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Nick Kimberley's rating
, Keith Lockhart goes to Hollywood at Prom
By
Nick Kimberley
31 Aug 2010
The BBC Concert Orchestra might not be the most celebrated of the BBC’s orchestras, but this Prom, its first under its new principal conductor Keith Lockhart, hinted at its range, from English pastoral via chunky minimalism to Hollywood schmaltz.
It can give a convincing impersonation of a Broadway house band, a skill that paid dividends in a brash performance of Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and gave extra punch to Graham Fitkin’s PK, receiving its world premiere. The dot-dash rhythms of Morse code inspired the piece, which was written for the Proms Family Orchestra and Chorus, a mighty gathering of amateurs that required a dozen conductors. Its exuberant simplicity was infectious.
The most moving works were more typical Proms fare. The misty-eyed melancholy of George Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow was given full weight, while the second and third of William Walton’s Four Cornish Dances were as sombre and mysterious as Britten’s Sea Interludes. They provided a stark contrast to a Hollywood sing-along that got gutsier as it went on. As Time Goes By and Over the Rainbow went well enough, but 5,000 voices singing Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head was enough to chill the warmest heart.
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Reader views (2)
I was indeed there, and must apologise for my error. Four Cornish Dances were composed by Malcolm Arnold, not William Walton. It's sackcloth and ashes for me.
- Nick Kimberley, London, 02/09/2010 13:05
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Not sure how you worked out the Four Cornish Dances were by William Walton. Were you actually there with a programme in your hand?...
- Simon Roberts, London, 01/09/2010 15:40
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