Prom 9: Barenboim/West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, London
Royal Albert Hall
Saturday 21 July 2012
Related articles
Audacious, perhaps, to lure an audience of thousands with promises of Beethoven, then let Pierre Boulez steal the show. Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra placed Boulez’s Dérive 2, a work for 11 musicians that lasts for 50 unbroken minutes, at the core of the first evening of its complete Beethoven symphonies cycle. The result: a revelation.
Based on a musical 'cipher' (the notes are letters) on the name of the philanthropist Paul Sacher, the work unfolds like a phantasmagorical narrative poem. Boulez’s apparently limitless imagination conjures up gorgeous sonorities; the instrumentation – piano, harp, marimbaphone, vibraphone, low woodwinds, violin and cello – is percussion-rich yet never sounds percussive.
Barenboim brought to it a necessary clarity, drawing out drama, highlighting the progression of atmosphere, gesture and incident. If it gets to you, this music can push back horizons and transform perceptions at a deep level. The atonal language takes effort, though, and some in the hall didn't stay the course. Catch it on the BBC iPlayer and make up your own mind.
It's 13 years since Barenboim and the Palestinian writer Edward Said founded the WEDO, bringing together young musicians from Israel and the Arab nations (now plus some from Spain) to find common purpose in shared music-making. The orchestra has come of age, audibly so. This was the playing of seasoned professionals, with egos, never mind politics, subsumed to the demands of the composer. Odd to find no full list of the musicians’ names in the programme, only those of the Boulez soloists; there was no way to assess how many from each place were on.
So what exactly has the WEDO grown up into? Well, you might call it Orchestra Barenboim. Having coached its returning core of players for so long, Barenboim now has at his fingertips his own personal ensemble, which he can play like a piano, so attuned are its members to his musicianship.
Beethoven’s Symphony No.1 displayed the advantages of this, with rapt attention to detail and a fine unity of purpose. Refreshing, too, to hear Beethoven on modern instruments, unencumbered by the raggedy edges and cardboardy drums that can sometimes mar period-style performances; Barenboim’s approach wouldn’t have been out of place 40 years ago. Yet in the Symphony No.2, post interval, matters seemed to have gone slightly off the boil; this charming and Haydnesque work could have done with less constant intensity and a lot more fizz.
Arts & Ents blogs
Children’s Books: Recommended read – ‘A Monster Calls’ by Patrick Ness
Thirteen-year-old Conor awakes in bed one night to discover that the yew tree outside his house has ...
Made in Chelsea – Series 5, Episode 11: Louise plays and wins at Spencer’s game
It’s hard not to feel sorry for doe-eyed Andy. He spends months pining after Louise, has huge nostr...
The Returned: ‘Simon’ – Series 1, episode 2
Fragility of life looms large over an episode that closes with the scarring on Julie's stomach. Whil...
Travel Shop
-
Kan you believe it? Kim Kardashian and Kanye West reportedly name baby daughter 'Kaidance Donda'
-
Film review: World War Z - Brad Pitt's zombie action flick is surprisingly infectious
-
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan - but his Irish accent isn't quite there
-
Anger Management? Charlie Sheen fires Selma Blair as his onscreen therapist with expletive-filled text
-
Vice pulls 'breathtakingly tasteless' fashion shoot glorifying the suicides of famous female authors from Sylvia Plath to Virginia Woolf
- 1 Serena Williams apologises after comment that rape victim 'shouldn't have put herself in that position'
- 2 Disability campaigners celebrate 'victory' after government rethink over plans to make it more difficult to claim disability benefits
- 3 Bankers could face jail after report urges the Government to introduce new criminal offence for reckless management
- 4 Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
- 5 We never knew Nigella Lawson - and we still don’t
How will you make today delicious?
Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.
Win a Nook® Simple Touch eReader
Find out how Nook® is supporting the Evening Standard's Get Reading campaign - and your chance to win one.
Free reading festival for families
Follow The Standard's campaign to get London's children reading - and experience this unique event at Trafalgar Square on 13 July.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention
Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title





Comments