- Radio Times
- Review by:
- David Gillard
The BBCSO and their American principal guest conductor David Robertson fly the Stars and Stripes tonight in an American-themed programme. The first half features Ives’s “cosmic landscape” The Unanswered Question, Barber’s hauntingly beautiful Adagio for strings and a spiritual-inspired trumpet concerto, Nobody Knows de Trouble I See, by Bernd Alois Zimmerman (above), played by star trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger.
And there’s more African-American inspired music in the second half, which is given over to Tippett’s compassionate oratorio A Child of Our Time. Modelled on Handel’s Messiah and the Bach Passions, the work is movingly punctuated by five spirituals. Four distinguished soloists are joined by the newly formed BBC Proms Youth Choir.
About this programme
Live from London's Royal Albert Hall, the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform music by Ives and Barber, and Zimmerman's jazz-influenced trumpet concerto with Hakan Hardenberger. Plus, the BBC Proms Youth Choir debuts in Tippett's A Child of Our Time. Presented by Catherine Bott. Hakan Hardenberger (trumpet), Sally Matthews (soprano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo), Paul Groves (tenor), Jubilant Sykes (bass-baritone), BBC Proms Youth Choir, BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor David Robertson. Ives: The Unanswered Question. Barber: Adagio for Strings. Zimmermann: Nobody Knows de Trouble I See. 8.10 Twenty Minutes: Herschel Grynszpan, the Forgotten Assassin. The compelling story of Herschel Grynszpan, whose murder of a leading Nazi provided the excuse for Kristallnacht and whose fate inspired Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time. 8.30 Tippett: A Child of Our Time. Repeated on Thursday August 9 at 2pm.
Cast and crew
Crew
- Producer
- Ann McKay
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