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Sunday August 5, 2018
Proms: new and old
Proms 29 and 30 were two concerts in one day, presenting Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos performed by Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Alongside Bach's work were six newly commissioned companion works, to create a brand-new musical cycle, (heard here in the UK for the first time). This was a spectacularly good choice for me; I have loved these very famous (though not to ignorant me at the time) works after having heard No 6 chosen by Mary Wesley as one of her Desert Island Discs in 1990. I am rather dull and resistant to change - especially in music - so presenting new works in this way was an excellent way to get me to try new things.
The absolute star of the show was Pekka Kuusisto, a fantastic performer (see him on YouTube) who is known for his improvisations, and showed off at his best playing off against the other musicians in the orchestra. The recordings were available at the time from Radio 3 on BBC Sounds, but at the moment not available to stream.
The only other comment I would make is that it was a very tiring day - not intuitive as we were sitting down the whole time. However, we were distinctly flagging when we had dinner (burgers) in between the two concerts in the 1871 Bar. (Located in the basement - this wasn't our first choice to eat but they were the only ones who could fit us in - and it was great...).
Prom 29: Brandenburg Concertos Project - 1
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 1 in F major [Antje Weithaas]
- Mark-Anthony Turnage: Maya [Maya Beiser]
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G major [Pekka Kuusisto]
- Anders Hillborg: Bach Materia [Pekka Kuusisto]
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major [Mahan Esfahani]
- Uri Caine: Hamsa [Uri Caine]
Prom 30: Brandenburg Concertos Project - 2
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 4 in G major
- Olga Neuwirth: Aello - Ballet Mecanomorphe [Claire Chase]
- Brett Dean: Approach - Prelude to a Canon [Tabea Zimmermann, Brett Dean]
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 6 in B flat major
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No 2 in F major
- Steven Mackey: Triceros [ Fiona Kelly, Marten Larsson, Håkan Hardenberger]
Posted by Christina at 11:55 PM. Category: Art and Culture
