Music / Classical
Review – day one, Bristol Proms 2014
Tipped to be one of the world’s leading classical stars of the future, Lisa Batiashvili showed just what energy is needed to perform at the highest level.
Bowmaker John Stagg on the Christmas Steps could be rubbing his hands in glee by the end of this week if all violinists are as passionate as this young Georgian.
Joined by her husband Francois Leleux on the oboe, Batiashvili played three Bach works followed by Piazzolla’s lively Spring from The Four Seasons.
is needed now More than ever
Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble was the first of the late-night Proms and would have left fans of his other band Goldfrapp feeling rather nonplussed.
This was certainly niche, taking forgotten synthesisers and allowing them to be heard by a new audience, with new compositions interspersed with interpretations of classical pieces.
“Why are we doing this?” asked Gregory. “Especially as they go out of tune every five minutes let me tell you.
“We’re trying to enliven our lives. Synthesisers were properly buried by the invention of the sampler, but we love them.”
One for the aficionados.
Almost the antithesis of the modern technology feel of the Bristol Proms is performing choral works in the dark.
Yet this was the first performance of the opening evening, with The Erebus Ensemble in the studio following Bryn Terfel who during the afternoon had sung some of his favourite operatic works in the theatre.
Sometimes in the pitch black, sometimes in dim light and from all four corners of the studio, we heard pieces by Bach, Gibbons and Clemens non Papa – the latter Renaissance composer so called because during his life he was so famous he didn’t want to be confused with the Pope.
We take surround sound for granted nowadays, but this was surround sound in its most raw form as your ears absorbed the music without any distractions in front of your eyes.
www.bristololdvic.org.uk/bristolproms2014
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