If I was compiling a list of the most memorable Proms performances I’ve seen, I would have to include the all-Beethoven Prom that Paavo Järvi conducted back in 2010; the fact that I still remember it proves it must have been memorable.
Järvi was back at the Proms last night, Beethoven once again on offer, in this instance, his Fifth Piano Concerto, nicknamed the Emperor.
The soloist was the Korean Yunchan Lim, another in what seems to be a never-ending line of gifted young Asian pianists, here making his Proms debut in front of a justifiably adoring audience.
Still only 20 years old, he already has a shed-load of prizes, including, in 2022, becoming the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn competition in the US. I suspect his days of taking part in competitions are already in the past.
His Beethoven had moments of deliberateness but also a sense of playful, almost improvisatory high spirits. Throughout, there was a strong rhythmic underpinning, moments of explosive dynamism juxtaposed with passages that were daringly quiet, as if he was creating his own private space and then allowing the orchestra – and us – to join him.
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Under Järvi, the BBC Symphony Orchestra was larger than we’re used to for 21st-century Beethoven, but he achieved a chamber-like transparency that provided ample room for Lim’s nimble fingers.
As Beethoven never quite said, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”, and this performance swung mightily; the audience loved every minute. To calm us all down, Lim offered an unidentified (by me, at least) and introspective encore.
After the interval that followed, there were quite a few empty seats, suggesting that some fans were only there for the Lim. True, Bruckner’s First Symphony is less immediately inviting, but Järvi’s account was shaped with patient care, details clearly etched although never at the expense of overall texture or momentum.
Yet nothing felt rushed; sweet-sounding flutes warbled while the bassoons mocked gently, in stark contrast to the more abrasive brass section and the sometimes thunderous timpani. Even this Bruckner agnostic was won over.
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Järvi opened the concert with Aditus, written at the beginning of this century by his friend and fellow Estonian Erkki-Sven Tüür. The programme booklet included an extract from the composer’s somewhat abstract account of how the piece worked.
The music, on the other hand, had more immediate impact, thanks in part to its five percussionists, now gently tinkling, now battering at top volume. The overriding atmosphere was ominous, as if something wild was about to break free but was just about kept in check.
After 10 minutes, the music fluttered into a gentle and mysterious silence, soon broken by energetic applause.
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