Saint Saëns ‘s Organ Symphony – Bizet, Sarasate, Holmes, Saint-Saëns – BBC Symphony Orchestra – Marie Jacquot @ the BBC Proms

Bizet
L’Arlésienne – Suite No. 1, Op.23

Sarasate
Carmen Fantasy – Op.25

Holmes
Andromède

Saint- Saëns
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, “Organ”, Op.78

Inmo Yang, violin
Rachel Mahon, organ

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Marie Jacquot – conductor

This was a Prom of splendid French-themed music, not all of it from the standard repertoire, which drew a full house and was conducted by the young French conductor Marie Jacquot, making her Proms debut. Jacquot is currently Principal Conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre, Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony and Chief Conductor Designate of the WDR Symphony Orchestra and very much a star on the rise. It is easy to see why as she has a fluent baton technique, an expressive left-hand and a serious, attentive manner that is distinctive. She’s an ex- trombonist and she does look encouragingly at the brass section at times, but everything is invariably well-balanced and musical.

The evening opened with Bizet’s L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1. It was a very popular work in the first half of the twentieth century and Sir Henry Wood seemed to like putting it into Proms Wagner nights, but it has fallen out of favour since then. This was only its third performance in over 50 years, and I can’t remember the last time I heard it live. The Prelude was warm-hearted with plush strings and an affecting saxophone solo from Martin Robertson. The Minuetto had a sense of swing and was alert and rhythmic whilst the Adagietto had notably quiet strings and woodwind creating a sense of inner repose. The final Carillon was vivid and springy with a touching central section.

Pablo de Sarasate’s Carman Fantasy, surprisingly receiving only its third performance at the Proms since it first appeared in 1906, was next up and in the capable hands of the young South Korean violinist Inmo Yang.  It is a party piece of the violin repertoire where it is impossible for the performer to be too hammy in delivering its parade of opera hits. It is full of double-stopping, difficult harmonics, punchy pizzicato passages and, in the closing Gypsy Dance, just too many notes in too little time. Inmo Yang played it with panache and suavity, without too much haste, surmounted all the obstacles and escaped the charge of vulgarity. He is a fine violinist, and it would be good to hear him again in a more substantial work.  His encore was Kreisler’s Recitativo and Scherzo- Caprice, Op.6, smoothly done.    

Andromède by Augusta Holmes was the real rarity of the night, and it was receiving its first performance at the Proms. It is a 15-minute piece that evokes the sound world of Cesar Franck (who was her teacher and whose relationship with her is outlined in Ronald Harwood’s 1979 novel Cesar and Augusta) and there are homages to Wagner’s Die Walküre and Fafner the Dragon at certain points. It is one of her last symphonic poems and is based on a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses telling how Andromeda is chained to a rock to appease the anger of Poseidon and to await her death at the fangs of the sea monster Cetus. Perseus, fresh from slaying the Medusa, just happens to be passing, defeats Cetus, turns him into stone and rescues Andromeda.  Jacquot phrased the arresting opening with ringing trombones over dark – hued cellos nicely. Perseus arrives first on tremolo violins then to a more Wagnerian turn. The scoring is dense and dark throughout and Jacquot did her best to bring transparency to these textures. It didn’t outstay its welcome but the final shimmering strings and ascending arpeggio harps (Elizabeth Bass and Elin Samuels) felt slightly anticlimactic.

It is always a pleasure to encounter Camille Saint Saëns richly enjoyable 3rd Symphony. It may be a familiar piece, but Jacquot approached it with serious intent from the start. She seemed very familiar with the score and brought details to light that often go missing in other performances. This was particularly evident in the vigorous first movement which was delivered with energy but no rush, leading into the lovely second movement. The moment where the organ seems to support the serene string melody was beautifully observed. Caroline Rae in her thoughtful programme note suggested that Saint-Saëns’s elegiac writing for strings paved the way for the anguished expressivity of Gustav Mahler and it seemed the case in this performance.  The scherzo had incident and the Trio where the piano enters (with four hands playing, Elizabeth Burley and Zeynap Ozsuca, in this instance) is always startling. In the finale Jacquot took care to balance the organ against the rest of orchestra after the power of its roof-raising first entry. It is, after all, a symphony with organ rather than an organ concerto as Saint-Saëns was at pains to point out. Rachel Mahon, music director of Coventry Cathedral, seemed alert to this and was the judicious organist. Jacquot managed the transition into the final section beautifully and gave the close of the work breadth and a certain nobility of its own with timpani and brass coming through gloriously.  It was an impressive performance that had faith in the music and there was musicianship as well as the inevitable adrenalin rush. It did sound especially resplendent and reminded me of previous performances by Louis Frémaux and Sir Andrew Davis. This was a notable Proms debut from Marie Jacquot and she will be doing Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Covent Garden in October – I can’t wait to hear it.