In Walton's centenary year it was inevitable that the
Proms would feature his First Symphony, whose 1935 premiere was dubbed
''a historic night for British music'. From the hushed, pregnant opening,
with its spiky oboe motif, the BBC NOW really had the measure of the
piece. They brought out all the work's drama, brooding menace and troubled
lyricism: the manic insistence of the Allegro, the frenzied perpetuum
mobile of the Scherzo (marked 'con malizia' by Walton), the heavy, reverie-like
wistfulness of the melancholic Andante, and the lightness of
mood of the Maestoso, with some powerful and very nifty brass
playing. John Ireland's verdict on hearing the first recording, that
'this has established you as the most vital and original genius in Europe'
may not be entirely borne out by Walton's subsequent career, but listening
to this performance one could certainly understand what he meant: conductor
and orchestra pulled out all the stops.
Tonight's soloist in Brahms' D major Violin Concerto,
which opened the programme, was the Canadian violinist James Ehnes,
born in 1976, who made his Proms debut last year with Prokofiev's Second
Violin Concerto. If the orchestra made a forthright, even muscular but
rather uninspirational contribution, they supported the soloist admirably
and the ensemble between violin and orchestra was superb, though the
soloist can take as much credit here as the orchestra. Ehnes gave a
refreshingly clean, honest and heartfelt account, projecting a beautifully
bright, sweet tone throughout. His playing in the Adagio had a bewitching
sheen and delicious subtlety, and his transition from the first-movement
cadenza into the coda particularly magical. Only in the rollicking did
the orchestra threaten to drown out the soloist (though they never quite
succeeded), and Ehnes played an agile, gypsy-inspired line. No revelations
here, perhaps, but a satisfyingly central performance.
Sarah Dunlop
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