Reviews – BBC Proms 2024

“It perfectly epitomised what he and the Hallé have built together: not a slick orchestral machine that operates on autopilot, but an ensemble of tremendous heart and soul with a questing spirit of adventure as well as admirable finesse.”

“An enormous amount of work must have gone into this refreshingly cerebral and disciplined approach to the piece. The stormy second movement was virtuosically played, but it was also masterfully controlled throughout, while the restraint of the adagietto made the release of the finale seem emotionally and musically truthful in a way one rarely hears.”

“A packed Albert Hall, a standing ovation for James Macmillan, rapturous applause for orchestra, choirs and conductor: the Hallé may not be the local team but they had plenty of supporters here. We Londoners can count ourselves lucky to have been there.”

““Confident” may well describe the trumpet solo that opened Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, an account that radiated total faith in this five-movement journeying work, never once dragged into the showpiece arena by Elder’s considered approach that explored the music in detail and wholeness: this was a joined-up Mahler Five, emotions, structure and scoring welded as-one on a journey from despair to jubilation that was hard-won, Elder taking the long view, nodal points unerringly judged.”