BBCSO/Elder review – like a Klimt painting in sound

Barbican, LondonThe final concert of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s season brought us Franz Schreker’s sensual and elusive Chamber Symphony and Mahler’s intense Das Lied von der ErdeConducted by Mark Elder, the final concert of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s season opened with Franz Schreker’s Chamber Symphony, a work we don’t hear as often as we might, though it is a thing of often extraordinary beauty, sensual yet elusive, its sound world to some extent like no other. Dating from 1916 and written for 24 solo players, it is cast in the form of a ceaselessly evolving single movement, though its four sections echo and approximate conventional symphonic structure. Strauss and early Schoenberg lurk behind the scoring, which has an ornate, jewelled glamour, sometimes described as being like a Klimt painting in sound. Elder, clearly fond of it, lingered, sometimes a bit too much, over its sensuous textures, teasing them out with exquisite finesse and eliciting some gorgeous playing from the BBCSO in the process.The same attention to textural detail characterised the performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde that followed after the interval, an interpretation of unsparing intensity, magnificently controlled. Speeds were carefully calibrated, and Elder’s slightly slower than usual tempo for Von der Jugend captured a poignant nostalgia behind the surface elegance, while the almost reckless momentum for the horsemen in Von der Schönheit immeasurably heightened the sense of yearning their appearance provokes. The sheer weight of orchestral sound was electrifying at the start and the ending immaculate in its reflective beauty. Elsewhere instrumental solos, played with exceptional refinement, seemed to call and echo across open spaces and voids, heartbreaking and desolate. Continue reading...

Comments

Culture

'Lilo & Stich' team with Tom Cruise and 'Mission Impossible' for a monster Memorial Day weekend

washington times

Comments

Culture

'Lilo & Stich' team with Tom Cruise and 'Mission Impossible' for a monster Memorial Day weekend

Suspected arson causes a second major power outage in south of France

Cannes awards Palme d'Or to former Iranian political prisoner

Death Valley starring Timothy Spall is less cosy crime, more comatose crime

Finn Wolfhard devastates fans with new buzz cut at Crunchyroll Anime Awards

More than 200,000 homes and Cannes Film Festival hit with power cut as arson 'suspected' in double outage

In Alan Yentob, British cultural life has lost a great champion

The Walking with Dinosaurs reboot has lost its magic

TV fans urged to binge ‘outstanding’ thriller on Amazon Prime this bank holiday Monday

Iconic actor leaves fans ‘in tears’ after surprise appearance at Scissor Sisters’ London gig

Ruth Jones gets award for new book at Hay Festival

It's the Doctor Who and The Last of Us finales: What's coming up this week

Jeremy Clarkson leads tributes after death of Alan Yentob aged 78

Artist Caravaggio's faith shines in new Rome exhibit and at churches run by Pope Leo XIV's order

The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it

Cover-up of Biden's cognitive, physical ills adds to long tradition of presidential medical secrets

Strauss' 'Blue Danube' waltz is launching into space to mark his 200th birthday

Google, Darren Aronofsky team up to explore AI's role in the future of film

Cities tied to George Floyd mark the 5th anniversary of his death

Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson says premature twins have ‘reunited’

Gary Lineker in high spirits as he arrives for last-ever Match of the Day

Jeremy Clarkson’s girlfriend Lisa shares very revealing admission about their sex life

Netflix fans declare ‘favourite drama of 2025’ with mesmerising new series

Officials confirm ‘haunted’ Annabelle doll’s whereabouts after missing rumors go viral

Georgia Tennant admits assumption she made before meeting future husband David

Amazon Prime fans have just days to watch ‘one of the creepiest thrillers ever made’

Aaron Taylor-Johnson signs deal with iconic James Bond watchmakers amid 007 rumours

Dissident Iranian director wins prestigious Cannes award

Tributes paid as 'profoundly moral' former TV presenter dies

Watch: A look back at Alan Yentob's colourful, creative career

Meadows film a 'visual love letter' to Skegness

An ancient Hawaiian sport is making a comeback

90s TV star so ‘embarrassed’ by one episode he wanted it pulled from streaming

David Tennant admits he had his eye on a role that went to Pedro Pascal

Alan Yentob, one of British culture’s ‘defining figures’, dies aged 78

Billy Joel’s daughter calls singer ‘most resilient man’ following diagnosis

What happened to the bestselling young white man?

Alan Yentob: BBC TV's creative giant, on screen and off

BBC arts broadcaster Alan Yentob dies aged 78

In 'Words with Wings and Magic Things,' poetry is beautifully illustrated — and fun!

Britain’s Got Talent star underwent life-saving surgery days before semi-finals

Sunday Puzzle: Supermarket Brands

Restaurant Review: Three Ice-Cream Sundaes for the Start of Summer

Alba de Céspedes’s Broadcasts Against Fascism

Doctor Who star ‘had his eye on’ Fantastic Four role that went to Pedro Pascal

How Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping cast stacks up against original

Timothy Spall's new crime drama filmed entirely in Wales

Terry Pratchett’s Best Books

95 Books Have Come Out of This Journalism Professor’s Class

Book Review: ‘The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s,’ by Paul Elie

Monticello Exhibit Focuses on Frenemies Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston and the Greatest Sports Photo Ever

A ‘Mission: Impossible’ Fan Favorite Returns 3 Decades Later

Richard Madeley ‘in showdown with ITV bosses after facing axe from Good Morning Britain’

Netflix just released a new dystopian drama topping charts across the world

Jafar Panahi wins Cannes Palme d’Or for revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident

The Wheel of Time fans devastated after Prime Video decision

‘I stood up for myself’: 32 co-stars who famously clashed on set

Wynne Evans breaks silence on Strictly scandal and insists he’s not a misogynist

Armorer jailed after Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer on Rust set is released from prison