Review: BBC PROMS: ALTIN GÜN, Royal Albert Hall

The beauty of the BBC Proms is that you don’t always know what you’re going to get - and sometimes the most unlikely event can become one of your absolute favourites. This was the situation in which I found myself at the Royal Albert Hall last night when Altın Gün took to the stage to celebrate their album Garip, which itself is a tribute to legendary Turkish folk musician Neşet Ertaş. A modern twist on the music they were brought up listening to.

Having Jules Buckley there to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra was a stroke of genius; in recent years Buckley has been a constant presence at the Proms, conducting concerts celebrating Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions and Florence + The Machine’s Lungs, amongst others. Earlier this year his collaboration with Harry Styles on “Coming Up Roses”, and their one-off concert as part of the Southbank Centre’s Meltdown festival, demonstrated just how skilled he is at reinterpreting existing compositions and utilising an orchestra to great effect in pop songs. And he added his magic touch to Altın Gün’s debut appearance at the Proms.

Being a blend of traditional Turkish folk music and modern psychedelic rock, there is plenty of complexity in the music to start with - but the addition of the orchestra added to the richness of the sound without overcomplicating matters. The boom of the timpani, the crash of the gong and the flow of the string section made the music incredibly cinematic, making it feel like we were part of an epic film at times. Other numbers were on the happier and lighter side, as evidenced by the joyous dancing of a Prommer right at the front of the pit. Judging by the standing ovation at the end, his expressiveness summed up the feeling of the entire room over the course of approximately 100 minutes.

Derya Yıldırım’s appearances partway through the Prom and during the encore also proved popular, particularly the première performance of “Ağit”; this was written by Taner Akyol, and developed over the course of around a decade. The brightness of Yıldırım’s vocal performance combined with her mastery of the bağlama meant she and Akyol received a very warm reaction from the audience. Yıldırım’s performances with Altın Gün also allowed for some terrific harmonising.

On this point, you often hear people referring to the vocal chords as an instrument, even though a lot of the time it just doesn’t feel like that. Not in this case. It probably helps when you don’t speak the language and therefore don’t know what they’re singing, nor feel the need to analyse the words, but this particular style of singing really backs up the ‘voice as instrument’ argument. The overarching style is known as Makam, which to the semi-trained ear sounds a lot like Raga; it serves as an extra melodic line in the piece, and has a powerful way of expressing emotion.

Erdinç Ecevit’s vocals were powerful, filling up the chasm-like space that is the Royal Albert Hall with consummate ease - and the musicianship of the whole band (in combination with the BBC Symphony Orchestra) was absolutely flawless. From Ecevit’s virtuoso performance on the bağlama to Chris Bruining’s dynamic display in percussion corner, it was as if they were made to play on this stage.

It’s safe to say that this concert was nothing short of a revelation. A thrilling experience which is so often the product of a lucky dip Proms pick - and thanks to the £8 day Promming tickets and good value Choir Stalls seats, a treat that is accessible to a good chunk of music lovers. There’s nothing quite like live music, and it’s even better when your expectations are surpassed.

The BBC Proms run at the Royal Albert Hall until 12 September

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