BBC PROM 2: MUSIC BY GREAT BRITISH FILM COMPOSERS, BBC CONCERT, ROYAL ALBERT HALL, 14 JULY 2007 AND BBC TWO, 28 JULY 2007
Falling in love, going to war, dying, getting saucy with Barbara Windsor: these aren't things you expect to do too many times in a lifetime. But if you celebrate the 60th anniversary of Bafta with music from 18 productions, you don't get much time off the emotional rollercoaster; or from military marches.
Plucky, battling Brits were represented by Walton, Vaughan Williams and Arnold, and there is a line of influence from these scores through to the work of John Williams, whose music for Harry Potter featured in the second half. The selection was made by conductor John Wilson, a man with a passion for film music, and a rare ear for its historical playing styles.
Highlights made use of unusual guests. Philip Achille seduced the hall with exquisite harmonica playing in Larry Adler's Genevieve, and the dive-bombing entry of Cynthia Millar's ondes martenot, in Brian Easdale's score for The Red Shoes, was a reminder that the instrument isn't just a keyboard for aliens. Quality kazoo playing in Chicken Run, too.
With so many entries, I kept expecting Richard E Grant, the night's presenter, to say: "And the award for best swanee whistle goes to . . ." These pieces would often be dramatic destinations in films. Here, instead of climbing the mountain, we were being airlifted to the top. Having crossed The Bridge on the River Kwai and A Bridge Too Far, the Dam Busters was too much to swallow in a single day - and Stephen Warbeck's beautiful Shakespeare in Love was a whirlwind affair. What a Carry On!, by Eric Rogers, had the perfect amount of slap and tickle; a projection of Barbara Windsor - above the, er, organ - put you in the picture. - The Guardian, July 16 2007
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, 29 NOVEMBER 2006
“British Classics” was the title of this afternoon concert in which the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was conducted by John Wilson – who, at the age of 34, can demonstrate a mastery of the domain in which 'classical' meets 'easy listening' as to suggest that the art never really went away...The concert ended with [Coates' London Suite]. Wilson brought out the breezy energy of 'Covent Garden' and pensive calm of 'Westminster' (not so far removed from the tranquil passages in Elgar's Cockaigne), before 'Knightsbridge' – with its indelible “In Town Tonight” associations – brought about the rousing close. Stylishly conducted and superbly played, this was a great afternoon's entertainment all round. - Classical Source
CD REVIEW: EDWARD GERMAN ORCHESTRAL MUSIC - BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA/JOHN WILSON, DUTTON DIGITAL
John Wilson has hitherto been featured on CD in generally lighter fare but here he demonstrates an impressive feel for constructing larger forms. The result is a beautifully played and recorded CD that further fills out our knowledge of Britain's symphonic output before Elgar. - Gramophone, May 2006
CD REVIEW: LONDON AGAIN - MUSIC OF ERIC COATES - RLPO/JOHN WILSON, AVIE RECORDS
What pleasanter Bank Holiday listening could there be than the music of Eric Coates, rightly described in the booklet article as ‘the greatest composer of British light music of the last century’? Learning his craft as an orchestral violist under the great conductors of the pre-1914 era, he was blessed with a gift for melody that made several of his pieces into perennial best-sellers. John Wilson conducts the RLPO in two of Coates’s ‘phantasies’, The Selfish Giant and Cinderella. These are in effect tone-poems, charming and tuneful, the first based on Oscar Wilde’s story. Cinderella is especially successful, and to dismiss it as ‘light music’ is to underestimate its skill and the seductive power of the string of waltzes that illustrate the ballroom scene. The best known of the works here is perhaps the Summer Days suite, but even more characteristic is London Again, with its invigorating Oxford Street march and an evocative slow movement Langham Place, before the final Mayfair waltz. The performances are crisp and stylish and the recording quality excellent. Enjoy. - The Sunday Telegraph, 4 September 2005
The 17-minute tone-poem Cinderella, one of the seven works presented here, is faultless in conception andcraftsmanship. What is more, it is given a performance of refinement and sensitivity that matches its musical stature and which convinces me it should be released from its light-music strait-jacket...The RLPO plays all this music with tremendous zest and panache, right from the initial up-rushing scale in the opening Footlights waltz. John Wilson is one of not many in the rising generation of conductors to take (as it were) light music seriously and to have grasped the mixture of utter precision and controlled sensitivity needed to bring it off in performance. - International Record Review, July/August 2005
John Wilson already has two Coates CDs to his name, and I rate this the best...Playing and recording alike are superb throughout. This is as good a Coates collection as any I know. - Gramophone, July 2005
...the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic [has] moved into Europe's super-league, and here with the young conductor, John Wilson, provide a stunning Eric Coates disc that displays their razor-sharp virtuosity...It all adds up to the best Coates album I have come across. - Yorkshire Daily Post, May 2005
Let There be Love: A Tribute to Nat 'King' Cole
Gary Wilson/CBSO/John Wilson Bridgewater Hall, May 2005
A full house greeted conductor John Wilson and vocalist Gary Williams for what was to be a magical evening bringing together the CBSO and the American Songbook with the emphasis on the songs sung by Nat “King” Cole...The material, the orchestra, the arrangements, the soloists and the vocalist were the best and we could not have asked for more. Even the members of the CBSO were applauding after the 2 encores. The publicity for the show used the song title “Unforgettable” and that is how I shall think of the evening. - Encore magazine, May 2005
|
