United Kingdom BBC Proms 2025 [32] – R. Strauss, Bernstein, Ravel: James Ehnes (violin), Sinfonia of London Chorus, Sinfonia of London / John Wilson (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 12.9.2025. (KMcD)
R. Strauss – Don Juan
Bernstein – Serenade
Ravel – Daphnis and Chloé
John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London’s Friday Prom felt as much like a showcase of orchestral colour as it did a chance to cement their reputation as one of this country’s most dazzling ensembles. The buzz around this elite group of players has been steadily building over the years, not least because of their recent award-winning recording of Daphnis and Chloé, but also because every year they deliver a knock-out Prom, so expectations ran high.
Richard Strauss’s Don Juan set things in motion with playing of thrilling precision. That famous opening gesture had all the requisite swagger, but what impressed most was Wilson’s ability to keep Strauss’s often-dense textures crystal clear. Yes, there was passion and sweep – the brass glinted, the strings soared – but never at the expense of balance or detail. It is easy for this twenty-minute orchestral showpiece to feel episodic, but here it had shape, bite, and, in its closing pages, real poignancy.
Bernstein’s Serenade, inspired by Plato’s Symposium, is cast in five movements, each reflecting a different speaker’s thoughts on love. Violinist James Ehnes proved an ideal soloist, his silvery tone and unforced virtuosity drawing the listener in from the outset. The opening ‘Phaedrus – Pausanias’ combined nobility with rhapsodic freedom, Ehnes shaping the long lines with a sense of quiet intimacy. The scherzo-like ‘Aristophanes’ had wit and sparkle, its off-kilter rhythms neatly pointed by Wilson and the orchestra, while ‘Eryximachus’, with its bracing drive, was dispatched with effortless bravura.
Perhaps the heart of the work lies in the fourth movement, ‘Agathon’, and here Ehnes was at his most compelling, spinning Bernstein’s soaring lyricism in a performance of rapt concentration, the orchestral strings responding in kind with playing of luminous warmth. By contrast, the closing ‘Socrates – Alcibiades’ felt restless and volatile, the jazzy syncopations sharply accented, the shifts of mood deftly handled so that the work ended with a flourish rather than a fade. Throughout, Ehnes and Wilson seemed perfectly attuned to one another, balancing Bernstein’s eclectic score with a sense of coherence and narrative sweep. Ehnes’s encore – the final movement of Bach’s Third Sonata was a masterclass in precision, dexterity and interpretive power.
After the interval came the work many had been waiting for. Wilson’s Daphnis and Chloé recording has already been hailed as a modern classic, praised for its clarity, refinement and sheer beauty of sound – all of which carried over into this live performance, in Wilson’s own edition. From the first hushed stirrings of the opening Lever du jour, the music unfolded with an unhurried inevitability, the wordless chorus adding an otherworldly glow to Ravel’s luminous textures, while his miraculous evocation of dawn can rarely have shimmered into life more radiantly.
The ‘Danse légère’ had fleetness and grace, its rhythms buoyant yet never hurried. When the pirates arrived in the ‘Danse guerrière’, Wilson brought bite and urgency without letting the textures turn to noise; every jab of brass, every scything gesture from the strings landed cleanly. The contrasting ‘Danse suppliante’ for Chloé was tender and poised, the flute solo floated effortlessly above hushed strings, before the final ‘Danse générale’ erupted with infectious energy. Here Wilson’s preference for rhythmic precision over indulgent wash paid real dividends – the music hurtled forward with thrilling inevitability, yet never lost its sense of refinement and balance.
What impressed most across the entire performance was the sheer finesse of the playing. The Sinfonia’s strings glowed from top to bottom, woodwind solos were full of character – Adam Walker’s flute playing was sublime – and the brass managed both power and subtlety, often in the same phrase. Wilson paced the score superbly, giving climaxes time to grow rather than forcing them, so that when the final blaze of sound arrived it felt entirely earned. The wordless contributions from the Sinfonia of London Chorus, expertly drilled by Simon Halsey, added to the thrill of the performance. Although not huge in number, they nevertheless rattled the rafters of the Royal Albert Hall.
As the last chord rang out, the hall erupted – a spontaneous, full-bodied ovation that felt both inevitable and entirely deserved. This was not just another impressive John Wilson Prom; it was one of those occasions where programming, performance and atmosphere all aligned. His chosen encore, Tchaikovsky’s Panorama from The Sleeping Beauty, allowed the strings to enchant with a sense of filigree delicacy that was as exquisite as it was moving.
Don Juan had swagger and bite, the Bernstein glowed with warmth and sparkle, and Daphnis and Chloé showed that this remarkable orchestra was at the very top of its game. It is hard to imagine it being played better.
Keith McDonnell
Featured Image: John Wilson conducting violinist James Ehnes and the Sinfonia of London © BBC/Chris Christodoulou