0:00:27 > 0:00:30On tonight's Sunday Prom, drama, passion
0:00:30 > 0:00:35and late-Romantic nostalgia as we celebrate the 150th year
0:00:35 > 0:00:39of the birth of the great German composer, Richard Strauss.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Tonight we are in for a treat
0:00:41 > 0:00:44as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
0:00:44 > 0:00:47takes to the stage with their chief conductor Vasily Petrenko.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50The celebrated Danish soprano, Inger Dam-Jensen,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53will perform Strauss' haunting Four Last Songs,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57and the BBC Singers will take on the challenge of his magnificent
0:00:57 > 0:01:00choral piece, the Deutsche Motette, the German motet.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03We'll finish with a touch of British nostalgia -
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Edward Elgar's sublime Second Symphony.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08But to kick off proceedings,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11the Festival Prelude by our birthday boy, Richard Strauss.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15It was written in 1913 for the opening gala of
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Vienna's concert house, and the inauguration of its organ.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23But tonight, the Royal Albert Hall's famous centrepiece will take centre stage,
0:01:23 > 0:01:29supporting their huge orchestra with its 9,997 speaking pipes.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30ORCHESTRA TUNES
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Do listen out for the heckelephone, too,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and if you have never heard of one, there it is - an oboe with
0:01:36 > 0:01:40a wider bore and a heavier and more penetrating tone.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47APPLAUSE
0:01:47 > 0:01:53And here he comes, Vasily Petrenko, to conduct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
0:01:53 > 0:01:57in the mighty Festival Prelude by Richard Strauss.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00APPLAUSE
0:02:07 > 0:02:11ORGAN PLAYS
0:13:14 > 0:13:19APPLAUSE
0:13:19 > 0:13:23What can only be described as a rousing start to tonight's Prom.
0:13:23 > 0:13:30Richard Strauss' Festival Prelude featuring organist Ian Tracey,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36led tonight by James Clark,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38and conducted by Vasily Petrenko.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41APPLAUSE CONTINUES
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Richard Strauss was also a celebrated conductor, you know.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50He made his debut at the tender age of 20 conducting his own music.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53His last time conducting in London was in 1947,
0:13:53 > 0:13:57right here at the Royal Albert Hall.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Well, tonight's opening works really show Strauss' range
0:14:04 > 0:14:06and versatility as a composer.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10Written back-to-back in 1913 they conjure up completely different soundscapes.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Feted as a composer for the voice, our next piece is Strauss'
0:14:13 > 0:14:16most notoriously difficult choral work.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19The Deutsche Motette is a rich
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and complex setting of the Friedrich Ruckert poem All Creation Is At Rest.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Written in 16 parts with four main soloists,
0:14:25 > 0:14:31it really pushes the singers to their very limits, and as a result it's rarely performed.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33But tonight's ensemble, the BBC Singers,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36have made this something of a showpiece, as we'll hear.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42It's really special to be doing this Strauss Prom
0:14:42 > 0:14:45because it's the anniversary of his birth,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49but it's also the 90th anniversary of the founding of the BBC Singers.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Well, being in the BBC Singers is an extremely varied experience.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57This Prom we are doing Richard Strauss' great Deutsche Motette,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01whereas the previous Prom we did was a new piece by the Pet Shop Boys.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06The BBC Singers are singing together every day. We're a full-time choir.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10And we're so used to working together, and I think that the piece
0:15:10 > 0:15:15really does demand a very high professional standard.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Shall we have a policy decision on that, then?
0:15:18 > 0:15:20You need extremely low basses,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24and also you need sopranos who can sing very high in a very
0:15:24 > 0:15:29sustained and quiet way, and you need everybody to be able to keep it in tune.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31THEY SING
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Terrific, basses, terrific!
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Strauss' choral music is often conceived
0:15:35 > 0:15:38rather like writing for an orchestra of voices,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40and there are moments, such as in the Deutsche Motette,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44where you feel he might be thinking of a part of an orchestra -
0:15:44 > 0:15:47a high woodwind section or something like that,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49but making it work for voices.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52THEY SING
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Sometimes you're horns, sometimes you're cellos,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59and to be part of the texture
0:15:59 > 0:16:03and contributing in such an instrumental way,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I think is the unique thing about singing this piece.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08For the BBC Singers to be performing this great work
0:16:08 > 0:16:11in their 90th anniversary season,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13in the 150th anniversary of Strauss' birth,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15in the Albert Hall, in the Proms...
