Royal Albert Hall, London
Wynton Marsalis’s brass and percussion fanfare lit up the Albert Hall, with the phenomenal Sinfonia adding extravagant sparkle
By the end, it was hard to believe this concert had started with a barely audible timpani roll and a few diffidently lyrical trumpets. But the UK premiere of Wynton Marsalis’s Herald, Holler and Hallelujah! – a brass and percussion fanfare that swung through genres, its tailoring so sharp you could cut yourself – was one of two brief exceptions on a programme of American mega-hits. (The other, Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question, was beautifully unsettling: strings ghostly as they floated down from the Royal Albert Hall’s gallery, their stillness interrupted by discordant flurries elsewhere.)
It was also hard to believe that John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London only gave its first live performance in 2021. Three years later, this handpicked supergroup has a reputation that outshines most established orchestras and brings audiences out in droves. Under Wilson, Copland’s Billy the Kid suite was an orchestral showcase. Here, the hushed lilt of a breezy woodwind solo and slow breadth from the strings. There, the rhythmic volleys of the ballet’s gun battle, shimmering with brass. Never mind the calibre of Wilson’s address book: ensemble work this tight is not born but made, forged with care and rehearsal.
On BBC sounds until 14 October. The Proms continue until 14 September.
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