Photo, Chris Christodoulou
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Royal Albert Hall, London
Performances, broadcasts and recordings of Mahler’s First Symphony are ubiquitous, to its detriment, so a performance quite unlike the many previously heard was needed, however eccentric, if revealing of how far this music can be taken (convincingly) so as to make it ‘new’ and rejuvinated. An unreasonable demand to place on Mark Wigglesworth – not that he knew – and he and the BBC Philharmonic gave a perfectly decent reading – a broad picturesque first movement (exposition repeated) with an exhilarating coda; a rustic Scherzo & languorous Trio; a less than macabre third movement (rightly with solo bass rather than section tutti) & beatific middle section; and a rather underplayed Finale when the music is tempestuous yet with wonderful space and intimacy afforded the slower sections; the triumphant conclusion was somewhat rushed. Just another Mahler One.
Grace-Evangeline Mason’s Ablaze the Moon (BBC commission: world premiere) is atmospheric and expressive, slightly Sibelian in places, its scenic properties enticing, the music pointing us skywards in tumultuous fashion and then with mysterious suggestiveness as to what celestial bodies might be found beyond the moon. Impressive in her use of the orchestra and as music, yet, after just six minutes Ablaze the Moon simply stops, frustratingly.
Following which, as centrepiece, Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto (revised version), Stephen Hough in sparkling and vividly communicative form for a powerful, passionate, nimble, flexible and dynamic account, with a slow movement at once romantic and as if Hough was extemporising, the BBC Phil and Wigglesworth fully involved. Hough’s encore was a sweet salon treat, Anton Rubinstein’s Melody in F, shaped deliciously and with affection.
Whoever was presenting this prom for radio was very irritating, continually telling us it was the proms, the Albert Hall, and trailing other proms. He would have been much better off shutting up, but radio 3 treats its listeners like idiots these days, but this guy really overdid it and I switched off when Hough finished.