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Well, it's all set up to be an extremely special occasion.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20ORCHESTRA TUNES
0:16:20 > 0:16:23APPLAUSE
0:16:23 > 0:16:28And here to join the BBC Singers, our soloists this evening -
0:16:28 > 0:16:31soprano Suzanne Shakespeare, mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Tenor Adrian Dwyer, and bass, Brindley Sherratt.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38And they are all conducted by Vasily Petrenko
0:16:38 > 0:16:40to perform the demanding but sumptuous tour de force,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42the Deutsche Motette.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18SINGING ENDS
0:34:25 > 0:34:30APPLAUSE
0:34:35 > 0:34:40Vasily Petrenko conducting the BBC Singers in that
0:34:40 > 0:34:44intensely beautiful work by Richard Strauss, his Deutsche Motette.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51The soloists there, Suzanne Shakespeare and Tara Erraught.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54APPLAUSE CONTINUES
0:34:54 > 0:34:58And the tenor, Adrian Dwyer, and bass, Brindley Sherratt.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Two soloists there from the BBC Singers, Olivia Robinson
0:35:05 > 0:35:06and Elizabeth Poole.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11And there's the other soloist from the Singers,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14the alto Cherith Millburn-Fryer.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Wonderful performance by the BBC Singers in this,
0:35:17 > 0:35:19their 90th birthday year.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21And the chorus master, Paul Brough.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29And I think they're right to be very pleased with themselves after that performance.
0:35:36 > 0:35:42The setting, there, of the poetry of Friedrich Ruckert,
0:35:42 > 0:35:46whose words were a powerful inspiration to so many composers.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49You know, there are over 100 settings of his poems,
0:35:49 > 0:35:54including music by Schubert and Brahms, Schumann and Mahler.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01But tonight it's all about Richard Strauss
0:36:01 > 0:36:05and a warm response here in the Royal Albert Hall to the BBC Singers
0:36:05 > 0:36:09and those marvellous soloists and Vasily Petrenko, the conductor.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Such a tough work. As we heard from the BBC Singers earlier,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22the vast vocal range of the Deutsche Motette
0:36:22 > 0:36:25is really challenging - four complete octaves
0:36:25 > 0:36:29from the bottom C of the bassist to the soprano's top D flat.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33150 years after his birth,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Richard Strauss remains one of the most celebrated
0:36:35 > 0:36:40and controversial composers of the late Romantic and early modern eras.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Writing as a German composer throughout the turbulent
0:36:43 > 0:36:46first half of the twentieth century, Strauss came to write our next piece
0:36:46 > 0:36:49in the aftermath of the Second World War.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Germany was in tatters and the repercussions of the devastation
0:36:52 > 0:36:54were felt worldwide.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58And during this time he wrote some of his most profound music,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01including our next work, the Four Last Songs,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04one of the final works of a very old man.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07We spoke to soloist Inger Dam-Jensen earlier today
0:37:07 > 0:37:09after her rehearsal.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15I think there's something about sopranos and Strauss
0:37:15 > 0:37:21and he had a great feeling of how to put the voice, the tessitura,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25and the way it's moving all the time, so it never gets stopped,
0:37:25 > 0:37:27it's very natural to sing.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31And for me it's perfect because it goes up
0:37:31 > 0:37:34and it goes down and there's a great flow.
0:37:34 > 0:37:39They are really big songs, for me. They are both very lyric
0:37:39 > 0:37:41and very deep.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43SHE SINGS
0:37:46 > 0:37:48The first one is about spring.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51It's thrilling, of course, and you have this...
0:37:51 > 0:37:55this fire in the orchestra.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59And I like them to do it a little faster than you usually hear them,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02because I like them to be fresh at the same time.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08And the second one is about autumn.
