Morning:
14°c
Commuters on the London Undergound face pre-Christmas disruption after engineering and electrical workers voted for industrial action in a row over pay
More...
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Barry Millington's rating
Reader rating
Description: The orchestra under Vassily Sinaisky performs Elgar's In The South, Vaughan Williams's Piano Concerto In C Major, featuring Ashley Wass, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade.
Phone: 0207589 8212
Website: www.royalalberthall.com
Trains: Tube: High Street Kensington 
, Tube / Bus: 9, 10, 52, 360 
Extra info: Pub, Food
The juxtaposition of the familiar and the unfamiliar is a hallmark of the Proms as last night's concert demonstrated. The rarity was Vaughan Williams's Piano Concerto, last heard at the Proms in 1939. The warhorse was Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade.
The Vaughan Williams concerto has only a couple of dozen bars for piano alone and is no vehicle for virtuosic display. But Ashley Wass beautifully caught its introspective quality, not least in the first-movement cadenza which, eschewing all tradition, taps a lyrical, ruminative vein.
To witness Sheherazade in concert is to be reminded just how astonishingly resourceful an orchestrator Rimsky-Korsakov was. He needed only a modest-sized orchestra, with few exotic accessories, to evoke the dazzling colours and sounds of the orient.
The BBC Philharmonic's leader, Yuri Torchinsky, survived a wobbly start to bring the mix of technical wizardry and sensuality that the role of Sheherazade requires. Other orchestra members, notably John Bradbury (clarinet), Jonathan Goodall (horn) and David Chatwin (bassoon), contributed equally fine solo work, and Vassily Sinaisky moulded his players into eloquent storytellers, unfolding the final festival of Baghdad, sea and shipwreck in thrilling style.
By this time, the violent thunderstorm overhead that had all but obliterated the quietest moments of the Vaughan Williams had passed.
One was left to muse on Rimsky-Korsakov's ability to conjure up a balmy Arabian night on a wet and windy Tuesday evening in London town.
www.bbc.co.uk/proms.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
