I was absolutely delighted to make my conducting debut at the BBC Proms this September, working with the BBC Singers (who are currently celebrating their 100th Anniversary).
Celebrating Anton Bruckner’s 200th Anniversary, we opened Prom 56 with a selection of his motets: Os justi, Locus iste, and Christus factus est. These were followed by a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic and their Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 in B flat major.
Photos by Chris Christodoulou
About the Programme
Poor, homesick and misunderstood, Anton Bruckner plunged into despair during the winter of 1875. From the depths of his anguish came astonishing proof of his triumph of will: the composer’s spirited Symphony No. 5. For their second night at the BBC Proms, Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker fill the Royal Albert Hall with a work designed on no less grand a scale. Here the sternness and warmth of the composer’s four movements make for a majestic whole, concluding with one of the most overwhelming denouements in all music. Before it, the BBC Singers, celebrating its centenary this year, offers the most sublime of palate cleansers: three of Bruckner’s most radiant motets, inspiring testaments to the faith that kept his creative flame alive.
Reviews
“Utterly remarkable Bruckner at the Proms from the BBC Singers and the Berlin Philharmonic”
– Seen & Heard International
“Their [the BBC Singers] rendering of three Bruckner motets, all unaccompanied, was magically ethereal as their glorious sound soared and dipped to fill the cavernous space which is the Royal Albert Hall. Locus Iste, the most familiar of the three was especially moving not least because these voices blend so beautifully. Owain Park, principal guest conductor is very good indeed at ensuring we hear every note, word, nuance and harmony. A choir like this is a great deal more than a sum of its parts and their performance was a fine prelude to Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony and the arrival on stage of the Berlin Philharmoniker.“
– Susan Elkin
“The BBC Singers and Owain Park had earlier provided a shrewdly selected aperitif to the symphony, with no interval to divide them. Singing from centre-stage, their immaculately balanced sound seemed to fill the hall effortlessly when needed, while the softest of pianissimos were spine-tinglingly delicate.”
– BachTrack