0:38:08 > 0:38:14And everything is getting calmer and then you are having
0:38:14 > 0:38:17the two last songs,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Beim Schlafengehen
0:38:19 > 0:38:23and the last one, going towards death.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25SHE SINGS
0:38:27 > 0:38:31And I think he was quite confident going into that
0:38:31 > 0:38:34because he sees this light towards the end.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36And he's amazed by it.
0:38:40 > 0:38:46I think actually the Four Last Songs, they collect every feeling.
0:38:46 > 0:38:51It's... And I get the goose bumps here, now, because it's really,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54it's really about life. And death.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00APPLAUSE
0:39:00 > 0:39:04And here she is, the soloist Inger Dam-Jensen to sing
0:39:04 > 0:39:06Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs,
0:39:06 > 0:39:08with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
0:39:08 > 0:39:10conducted by Vasily Petrenko.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31MUSIC ENDS
0:42:44 > 0:42:46ORCHESTRA RESUMES
0:46:54 > 0:46:56MUSIC ENDS
1:00:19 > 1:00:27CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:00:33 > 1:00:36Strauss's Four Last Songs.
1:00:38 > 1:00:43Performed by Inger Dam-Jensen, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
1:00:44 > 1:00:46Conducted by Vasily Petrenko.
1:00:47 > 1:00:49Just lovely.
1:01:07 > 1:01:10The leader, James Clark, there,
1:01:10 > 1:01:13who played that exquisite violin solo in the third song,
1:01:13 > 1:01:15When Falling Asleep...
1:01:17 > 1:01:19..which becomes that, sort of,
1:01:19 > 1:01:21sinuous duet with the soloist.
1:01:23 > 1:01:25A magic moment.
1:01:26 > 1:01:32In fact, James had said it is one of the great melodic masterpieces
1:01:32 > 1:01:34written for solo violin.
1:01:34 > 1:01:37It must be a real high point for any orchestra musician
1:01:37 > 1:01:39to be able to play something like that.
1:01:39 > 1:01:43Inger Dam-Jensen, always a favourite here at the Proms.
1:01:43 > 1:01:46This is her tenth appearance, since making her debut in 1997,
1:01:46 > 1:01:50when, coincidentally, she was also singing Strauss.
1:01:50 > 1:01:52The Six Songs, on that occasion.
1:01:52 > 1:01:55SUSTAINED APPLAUSE CONTINUES
1:01:55 > 1:01:59Bated breath, here in the hall, while she was singing.
1:02:04 > 1:02:08The premiere of Strauss's Four Last Songs was given eight months
1:02:08 > 1:02:11after his death. And it was given here, at the Royal Albert Hall,
1:02:11 > 1:02:18on 22 May, 1950, and the soprano on that occasion was Kirsten Flagstad,
1:02:18 > 1:02:21and the Philharmonia Orchestra was conducted
1:02:21 > 1:02:23by the great Wilhelm Furtwangler.
1:02:23 > 1:02:26CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:02:33 > 1:02:36Those four songs dedicated by the composer,
1:02:36 > 1:02:38each one, to a different friend.
1:02:39 > 1:02:43One of those friends was the celebrated soprano, Maria Jeritza.
1:02:43 > 1:02:46Of course, Strauss loved writing for the soprano voice.
1:02:46 > 1:02:49He was married to a soprano and this, I think, surely,
1:02:49 > 1:02:53one of his greatest works for a soprano to sing.
1:02:53 > 1:02:56Now, we move on to a composer who Richard Strauss
1:02:56 > 1:02:59saw as a ground-breaker in English music.
1:02:59 > 1:03:03The contemporary he was referring to was none other than Sir Edward Elgar
1:03:03 > 1:03:06and we finish tonight's programme with his glorious Second Symphony.
1:03:06 > 1:03:08It was dedicated to King Edward VII,
1:03:08 > 1:03:12who had died almost exactly a year before.
1:03:12 > 1:03:16The end of the Edwardian era marked a time of rapid change and upheaval,
1:03:16 > 1:03:19with increasing tensions that would eventually lead
1:03:19 > 1:03:22to the First World War and, in many ways, the rather strange
1:03:22 > 1:03:24and unsettled atmosphere of the symphony
1:03:24 > 1:03:27is a reflection of the time in which it was written.
1:03:27 > 1:03:30Elgar conducted the premiere himself, in 1911,
1:03:30 > 1:03:33and he was rather shocked when it received cold reviews.
