BBC Symphony Orchestra at the London Proms

“What could follow all this aural splendour and magic? More of the same but taken to the nth degree, was the answer, as the BBC SO and Chorus came together for that Proms favourite William Walton’s brazenly dramatic Belshazzar’s Feast. Both were on terrific form, both gave their all under Mäkelä’s rivetingly incisive direction.”

The Telegraph, Ivan Hewett, 5 August 2023


“Energy levels remained at fever pitch after the interval in Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast … Mäkelä’s approach was fast and furious: details aplenty, tutti chords that came down like a guillotine and a constant sense that we were about to career over a precipice. Occasionally it lacked poise – but the excitement was undeniable.”

The Guardian, Flora Wilson, 5 August 2023


“Makela and his forces had Walton’s snappy rhythms firmly gripped, while the full- throated BBC Symphony Chorus (under Neil Ferris) rang out with certainty and force whether weeping by Babylon’s waters, praising false gods or toasting King Belshazzar’s demise … This was a spectacular Prom.”

The Times, Geoff Brown, 7 August 2023


Programme:
Jimmy López Bellido: Perú negro
Sergei Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
William Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast
BBC Symphony Chorus
Soloists: Yuja Wang (piano), Thomas Hampson (baritone)