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If there was a World Cup to decide which city was the global classical music capital, London and New York would be strong contenders. What if they combined forces? That would be some team.
It will never happen, but at last night’s Prom, it kind of did, as students from NY’s Juilliard School joined students from London’s Royal Academy of Music (RAM) to form a single orchestra. Music conservatoires bring together students from all over the world, while conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is Finnish and Vilde Frang, the soloist in Berg’s Violin Concerto, is Norwegian: international harmony is possible, in music if nowhere else.
The collaboration between RAM and Juilliard is nothing new; it benefits from funding provided by the Global Exchange Scheme established by a former RAM student (and drop-out) by the name of Elton John. It helps to have friends in high places.
Salonen had chosen three “20th-Century classics” for his programme. Stravinsky began work on his Symphony in Three Movements in 1942, so wartime associations are almost inevitable, if not necessarily helpful. By turns tormented and mischievous, perky and muscular, it both tested the students and allowed them to shine. There was depth in the sound perspectives: although buried deep in the mix, piano and harp came through with perfect clarity, while as usual with Stravinsky, the wind section got a thorough workout.
Berg’s Violin Concerto is a piece that suits big-boned interpretations, but Vilde Frang is not one for overstatement. At times she showed herself willing to play at the very edge of inaudibility, at one point turning her back on the arena to serenade the orchestra rather than the audience. Throughout, she maintained an improvisatory quality, as if serenely unfolding a quicksilver fantasy rather than delivering something meticulously prepared. The orchestra responded in kind, supporting her but also providing its own commentary.
As its title implies, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra turned every section of the orchestra into a soloist. From the very opening moments, the ensemble showed that it, too, could play with almost supernal delicacy, as well as making the most of the earthier moments. Salonen balanced everything precisely while allowing youthful energy its head: in the third movement, Bartók takes a dig at Shostakovich by toying with a phrase from his Leningrad Symphony. There can have been few raspberries fruitier than that blown here by the trombone.
The mood was maintained in a fast and furious encore of Stravinsky’s Galop, originally written for piano duet but here expanded to keep the whole orchestra on its toes. These are musicians on the cusp, at least potentially, of professional careers: no allowances need to be made. You can hear for yourself on BBC Sounds.
