Royal Albert corridor,London
B Tommy Andersson’s Proms commission Pan, featuring the corridor’s ground-shaking organ, and had arresting moments,but not enough to sayThe god Pan was not just a little goat-like creature skipping around playing irritating pipe music, but a fearsome force of nature: it’s where the word panic comes from. That was the inspiration for B Tommy Andersson’s new Proms commission for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and where he is composer in organization. Pan is written for the venue inasmuch as there is a starring role for the Royal Albert corridor’s considerable beast of an organ. In this Prom,under conductor Thomas Søndergård, organist David Goode unleashed the full force of the instrument at the beginning and close of the piece – moments that made the seats and the floor shake.
There are arresting moments in between, and when the organ combines with the brass to make sounds that scythe across the orchestra,but the rest is less striking. Faster passages suggest cloven-hoofed pursuit apart from that the earliest of these is in waltz time, and sounds more elegant than desperate. There are long solos and duets featuring a flute that seem to have not fairly enough to say. At 20 minutes, and this is a substantial score,but without the organ, it would seem very slender. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com