A late-night Prom can sometimes serve as a musical Rennie, a soothing digestif after 90 minutes of heavyweight orchestral fare. Fortunately, none was needed here. In the early evening programme John Storgårds kept the BBC Philharmonic sufficiently light on its feet, while Sueye Park made the most poetic of Proms debuts in Sibelius’s violin concerto, a cornerstone work she owned from start to finish.
If the opening wash of strings was barely audible over the whirr of the Royal Albert Hall air-con, it wasn’t long before the South Korean violinist grabbed our attention, her lean, silvery tone penetrating and intensely lyrical. In fact, Storgårds seemed to worry unnecessarily, keeping the orchestral volume on a low simmer for much of the work’s span. Park, an enthralling musical raconteur, imbued the first movement with a forthright romantic sweep before conjuring the kind of laser-focused, ethereal fireworks that set the finale dancing.
Betsy Jolas, who turns 100 in two weeks’ time, composed Tales of a Summer Sea in 1977 to overcome a childhood fear of the ocean. Louring gong and timpani accordingly threatened a storm as woozy strings and woodwind roiled and toiled, their textures flecked with tom-toms, vibraphone and celesta. At 15 minutes, it rather took its time, but with seven busy percussionists it was rarely short of incident.
Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra fits the Albert Hall perfectly and Storgårds clearly knew it. The mighty rumble of subterranean organ turbocharged those over-familiar opening fanfares; burnished strings tugged at the heart in Of the Great Longing. Placing the bell way up in the gallery was a neat touch to ring in Nietzsche’s deep midnight. If The Dance Song lacked the last degree of Viennese schmaltz, it failed to diminish what was a stylish and dramatically assured performance.
So, what about that after-hours palate cleanser? Founded by lutenist Thomas Dunford, Jupiter Ensemble made a singularly idiosyncratic Proms debut alongside British tenor Laurence Kilsby. The programme comprised Dowland to mark 400 years since his death, and Purcell, a composer who is more than welcome anytime.
Kilsby’s debonair vocals cut a dash in a slightly breathless Come Again, Sweet Love and were at their finest paired with the ever-sympathetic Dunford in moving accounts of Dowland’s Flow, My Tears and Sorrow, Stay. Jupiter, meanwhile, kicked up their heels in The King of Denmark’s Galliard, while Can She Excuse My Wrongs was deftly juxtaposed with its original for lute, The Earl of Essex Galliard. The effervescent performances may have strayed from early music orthodoxy, but the spirit was undeniably infectious. You’ll have to listen to the broadcast if you want to know how Dunford cajoled us all into singing Hey Jude.
• Available on BBC Sounds until 12 October. The Proms continue until 12 September.
