The Proms - Number 16

The first of the Proms series of concerts I'd been to in years - the Royal Albert Hall was packed for this collection of popular classics - the first half British, the second German. The Halle Orchestra under the baton of Mark Elder were on good form beginning with a rare performance of Butterworth's orchestral rhapsody A Shropshire Lad. The work was introduced and ended with the poem by A E Housman that inspired this work by a composer who died in the First World War. Vaughan Williams' Eighth Symphony is full of soaring strings and bears all the trademarks of this craftsman of twentieth century music. Janine Jansen the Dutch violinist was excellent as the soloist in Bruch's Violin Concerto No 1. I know this is ever so romantic and regularly appears at the top of 'favourite music' charts - but there is a reason for that - it has the ability to move and push all the emotional buttons, especially when performed by a violinist of Ms Jansen's calibre - I feel the tears welling up at a particular point in the first movement when the strings are rushing headlong higher and higher, with the soloist soaring alongside and above them. The performance culminated with Richard Strauss' quirky Till Eulenspiegel - performed with excellent good humour by this first rate orchestra. The only drawback to the evening was the Royal Albert Hall's notorious echo - which detracted from the reading of Housman's poem using radio mikes. Concert rating: 8/10