Wang and Mäkelä thrill the Promenaders

Yuja Wang and the Oslo Philharmonic
Photo credit: BBC

"International Orchestras are back!" was the proud claim of this season's BBC Proms advertising. Though it has taken until Prom 35, the full house which greeted the Oslo Philharmonic was evidence of the excitement of the night.

Of course, many were in the hall for one person, the 'superstar' Yuja Wang. However, the curtain opener for the concert saw the young Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä, fresh from recording his much-discussed and lauded Sibelius cycle with his Oslo forces, present Sibelius' Tapiola. Mäkelä is indeed quite something. At only 26, already chief in Oslo and Paris, he is up to take on the job of Chief Conductor at the Concertgebouw in five years. He's made far more than waves in classical music. It's a tsunami. His confidence on the podium, his rapport with the orchestra were tangible. He sculpted structures of sound together with elemental strength, textures emerged clear-sighted, bold and confident.

With Yuja Wang coming onto the stage to the Prommers' cheers, I must admit readily that Liszt's Piano Concerto No.1 is not a personal favourite. However, the work can surely have no greater champion than her. I was surprised to find myself completely captivated in every note of her performance, bringing far more than the party-trick virtuosity it is easy to degrade the concerto for. Indeed, her performance brings a new dimension; she presented Liszt as not simply a virtuosic tour de force, though there were undoubtedly such moments, but with nuance, with moments verging on silence, hanging us on a thread of suspense in the Albert Hall with an astonishingly immersive and heartfelt intimacy. 

Of course, it is well known by now that Yuja Wang is, in fact, superhuman. Her show of a performance in her choice of encore would have made even Liszt stop in amazement: Horowitz's fiendish Carmen Variations, played with disarming ease and breakneck style. In the final coda, one could almost feel an audible gasp in the hall as Wang paused, then launched into the finale at what felt like double speed. Still, the Prommers' cheers could not be satisfied, and a sensitive rendition of Sgambati's arrangement of a melody from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice proved once again Wang's mastery of  the emotional range of the evening's music.

Klaus Mäkelä conducts
Photo credit: BBC

Mäkelä drew an extraordinarily compelling sound from the amassed forces of the Oslo Philharmonic, coaxing a silky yet powerful sound from the strings, led by concertmaster Elise Bånet, whose solos, together with principal horn Inger Besserudhagen, were sublime. Holding back where necessary, yet beaming with excitement and an infectious energy, Mäkelä launched into Ein Heldenleben, and the Oslo Philharmonic followed him. It was the whole orchestra which followed him; from the superb woodwind soloists to a brass section on top form (special cheers for the two tubas!), the Oslo Philharmonic proved itself to be a true ensemble under the energetic baton of Mäkelä.

Indeed, in the often difficult to conquer acoustic of the Albert Hall, it was possible to hear every note; immense power, energy and excitement was a hallmark of the evening, a more than auspicious start from this new pairing. One can only hope they will make the Proms a regular summer stop.