United Kingdom PROM 61 – Adès, Bruckner: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 5.9.2024. (JR)
Adès – Aquifer (UK première)
Bruckner – Symphony No.4 ‘Romantic’
This was the first of two consecutive BBC Proms given by Sir Simon Rattle, making his first appearance at the Proms as Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Opening the concert was a UK première from long-time collaborator, Thomas Adès, whom Rattle always calls Tom, showing their close friendship. The new work, Aquifer, was commissioned by the BRSO to mark Rattle’s inaugural season as Chief Conductor. Musical depictions regularly feature throughout Adès output; in this work, the title refers to an underground layer of rock holding flowing water. Aquifer consists of seven sections, which flow seamlessly to the work’s close. The theme continually ebbs and flows, its repetitions are never the same. It brought Bruckner to mind, on occasion. Adès work is approachable, full of interest – he uses the full might of the Bavarian orchestra to great effect, with a strong showing by the percussion section. I was particularly impressed by the multi-layering and the viscous sliding between pitches in the strings towards the end of the piece. There is one oddity: in the programme note, it stated that the closing bars required the conductor to augment the percussionists by playing – what else? – a big rattle. So I was all eyes on Sir Simon as the work concluded but no sign or sound of a rattle. I was bemused. On BBC Radio 3 this morning I learned that the rattle was in fact played by the orchestra’s harpist. A gimmick gone wrong, in my view.
Aquifer was well received, if not ecstatically. Sir Simon then produced a microphone and told the audience about the Royal Philharmonic Society, which has been in existence for over 200 years supporting classical music. They set out to establish a regular concert culture and repertoire. They commissioned new music – most famously, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The Society celebrates excellence and innovation in classical music through a range of awards, including the much-celebrated Gold Medal. Among the names on the list of honour are Brahms, Delius, Elgar, Richard Strauss, Lutoslawski and Bernstein; more recently Pappano, Jansons, Haitink and Sir Simon himself. At this concert Sir Simon presented the Gold Medal to Thomas Adès, whom he lauded with abundant praise. Adès ‘thank you’ speech was limited to two words, a polite ‘thank you.
I do feel a little sorry for those who cannot stomach Bruckner at this point in time, as we celebrate the composer’s 200th year of birth. As Tom Service writes in the Proms programme, Bruckner is a bit of a Marmite composer – love him or hate him. There is a great deal of Bruckner around in concert calendars just now, everywhere you look. Rattle and the Bavarians just played it at Grafenegg (open air) in Austria; the Clevelanders under Welser-Möst played Bruckner a few days ago at Ansfelden, in Austria, Bruckner’s birthplace and site of the Anton Bruckner Museum as part of 24-hour birthday celebrations. Fresh in my mind was a performance of the Fifth Symphony at the Proms by the Berliners and Kirill Petrenko (Colin Clarke’s review here). The Fourth is a more popular work than the Fifth and easier to grasp. Sir Simon has recorded the work several times, with different orchestras, always to high acclaim; he had no need of a score. He does not juggle around with the tempi, keeping a very measured pulse, a requirement (not followed by all) in Bruckner. It was interesting to compare the sound of the Berliners compared with the Munich orchestra: the seamless Berliners by a whisker a mite smoother, more polished; the Bavarians producing a more Germanic sound, especially the horn section (some of whom regularly play at Bayreuth). There were occasional untidy edges, which were not apparent at the Berlin Philharmonic performance, but the symphony struck home under Sir Simon’s firm guidance. Rattle’s control of the dynamics was notable, the quiet passages hardly audible, keeping the audience spellbound. The Ländler in the Scherzo was most tender and graceful. I highlight two players, Henrik Wiese (flute) and Carsten Carey Duffin (horn) for their fine contributions.
This was a stirring performance by a truly great orchestra; Sir Simon was rapturously applauded and welcomed ‘home’. There are already signs of a very warm rapport between conductor and orchestra; the partnership is clearly flourishing.
John Rhodes