BBCNOW/Venditti review – 20th-century British classics shine at a potent patriotic Prom
The staples first, and Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending received a poetic and thoroughly idiomatic reading at the hands of Bulgarian violinist Liya Petrova. The orchestra laid the velvet-cushioned groundwork over which Petrova soared with elegant phrasing, silvery tone and exquisitely delivered top notes. An assured account of Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes teemed with atmosphere. Venditti was particularly adept at bringing out the music's underlying menace, though the hectic pace adopted for the Sunday Morning bells episode left musical details muddied by the acoustic.
If Walton's Crown Imperial, taken a tad fast, lacked the final ounce of Technicolor chutzpah, Elgar's Enigma Variations was a painterly tour de force, Venditti holding the architectural line despite twice being interrupted by overeager applause. Tempi were ideal, whether depicting the aquatic high jinks of a bulldog in a river or sustaining a breathtakingly controlled build through Nimrod.
The rarities – all Proms premieres – were a fascinating if slightly mixed bag. William Mathias's syncopated Dance Overture was a proper crowd-pleaser, the wizardly Welsh composer successfully locating his inner Carmen Miranda. The BBC Singers lent class to a pair of Edwardian part-songs by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, while his daughter Avril's The Shepherd, a haunting setting of William Blake for male voices and strings, was a fine discovery. Both rather showed up John Rutter's sugar-coated Bird Songs, here receiving its world premiere. Schmaltzy and curiously derivative, they felt dated in a way the older music did not.
It was left to Venditti to right the ship with Grace Williams' affecting Elegy for Strings, its gently rocking rhythms and intricate interweaving lines crowned by Lesley Hatfield's heartfelt violin solo.
Listen again on BBC Sounds until 12 October. The Proms continue until 13 September
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
7 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Sault, Cleo Sol and Chronixx open All Points East with mammoth five-hour set
Mysterious neo soul band Sault and soul singer Cleo Sol were joined by reggae artist Chronixx as they opened London's All Points East festival with a mammoth five-hour set. Sault, whose members' names are kept secret, performed a set of their genre-bending music, which dips into funk, krautrock, dub reggae and experimental sounds. Advertisement Sol dipped in and out of the set while Chronixx, whose real name is Jamar McNaughton, performed a full set with his band. Speaking to the crowd during the performance, Sol, whose real name is Cleopatra Nikolic, said: 'All Points East, come on, we're going to have a good time tonight. 'You look so good, come on, energy.' The performance took place on two stages, with the main stage decked out like Star Wars' Tatooine, while a second platform was designed like a sci-fi pyramid. Advertisement The first 30 minutes was light on music as a story with biblical and sci-fi influence was acted out, before Sault opened with Glory from the 11 album. The story return at numerous points in the evening, with Sault performing some of their best known tracks including Wildfires and I Just Want To Dance, which began after breakdancers performed. US rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, joined them for Stop Dem from Black Is, before re-emerging to perform later in the evening. Representatives from a number of local charities were later brought out to speak about their causes. Advertisement The evening finished with a solo performance from Sol, who debuted new music. It was only the second time the band has performed a conventional gig. Their first concert was at London's Drumsheds venue in 2023, when the band performed on a number of different stages, and fans walked through an immersive experience before the show began. The All Points East performance also comes after a pop-up in Soho, central London, at which the group performed to a small number of fans for a few minutes at a time, with reportedly five-hour queues stretching around the block to get in last month. Advertisement Since beginning their career in 2019, the band have released 12 albums and two EPs, all produced by Adele and Little Simz producer Inflo, real name Dean Cover, who is the husband of Sol and is thought to be the leader of Sault. Sol's solo career has seen her release four studio albums and feature on the Little Simz tracks Selfish and Woman. The Ladbroke Grove-born singer also rarely performs live. All Points East will continue with performances from the likes of Chase And Status on Saturday, Barry Can't Swim on August 22nd, and Raye, who will be joined by Grammy Award-winning rapper Doechii, on August 23rd.
