This isn't a review - anyone can do that and I don't do moreofthesame. Instead I celebrate the real star of the First Night of the Proms, the magnificent organ at the Royal Albert Hall. . Organ's don't tour and the RAH is too big for most concerts, so it was wonderful of the BBC to acknowledge this organ, so often overlooked and underused. Indeed, this was a special experience as the camera took us straight into the loft itself, to see what happens in more detail than you'd imagine from the arena. This organ is a National Treasure, one of the biggest in the world, now restored to its full glory. It has nearly 10000 pipes, 150 stops, 4 fingerboards and many pedals. It'sthe ultimate one-man band.
At first it had to compete with Strauss's rows of shining brass for visual impact but then came Messiaen's Dieu parmi nous, from La nativité du Seigneur. Sudddenly the auditorium seemed to explode with sound and colour. Even if you know nothing about Messiaen and his beliefs, you knew you were in the presence of something utterly extraordinary. and exuberant, obliterating all gloom. If I could write this text in shimmering gold, like the rays of the sun, you'd get an idea of the impact. For those of a non-spriitual bent it was like Battlestar Galactica looming into view, a universe of its own, teeming with life, filling the emptiness of space.
From Messiaen to his "adopted son", Pierre Laurent Aimard, playing a piece written for him by another of his mentors, Elliott Carter, who was born one day after Messiaen, 100 years ago. The title, Caténaires, refers to the spiral structure of rope or cable, which holds disparate things together without obliterating their identity. It's a metaphor for this music, for the relationship between these artists, and indeed for the BBC Proms itself which brings together so many threads of music, and audiences from all round the world.
It's a wonderful, fast paced piece, twisting and turning in continuous circular motion. sudden flicks oi the wrist switching direction like the crack of a lariat. There's more life and spirit in Carter than many a quarter his age. This is a photo of a caténaire in action :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/groume/2333944252/
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