Richard Bratby

A lively showcase for a great central European orchestra at the Proms

Plus: infectious seriousness from the Berlin Phil

Conductor Jakub Hrusa, pianist Mao Fujita and the Czech Philharmonic performing Dvorak's Piano Concerto at the BBC Proms. Image: Andy Paradise 
issue 07 September 2024

As the Proms season enters the home straight, it’s moved up a gear, with a string of high profile European guest orchestras. First up was the Czech Philharmonic playing Suk’s Asrael Symphony under Jakub Hrusa before moving on to Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass the following night. These grand, glittering monuments of Czech music were garnished with a couple of relative rarities – Dvorak’s Piano Concerto, played by Mao Fujita, and the Military Sinfonietta, composed in 1937 by (the then 22-year-old) Vitezslava Kapralova, who died at the age of 25.

It’s unmistakably the work of a young composer. Xylophone? Bring it on

Kapralova’s composition is a captivating thing, starting out with fanfares and strutting march rhythms before proceeding to, well, pretty much anything you can imagine. It’s unmistakably the work of a young composer; there’s that gleeful, kid-in-a-toyshop energy, with ideas and colours flying in all directions. Xylophone? Bring it on. What if the violins played the main theme on harmonics? Only one way to find out! It’s the composer’s superabundant imagination, rather than any more formal process, that makes the Military Sinfonietta so compelling – and in the light of her unfulfilled promise, so poignant.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in