| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 3-Aug-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 27: Revealing Bruckner from Runnicles and the BBC SSO |
 Few conductors preface Bruckner’s vast Eighth Symphony with an amuse-bouche before the interval. If they do, they tend to pick one of three options, all of which make sense in different ways. Rarely there might be a new composition. More often you hear Haydn or Mozart, especially from the older guard of Brucknerians like Bernard Haitink, Daniel Barenboim, and so on. Or there’s Bruckner’s most obvious partner, his beloved Wagner. Wagner presents his own problems, of course, in relation to Bruckner.Read full review... | |
| 4-Aug-2011 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 27: An engaging Holloway Premiere by Runnicles and the BBC SSO |
 There are some works that appear year after year in a subtly different, equally sumptious incarnation. Strauss’s Four Last Songs ranks among that number. In 2010, Sir Simon Rattle, Karita Mattila and the Berliner Philharmoniker brought us this soulful masterpiece for Soprano and orchestra in one of the season’s most memorable Proms. This year it was the turn of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Donald Runnicles to deliver Strauss’ classic, along with the World Premiere of Robin Holloway’s evocative Fifth Concerto for orchestra that surprised many in its drama.
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| 3-Aug-2011 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 26: Debussy, Dutilleux and Ravel |
 Christian Steiner.jpg) An evening of French music, the notes from Debussy, Ravel and Dutilleux lingered in the sticky summer air long after the concert finished.
Making their BBC Proms debut, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, conducted by Donald Runnicles with chorus-master Christopher Bell, took command of the stage. In the opening piece, Debussy's Prelude a L'après-midi d'un faune, the BBC SSO captured the pastoral, yet erotic nature of the piece. From the opening flute theme (played by Rosemary Eliot) to the last ringing chord, the Prelude was orgiastic throughout.
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| 4-Aug-2010 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 24: The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra play Mahler 3 |
| If there would be one piece to show someone asking “who is Mahler?” the third symphony would undoubtedly be my first choice. Though it does not perhaps reach the heights of expressionism of some of his later symphonies, it perfectly exemplifies everything Mahler’s music is about: contrast between emotional extremes, ingenuitive orchestration, and a juxtaposition of the sublime and trivial. What perhaps identifies this piece apart from Mahler’s other symphonies its incredible drama. Read full review... | |
