Liszt
Mephisto Waltz No.1 (orch. Liszt)
Ades
Dante – Part 2: Purgatorio
Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique
National Youth Orchestra
Thomas Ades
Reviewed by: Rob Pennock
Reviewed: 8 August, 2026
Venue: BBC Proms, radio broadcast, Royal Albert Hall, London
Thomas Ades is multi-talented, so hearing him conduct the 150 strong National Youth Orchestra was a fascinating prospect. Especially as he included a composer he loves, Liszt and his own music.
Mephisto Waltz No.1, which features in his Dante’s Inferno, sounds far more devilish in its piano version and the performance was rather lacklustre. Part two of Ades’ Dante features the poor souls wandering around in purgatory before they finally ascend to the gates of paradise. As with the first part, Inferno, the music is accessible, beautifully scored, full of melody, very atmospheric and I doubt if any other piece of classical music includes historical recordings of Jewish prayer. However, it is a great pity that as the Los Angeles Philharmonic are playing the complete Inferno this month, Ades didn’t conclude the concert with Purgatory and Paradise.
Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique is very difficult to pull off. Many great conductors have failed to create a coherent whole and get lost in a myriad of tempo changes. Ades didn’t hang around in the Largo introduction, powered his way at speed through the Allegro agitato ed appassionato, with razor sharp chords, convincing tempo changes and despite there being 150 players, clarity.
Similarly, the second movement waltz was pretty fast and while it was exciting, a bit more swing and lilt wouldn’t have gone amiss. Scene aux champs opens with the celebrated cor anglaise solo and clarinet duet, the gradual appearance of the other woodwind and interplay with the strings, where the antiphonal violins paid dividends. Everything was very clean and Ades encompassed each change of mood, including some ferocious fortissimo chords and graphic timpani solo.
March to the Scaffold has one Allegretto non troppo marking and for all the snarling brass, crashing drums and weight of sound it never really caught light. Things improved in the Witches Sabbath, where Ades’ opening Largo and Allegro were forward moving. Occasionally there could have been more sense of the macabre and despite the raucous woodwind the coda could have been even more exciting. As an encore they gave John Barry’s Space March from Moonraker.
With regard to the playing, it was excellent, even if the woodwind sometimes could have characterised more deeply.