Review: BBC PROMS: SWEDISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA - BEETHOVEN AND BAROQUE, Royal Albert Hall
A morning exploration of Beethoven’s DNA, from Handel and Rameau to the man himself
“Do you believe in a life after birth?” Sunday morning was no ordinary Prom, as Martin Fröst and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra delved into the idea of exploring the DNA of Beethoven via new interpretations of works by the likes of Handel and Rambeau, as well as the world première BBC co-commission “HELIX” by Jacob Mühlrad. The overarching theme in all of the pieces performed was dance, so fittingly the audience at the Royal Albert Hall was also treated to an extended interpretative dance sequence in the first half of the concert.
I can’t recall ever seeing a clarinettist conducting at the same time as playing, so the rarity of Fröst’s shared roles for this part of the Prom was almost as impactful as the concept itself. The last time the Swedish Chamber Orchestra performed at the Proms, they investigated J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos via the pieces themselves as well as new commissions - so they are no strangers to conceptual performances.
The way they brought the Beethoven DNA project to life was by bringing seven pieces together which they feel are linked to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, and arranging them so that they could be played seamlessly. This is also something I’ve never experienced before; not being familiar with the individual compositions in this selection, I can’t comment on how they were reinterpreted or arranged, but I do find the sheer creativity in this endeavour absolutely astonishing. Simply performing a piece at expert level is difficult enough, without then making an entire project and investigation out of it.
Four-time French National Champion gymnast Anna Garde certainly made a splash in the first half, beginning the concert on the floor in the pitch-black, before performing an interpretative dance during the first couple of pieces - she then, without warning, segued into a cello solo and thereafter joined the rest of the orchestra. All in sparkly, flowing trousers. A masterclass in being multi-talented.
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Martin Fröst also interspersed the latter parts of the DNA project with musings on memories from the womb, such as hearing your mother humming classical tunes, as well as the idea of musical echoes through time - managing to link it both to the Big Bang and a T.S. Eliot quote about “time present and time past”. In any other hands this could have come out as high-class pretentiousness, but Fröst’s charismatic delivery would have convinced even the most sceptical. The encore of Johannes Brahms’s “Hungarian Dance No. 1” was a neat way to head into the interval, teeing up the second half even more perfectly.
All that went before was leading us to what Wagner described as “the apotheosis of the dance”: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major. Last performed to an empty Royal Albert Hall in the COVID edition of the Proms, it has a strong historical association with the concerts - in spite of the ninth, third and fifth being more often performed.
Written in the aftermath of his letter to his “Immortal Beloved” and a deep depression, there is a sprightliness to the seventh symphony which seems at odds with how Beethoven must have been feeling at the time. Although there are some moments of darkness sprinkled throughout, they serve to accentuate the lightness of the rest; the fact that even the slowest movement in the symphony is still fairly brisk is, in and of itself, rather telling. It’s little wonder it received that description from Wagner.
The Swedish Chamber Orchestra’s performance was precision personified, the volume control sublime and the passion of the piece flooded through. Fröst, at the conductor’s podium (minus clarinet), was an expressive guide for his players - you could sense that he was feeling every single note and beat. Ending the entire concert with another encore, this time of fellow Swede Hugo Alfvén’s Dance of the Herdmaiden, the entire audience was uplifted and invigorated for the day to come.
An incredibly well curated concert; sometimes Proms themes can be loose to the point of virtually non-existent, but this properly focused concept allowed for excellence to really shine through. I can thoroughly recommend following the work of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, and only hope they don’t wait another eight years before returning to the Royal Albert Hall once again.
The BBC Proms run at the Royal Albert Hall until 12 September
Photo credit: Debbie Gilpin
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