Review: Guy Noble Leads Another Fun Filled Tribute To The Tradition Of Old Blighty With Sydney Symphony Orchestra's 2018 Edition of LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS

Friday 8th June 2018, 8pm, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House,

Sydney Symphony Orchestra's (SSO) answer to the British celebratory concert filled with patriotic pieces and popular classical works returns with a new edition of LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS. Guy Noble returns to lead the SSO and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs through an evening comprising standard patriotic inclusions and a collection of other classical works which also include solos from Helpmann Award winning soprano Lorina Gore.

For those unfamiliar with The Proms, they trace back to London in 1895 where music was enjoyed whilst promenading (walking) around pleasure gardens. The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC have become an eight-week summer season of concerts that feature standing area cheaper tickets rather than the walking around of old. The final concert of the season is the more relaxed, fun filled, patriotic LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS that has gained international fame through television broadcasts. Whilst Sydney Symphony Orchestra's expression of LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS does attract a large following of Anglophiles missing the Mother Land, the programming ensures a blend of other music amongst the standards that are played each year.

The cheeky charismatic Noble ensures the orchestra captures the emotion and energy of pieces that include Ralph Vaughn Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves, Sir Hubert Parry's I Was Glad - Coronation Anthem, John Lunn's Themes from Downton Abbey and Gustav Holst's Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity from THE PLANETS. As with previous years, the evening includes Sydney Opera House's Grand Organ, the world's largest mechanical tracker-action pipe organ, played by Amy Johansen.

Guest soloist Lorina Gore's talents are suitably utilised with beautiful renditions of Magda's Chi il bel sogno di Doretta from Giacomo Puccini's LA RONDINE and Violetta's Sempre libera from Giuseppe Verdi's LA TRAVIATA, a role which she has performed in 2015 and 2017 for Opera Australia. She has a stunning ringing clear tone and infuses the pieces with texture and emotion that soar above the orchestra and choir. She also holds her ground in the more playful Medley from Disney's MARY POPPINS by Robert and Richard Sherman as she ends up leading the audience who can't help themselves and sing along. As standard for a LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS concert, the evening also includes pieces that the audience is encouraged to join in with, from Gordon Jacob's God Save The Queen, Malcom Sargent's arrangement of Thomas Arne and James Thomson's Rule, Britannia!, Sir Hubert Parry and William Blake's Jerusalem and Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance - March No. 1.

Whilst this years concerts of LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS have finished, they are a standard fixture in the SSO calendar so if you are wanting your fix of British patriotic music or want a taste of classical music in a more relaxed concert, start planning ahead. LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS is a fun concert suitable for families and concert goers that may want a less formal experience of both the SSO and the Opera House.

LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS

https://www.sydneysymphony.com

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