Review of the BBC Proms (Beethoven’s Fifth): “Emelyanychev’s actorly conducting brings up some ardour but sacrifices precision”

The Royal Albert Hall continues its summer classical season, bringing acclaimed conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and pianist Alexandre Kantorow together last weekend, in a performance also featuring Saint-Saëns, Rameau, and contemporary composer Jay Capperauld. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the event — to let us know if its delivery brought him enough joy to write an ode about.

“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it”. I don’t mean to question Dali’s sage remarks on the essence of human creativity. After all, it’s never perfection that I look for in a performance, but that rare, eruptive feeling that only true art can bring about. Last Friday’s BBC Prom rendition, named after Beethoven’s quintessential classical-motif blockbuster, didn’t seem to advocate for it either. Yet, part of the faultlessness any interpretation requires to endure was also missing.

Conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev, his histrionic style, replacing the baton with exuberant acts of prestidigitation, still conveyed colour and expressiveness — combining some decent phrasing with an overall satisfactory degree of emotiveness. His heightened mannerisms evidence his commitment to every piece, almost as if he were trying to embody them through a carefully choreographed and melodramatic portrayal. It’s an accomplished effort of spectacularity, sometimes oozing finesse of its own. But as much as we can appreciate an eye-catching array of jazz hands, that doesn’t necessarily translate into the deftest execution.

Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Suite of Les Indes Galantes opened the event to a mixed impression. The first movement put a spotlight on the woodwind section’s impressive skillfulness, playing every segment with untarnished purity and brightness. But it also exposed the strings’ lack of communication with Emelyanychev’s instructions — struggling to project the same sense of togetherness on some bars while also missing their counterpart’s pristine quality.

That issue seemed to go on hiatus during the second movement, where the entire orchestra converged into a breathing creature, bursting into moments of genuine artistic proficiency — where emotion and technique joined forces to deliver the most enthralling outcome. Yet, that slight coordination problem returned for its final bow during the piece’s finale. With the percussion becoming the protagonist (Emelyanychev armed with a drum himself), the last movement came off as an amusing celebration of showmanship. But despite its Lully-esque approach (gangrene excluded), the rendition’s off-beat undertone was hard to ignore.

Camile Saint-Saëns’s ‘Egyptian’ Piano Concerto served as the evening’s show-stopper, featuring Alexandre Kantorow as the guest soloist. With an elegant touch and polished craftsmanship, his interpretation of Saint-Saëns’ opus was, however, overshadowed by the orchestra’s prominence, which was sadly never matched by his generally bland and impersonal sound — deprived of sparkle, zest, and soulfulness, and ultimately unable to create a signature that emanates any specks of individuality or memorability.

The big winner of the night came through Jay Capperauld’s lugubriously seductive contemporary work, Bruckner’s Skull. Masterfully interpreted, the piece oozes a cinematic, post-Romantic flavour that’s as piercing as it’s tantalising. Flaunting rich textures and picture-painting power, its raw, volatile nature (built upon compelling, slightly daring harmonies, enticing motifs, and an ongoing confrontation between good and evil) leads to a gripping, titillating experience that enhances the allure of the unknown.

The concert’s closure revived arguably one of Beethoven’s most popular compositions. With a visceral take that accentuated the symphony’s innate tempestuousness, the first movement came across as slightly corseted due to Emelyanychev’s overly accelerated tempo and apparent removal of rests — not allowing the work to expand, and therefore limiting some of its potential.

Nonetheless, we can somehow forgive that venial sin (including the French horn’s unvarnished delivery) thanks to a praiseworthy rendition of both the second and third movement — the latter exuding vigour, bravura, and stir, whose added excellence in articulation deserves to be considered a triumph.

Setting the path for a palpitating exploration of its repertoire but taking too many shortcuts for those possibilities to thrive, last Friday’s Prom served as a hit-and-miss experiment, pumping the flair and vitality of some passages to the very extreme, while leaving others almost neglected. Though enjoyable on the whole, its recurring absence of a heart confined the inspiration of its score to the page, letting it soar into the listener’s ear only momentarily. As Beethoven himself put it once, “Don’t ever practice your art, but force yourself into its secrets.” As much as some of its excerpts were radiant, a few extra spots are still out there in the dark.

The BBC Proms 2025 play at London’s Royal Albert Hall until 13 September. Full programme and tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara