Another Sinfonia of London Prom, another five-star concert. The programme of Technicolor masterpieces played into the wizardly hands of John Wilson, a conductor whose respect for the golden age of MGM is legendary. None of this was movie music, however, and Hollywood panache is only part of what makes this hand-picked ensemble one of the finest orchestras on the planet.
Full-Fat Sound and Parade Ground Discipline
First, there is that full-fat sound, where every musician is a potential soloist, yet the blend is exceptional. Then there is the parade ground discipline and a willingness to follow Wilson – who seldom lingers – into the very fires of Mordor. The spirit is palpable. Whole sections sway as one, occasionally with broad grins on their faces, such is their delight in the music making.
If the conductor has a superpower, it is an instinct for homing in on tiny details, drawing them out and making them meaningful. The beautifully articulated rustle of strings underpinning the poignant clarinet melody in the overture to Verdi’s La Forza del Destino is a case in point – seldom has it felt so vital or troubling.
Walton’s Cello Concerto and Respighi’s Roman Trilogy
A blistering account of the Verdi was curtain raiser to Walton’s Cello Concerto, a golden Mediterranean canvas undercut with sinister ticks and jittery cross-rhythms that evoke a Hitchcock movie. Principal cellist Jonathan Aasgaard was the generous-toned soloist, articulate and technically immaculate, yet refreshingly undemonstrative.
The second half was given over to Respighi’s Roman Trilogy, music with a reputation for cinematic excess, yet works embraced by Toscanini. Wilson played the Albert Hall acoustic like a fiddle, depicting the brazen pomp of the Circus Maximus, Neptune’s chariot emerging from the Trevi Fountain, and nocturnal whisperings on the Janiculum hill, recorded nightingale and all. As the Roman army swept down the Via Appia, brass bands ricocheting across the balcony, the audience rose as one. A rip-roaring William Tell chaser by way of an encore completed the evening.
The Prom is on BBC Four, 26 July at 8pm and available on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds (until 12 October). The Proms continue until 12 September.