BreakingNews.ie
7 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Christmas Carol adaptation to feature Scrooge who ‘despises refugees'
A modern-day film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol will feature a version of Ebenezer Scrooge who 'despises refugees', the director has said. Musical movie Christmas Karma stars The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar as a contemporary Scrooge, called Mr Sood, who is haunted by three ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, Pose actor Billy Porter and British singer Boy George. Advertisement Bend It Like Beckham's Gurinder Chadha hopes the audience will be invested in the transformation of Mr Sood, and his chance to be a part of a society that doesn't allow 'Scrooges, twisted and shaped by prejudice, to grow.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Christmas Karma (@christmaskarmamovie) Former EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, singer Pixie Lott, Bridgerton star Charithra Chandran, Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville and Sanditon's Leo Suter also star in the movie. Chadha, 65, said in her director's statement: 'Our Scrooge, called Sood, is a rich British Indian who despises poor people and refugees in particular.' 'Sood has decided that immense wealth brings him status and standing, so to hell with the poor, unemployed and disenfranchised who didn't work as hard as him to get where he is.' Advertisement The movie 'is very true to the original text and sentiment', according to Chadha, and will teach audiences 'the urgent lesson of how prejudice, poverty and division in all its forms shapes Sood and our society today'. The British-Indian director added: 'A hundred and eighty-two years later, Dickens' novella still resonates globally in today's sometimes harsh world.' She also said she was inspired by a family member, who lost his home in Uganda as a child, and came to Britain around Christmas time, arriving to a hostile welcome as a refugee. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Christmas Karma (@christmaskarmamovie) 'For years he didn't feel Christmas was for him and the hardships he faced as a child left him despising it,' she said. Advertisement She added: 'For me, Christmas Karma is a legacy film with a humane message that will live on long after I do.' Soap star Dyer, 48, plays a London cabbie, while Bonneville, 61, plays the ghost of Jacob Marley. Influenced by gospel, bhangra, Christmas carols, rap and classic pop, the soundtrack features music from Take That's Gary Barlow, former All Saints member Shaznay Lewis, and England-based Punjabi bhangra singer Malkit Singh. Other adaptations of the classic novel, published in 1843, include a 2019 BBC mini series starring Adolescence actor Stephen Graham, written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Advertisement On stage Doctor Who's Christopher Eccleston played Scrooge in a retelling of the story at the Old Vic in London between November 2023 and January 2024. There are also a number of film adaptations including Scrooged (1988), starring Bill Murray as an angry TV network president and modern-day Scrooge, and The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992). The film is in cinemas from November 14th.
Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Prince and Princess of Wales moving to new home
The Prince and Princess of Wales are to move into a new home in Windsor. The royal couple are moving to Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, with their children George, Charlotte and Louis. A Kensington Palace spokesman said: 'The Wales family will move house later this year.' According to The Sun, the Prince and Princess are paying for the eight-bedroom property and renovations themselves, avoiding any cost to the taxpayer. The paper reported that work had already started on minor renovations at the Grade II-listed property. The move will be a short one from their current main home at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, with the children attending nearby Lambrook School. The Prince and Princess also have homes at Anmer Hall in Norfolk and Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace in London. As heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales inherited the Duchy of Cornwall estate, a portfolio of land, property and investments valued at more than £1 billion, when his father became King. According to The Sun, Forest Lodge would be worth about £16 million on the open market. The freehold is owned by the King. Princess celebrates joy of summer It comes after the Princess of Wales told how life flourishes 'when we cherish the bonds of love and friendship', in a personal introduction to a new video celebrating the joy of summer. The footage was released by Kensington Palace as the second instalment of the Princess's quarterly Mother Nature series, inspired by the peace and tranquillity she found in the great outdoors during her cancer journey. Commissioned, created, and voiced by the Princess during her recovery from a gruelling period of chemotherapy, the series is considered one of her most personally creative projects to date. Focusing on the importance of human connection, it highlighted the solace and inspiration that can be found in nature. The first episode in the series, themed 'Spring', was released in May and focused on renewal, rebirth and new beginnings. Narrating the second episode, titled 'Summer', the Princess said the season was a reminder of the 'potential for growth' and should be used to 'ignite our inner fire'. The Prince and Princess are currently on holiday with their children and have no public engagements scheduled in the imminent future. They are thought likely to join the King and Queen and the wider family at Balmoral, as per tradition, at some point before the school term resumes in September.
