CBSO and Yamada thrill in witty Adams-Poulenc pairing
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- Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra paired John Adams's 1980 choral epic Harmonium with works by Francis Poulenc at the BBC Proms in a concert praised as "stylish, witty and thrilling."
- Yamada's reading of Poulenc's 1948 "Sinfonietta" was described as "lucid and urbane," unfolding in impeccably shaded dances, marches and melodies that "thumb their nose at anything so dutiful as development."
- The Jussen brothers, a Dutch duo and former teenage prodigies, made their Proms debut in matching suits performing Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos with "irrepressible rhythmic energy" and "enormously stylish fun."
- The CBSO Chorus was bolstered by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for the Adams, providing the "rippling textural canvas" the work demands — voices treated as "pulsing points of light" in Negative Love and an "explosive, ululating jangle" in Wild Nights.
- Central movement "Because I could not stop for Death" was the only sticking point, "sagging where it should have held us rapt," though the reviewer called this "a quibble in a frankly monumental achievement."
- An earlier Harmonium performance in Birmingham "lacked choral welly," making this Proms staging — with the augmented chorus — a marked improvement on the choral front.
Why it matters: The Proms staging demonstrated how choral reinforcements — bolting the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs onto the CBSO Chorus — transformed Adams's Harmonium from a previously underpowered Birmingham performance into what the reviewer called a "monumental achievement," while also giving the Jussen brothers a high-profile Proms debut platform for Poulenc's satirical two-piano concerto.
