08 September 2016, The Tablet

Conductor’s countdown


 

The first of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s two Proms with retiring chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle (Prom 64) took an exhilarating journey from contemporary realisation to classic reinterpretation as this year’s Proms nears its close. In Boulez’s 1965 exploration of timbre, Eclat for 15 instruments, the huddle of five wind and string players shaped the notes of their two passages while the 10 percussionists behind and beside them sent out struck tones at Rattle’s improvised timings. Like Jupiter he masterfully manipulated the whirling spheres. The orchestra’s pianist Majella Stockhausen roared the piece off with the same staggering virtuosity with which she had once premiered her father’s piano scores.

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