1:03:33 > 1:03:35He was often subject to bouts of depression
1:03:35 > 1:03:39and was known to worry about the reception of his music.
1:03:39 > 1:03:41With the excitement of the coronation of George V
1:03:41 > 1:03:45less than a month away, perhaps audiences had expected something
1:03:45 > 1:03:49more uplifting or jubilant, not inward-looking and nostalgic.
1:03:49 > 1:03:53But after it was championed by conductor Adrian Boult in 1920,
1:03:53 > 1:03:56it became one of Elgar's best-loved works -
1:03:56 > 1:03:59its four movements describing, in Elgar's words,
1:03:59 > 1:04:02"the passionate pilgrimage of a soul".
1:04:02 > 1:04:06APPLAUSE
1:04:06 > 1:04:08And here comes Vasily Petrenko,
1:04:08 > 1:04:10to conduct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
1:04:10 > 1:04:12in Elgar's Second Symphony.
1:22:20 > 1:22:22APPLAUSE
1:22:44 > 1:22:48ORCHESTRA RESUMES
1:37:04 > 1:37:07MUSIC FADES AND CEASES
1:37:39 > 1:37:41ORCHESTRA RESUMES
1:44:36 > 1:44:41CRESCENDO
1:44:41 > 1:44:42MUSIC ENDS ABRUPTLY
1:44:59 > 1:45:02ORCHESTRA RESUMES
2:00:06 > 2:00:11MUSIC BUILDS
2:00:36 > 2:00:39MUSIC FADES TO CLOSE
2:00:48 > 2:00:52APPLAUSE
2:01:09 > 2:01:12Vasily Petrenko emotionally drained
2:01:12 > 2:01:16at the end of that performance of Elgar's Second Symphony...
2:01:16 > 2:01:20CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
2:01:20 > 2:01:23..conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
2:01:23 > 2:01:26as ever, with precision and passion.
2:01:35 > 2:01:38A fascinating piece of work.
2:01:38 > 2:01:41Elgar wrote that piece in less than two months.
2:01:41 > 2:01:45He told a friend that he worked at "fever heat" to get it finished.
2:01:50 > 2:01:51He headed the symphony
2:01:51 > 2:01:54with a quote from the poet Shelley, which said,
2:01:54 > 2:01:56"Rarely, rarely, comest thou,
2:01:56 > 2:01:58"Spirit of Delight!"
2:01:59 > 2:02:02And it's thought that Elgar felt that this piece was an attempt to
2:02:02 > 2:02:05give that reticent "Spirit of Delight" a hint
2:02:05 > 2:02:08that he really would rather like it to appear more often.
2:02:08 > 2:02:12APPLAUSE CONTINUES UNABATED
2:02:17 > 2:02:19Vasily Petrenko bringing
2:02:19 > 2:02:22all the different sections of the orchestra to their feet.
2:02:34 > 2:02:37Warmly congratulating the leader there - James Clark.
2:02:37 > 2:02:40INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION
2:02:41 > 2:02:44APPLAUSE CONTINUES
2:02:44 > 2:02:46I don't know who looks more exhausted.
2:02:54 > 2:02:58Alice Elgar, Elgar's wife, thought the symphony was wonderful
2:02:58 > 2:03:02and she wrote that "one is led away to regions beyond worlds".
2:03:14 > 2:03:18But, as Vasily Petrenko comes out to take another bow, it is time
2:03:18 > 2:03:20for us to say goodbye.
2:03:20 > 2:03:23That brings us to the end of tonight's Prom.
2:03:23 > 2:03:26I hope, though, that you will be able to join me again next Saturday
2:03:26 > 2:03:29from Proms Extra on BBC Two.
2:03:29 > 2:03:33Tom Service will be with you on Thursday night, here on BBC Four,
2:03:33 > 2:03:36with Beethoven's Fourth Symphony and Mozart's Requiem.
2:03:36 > 2:03:38It should be great.
2:03:38 > 2:03:42But for now, from all of us here at the Royal Albert Hall,
2:03:42 > 2:03:44good night.
2:03:44 > 2:03:46APPLAUSE AND CHEERING CONTINUE