on their own patch - those popular Proms in the Park events that have a localised agenda (a distinctive Scottish flavour in our own case) and which attract thousands to open air venues on late summer evenings.

Glaswegians used to hosting the Scottish Proms in the Park will be disappointed to learn that this year's final night bonanza will not be happening on their immediate doorstep owing to a lack of supporting sponsorship.

Instead, Dundee has stepped in with the necessary cash, so Last Nighters will have to head for the Tayside city's Caird Hall, where Lesley Garrett will team up with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

But in truth, that's only a sideshow to the serious ambitions of the BBC Proms season which is so colossal it can focus on several key themes without any of them having a claustrophobic influence on the whole package.

Among the 70 or so world-class concerts that run daily between 16 July and 11 September are such golden thematic threads as a focus on Mahler (it's the 150th anniversary of his birth), more bicentenary recognition for Schumann, a recreation of the Last Night of the Proms programme of 1910 (giving us two "Last Night" programmes this year), an interweaving survey by one pianist of all five Beethoven piano concertos, and more emphasis than usual on the world of opera.

The good news is that our own orchestras are well represented among a line-up that also includes such global big-hitters as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as all the BBC's house bands.

Also featured are two of our top-ranking soloists: Nicola Benedetti in her Proms debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (SSO), and Steven Osborne, who plays Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 1 with the Ulster Orchestra as part of a whole day of concerts celebrating Proms founder Henry Wood (including that recreated 1910 programme) on 5 September.

The first Scottish presence, though, is on a much smaller scale, when the irrepressible octogenarian Sir Charles Mackerras directs a portion of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (mainly its wind players) in a performance of Dvorak's D minor Serenade and Mozart's Gran Partita on 29 July. Visitors to last week's East Neuk Festival got a sneak preview of the Mozart, but without Mackerras in charge.

Those with longer memories, though, may remember his belter of a performance with the SCO some years ago as part of the Edinburgh Festival's late night concerts in the Usher Hall.

The beginning of August sees the first of four appearances by the BBC SSO, the first two (3 and 4 August) being under the directorial clout of chief conductor Donald Runnicles. The first is a formidable celebration of Scottish youth, including Benedetti's Proms debut as soloist in her current party piece, Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending.

But equally remarkable is the unprecedented casting of young singers from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama as the 16 soloists in Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, a work forming part of the celebrations of Henry Wood who conducted its premiere at his Jubilee Concert in 1938. Elgar's First Symphony completes this all-English programme.

More young Scottish talent the following evening, when the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus - currently celebrating 30 years of existence - teams up with the women of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, mezzo soprano Karen Cargill and the BBC SSO for a performance under Runnicles of Mahler's joyous Third Symphony. Edinburgh Festivalgoers may find this interesting as the same choral forces appear again in this work in Edinburgh three weeks later, this time with Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

The highlight of Martyn Brabbins's Proms programme during the SSO's second London stint (19 and 20 August) is the UK premiere of James Dillon's orchestral work La Navette, an early tribute to the Glasgow-born composer who turns 60 in October of this year.

The SSO's final Proms appearance falls under the baton of Ilan Volkov, who repeats - other than the addition of John Cage's First Construction (in Metal) - a contemporary programme he conducted back in May in Glasgow of music by Howard Skempton, Morton Feldman and Cornelius Cardew, much of which barely rises above a whisper.

No danger of understatement in the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's eventual appearance on 6 September, when Stphane Denve conducts the London premiere of James MacMillan's The Sacrifice - Three Interludes, a suite of movements derived from his latest opera The Sacrifice, rather in the manner Britten did with his Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes.

Also lending gravitas to this programme is pianist Paul Lewis, who rounds off his complete Beethoven piano concerto survey with a performance of the final Emperor Concerto.

There's one other very good reason for tuning into the Proms this year. Orchestras featuring in the Edinburgh Festival often do so in tandem with a Proms appearance.

So it's perfectly possible to sample the Sydney Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy on 24 August in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G a week before they play it in Edinburgh with Hlne Grimaud as soloist; or to tune into the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo Vnsk on two consecutive nights on the eve of their Edinburgh appearance on 29 August.

Plenty of reasons, then, to capture some of the Proms excitement from the comfort of your living room.

• The BBC Proms run from 16 July until 11 September. For more information, visit bbc.co.uk/proms

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