Review: BBC PROMS: BOULEZ AND BERIO – 20TH-CENTURY GIANTS, Royal Albert Hall

Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio were both born one hundred years ago in Montbrison and Oneglia, respectively. During the course of their lengthy careers, they worked separately and together, innovating in their own ways as the 20th century brought new technology to music. For this Late Night Prom, Ensemble intercontemporain (under conductor Pierre Bleuse) brought together three pieces to engage the two composers in posthumous conversation in the lofty surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall.

Considering this was a 10.15pm start with a slated 11.30pm finish (the actual end time was closer to 11.40pm), it wasn’t a bad turnout - however, I couldn’t help but think that it would have been a better experience for all concerned if just the stalls and the standing area were open. Everyone looked quite scattered, which must be a little disheartening for those onstage.

Once it began, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be your average night at the Proms. Between 1958 and 2002, Berio wrote a series of Sequenze; each individual piece focused on a specific instrument or vocal range, and served as a way of experimenting with an instrument’s capabilities. “Sequenza 5” was written in 1966 for solo trombone, and was dedicated to Grock: “One of the last great clowns.”

The choice of the trombone makes perfect sense in this context, and trombonist Lucas Ounissi hammered the message home with his costume - even if it was a bit more Arthur Fleck than Charles Adrien Wettach. It was pretty extraordinary to hear the strange and wonderful sounds that emanated from the instrument, depending on how it was manipulated or blown; some of the higher-pitched noises were a little more testing, but overall it was a fun and interesting endeavour.

The one Boulez piece on the programme was Dialogue de l’ombre double, which featured Jérôme Comte on solo clarinet seemingly doing a woodwind equivalent of “Duelling Banjos” - but in actual fact, the second clarinet sound was pre-recorded and projected around the auditorium via speakers. It’s another fascinating idea which was largely entertaining, however the fact that there was nothing to look at during the playback sections made it feel a bit dragged out.

All three pieces had theatrical elements to them, however it was Berio’s Recital I (for Cathy) that took this to the next level. From the soprano (Sarah Aristidou) supposedly not being ready for the stage, to the harpsichordist initially going AWOL, it was an amusing artificial chaos.

Aristidou’s vocals are sensational, and there are some fantastic melodies for her to sing during the 35-minute piece, however the sections of dialogue were hit-and-miss. Her voice was occasionally audible over the increasingly dissonant music, but much of it was drowned out; whether this was intentional (as the programme possibly hints at) or not, it was neither enjoyable nor interesting as there was so little to latch on to. If it was unintentional, I’d suggest creative captioning could help.

In terms of providing some variety to the season, this Prom was certainly worthwhile - but as a late night event it needed to do more to keep everyone hooked until the end.

The BBC Proms run at the Royal Albert Hall until 13 September