Royal Albert Hall, LondonThree of his strange short symphonies made for a monochrome showcase of the
Russian composer, but Simon Rattle and the LSO brought energy and coherence
The first all-Stravinsky
BBC Prom was performed by the
London Symphony Orchestra in 1962 to celebrate the composer’s 80th birthday. The 35-year-old Colin Davis conducted a hefty programme including the Symphony in C, Oedipus Rex and The Rite of Spring – a reminder, as the Times put it, “of the enfant terrible behind today’s revered master”.
Almost 60 years later, the LSO’s 2021 Proms appearance was another Stravinsky-only affair, marking the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death with three of his short, strange “symphonies”. The Royal Albert Hall was the busiest I’ve seen it this season – a nearly full house – and the audience stamped and roared with delight at the end. But the “revered master” drawing the crowds on this occasion was surely the LSO’s
music director Simon Rattle.