Today we are celebrating the masters
who gave us two of classical music's most-beloved pieces -
that perennial wedding favourite, Bach's famous Air,
and Vivaldi's Summer.
Leading the celebrations are the youthful French ensemble
Le Consort and their leader, Theotime Langlois de Swarte.
Now, he partly credits his career as a violinist
to teenage years listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
Mind you, he is still only in his 20s.
Join us as this young group transport us hundreds of years back in time.
MUSIC: Jupiter by Gustav Holst
Hello and welcome to a Prom celebrating Vivaldi and Bach,
here at the Royal Albert Hall.
Visiting us from across the Channel, Le Consort's enthusiasm
for early music is nothing short of contagious.
The ensemble - who are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year -
are led by their co-founder, Theotime Langlois de Swarte.
And he'll be leading from the violin in a selection of concertos
including Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Bach's Air,
often known as Air on a G String.
Now, as well as these giants of the baroque era,
Theotime and Le Consort have curated a Prom
that brings us a rare chance to hear in this hall
pieces by some of their contemporaries -
Legrenzi, Uccellini and Nicola Matteis Jr.
Now, they were prolific in their day
and these young musicians here
passionately believe they deserve to be better known today.
Now, what connects all these composers
was a mission to push at the very limits of what a violin could do.
The pieces demand the sort of pyrotechnics and virtuosity
that they knew would have the power to mesmerise people.
And they weren't wrong, as Theotime will soon demonstrate.
And I am delighted to have the perfect companion
for today's spot of time travel.
A doctor too, no less, broadcaster, author,
presenter of BBC Radio 3's Early Music Show - Dr Hannah French.
And, Hannah, it really is lovely to have you with me
up here in the gallery, here at the Royal Albert Hall.
It's great to be here. And lovely to be here for their debut as well.
Yes. It's going to be quite the day, isn't it? It is.
I think we're all going to be energised by this
This is a young dynamic group, who really deliver on all the drama
and the lyricism that the best of baroque music promises.
And I also love about baroque that you're never quite sure what's going
to happen and I think these guys are going to definitely deliver
that jeopardy, aren't they?
Well, Vivaldi should have you on the edge of your seat, that's for sure.
But, yeah, they are a young group, as you say,
a decade of Le Consort now. They met at the Paris Conservatoire
and they really proved in a very short space of time that they have
the instincts for this repertoire, Theotime especially.
I mean, what a meteoric rise these past five years -
awards, accolades for all those albums.
He's an old soul with new ideas.
I love that. And I think that is just what's coming out of France
at the moment, actually, with period groups.
You know, it's a really exciting scene
from medieval to actually Romantic repertoire,
loads of exciting stuff going on. But actually, some of the really
established groups - Les Arts Florissants, Les Talens Lyriques -
they are turning into real powerhouses of new talent
and they've nurtured these players too.
But often when you think about baroque music,
you think of it as quite intimate chamber music, if you like. Yeah.
And yet here we are in the Royal Albert Hall!
Would this have been typical in Vivaldi's day?
Well, I think for Vivaldi especially, there are three houses,
if you like, where you would have heard his concertos.
The opera house - he loved to play between the acts of the opera,
so this is exactly the kind of scene for that.
The house of God, so at the Pieta,
the institute where the women and the girls played his concertos,
and then in all the houses of the nobility,
so just the scene. Of course.
Well, Hannah, we will be chatting more,
but so interesting to hear about the culture and the environment
that's given rise to this ensemble.
A stillness is descending inside the Royal Albert Hall
for today's concert by the French ensemble Le Consort.
Theotime Langlois de Swarte will begin the Prom
with Fantasia No. 2 for solo violin,
composed around 1720 by Nicola Matteis Jr,
a London-born violin virtuoso of Italian descent.
APPLAUSE
Phenomenal playing there from Theotime and Le Consort,
performing all six movements of
Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in D minor.
And Hannah, can we just have a moment for the dry ice
and drama at the beginning of that selection of music? My goodness!
Yes, see what I mean about the energy?
I mean, it's the feeling of space that they create, isn't it,
whether it's across the stage or within the score.
I know! Before that, of course, we heard that amazing improvisation
from Justin as well on the harpsichord. Mm.
It's just an organic feeling, isn't it, across the ensemble? Yeah.
And, I mean, next we're going to have a beautiful arrangement of
Bach's transcription of the Adagio from the Marcello Oboe Concerto.
That's gorgeous. Yes. And to begin the next section,
music from an aria from 1675,
just a few years before Vivaldi was born,
by Giovanni Legrenzi.
APPLAUSE
Oh, just gorgeous!
The Air from Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3,
composed in about 1730,
known by many of us as Air on a G String.
And Hannah, I felt there was this collective exhalation
here in the hall when that started. Yes!
"Ahhh!" Delightful. Just lovely.
Exactly, and seeing Henry Woods' bust
just over Theotime's shoulder -
I mean, this is a piece with long echoes back through the Proms.
Henry Woods won over so many hearts and minds to Bach with that piece.
And before that, we heard that lovely piece of Uccellini.
Now, was it just me, Hannah, or could you have been forgiven
for thinking there was a bit of the English Country Garden in there?
HANNAH LAUGHS
Well, yeah, maybe!
I mean, it's a bergamasca -
it's a lively old medieval folk dance from northern Italy.
One of the things I'm really loving about their performance as well
is the communication between all these young musicians,
particularly between Theotime and Justin as well at the harpsichord.
Yes, exactly, co-founders of the ensemble. Yeah.
And also that flexibility,
how they can just shrink down to the core players and really draw us in,
and then, as you say, that kind of relaxing
and the whole band come back, as if a chorus.
Well, talking of the core players, the next piece we're going to hear
is going to see the founding quartet of Le Consort
performing a piece by Vivaldi.
It's known as La Follia, one of his earliest works.
This is actually making its Proms debut, this piece.
APPLAUSE
One of Vivaldi's masterpieces there, making its Proms debut.
The Trio Sonata No. 12, La Follia,
performed by the core group who've been with Le Consort
from the very start.
We've got baroque violinist Sophie de Bardonneche,
we've got Hanna Salzenstein on cello,
Justin Taylor on harpsichord, and of course,
Theotime on violin as well,
and we're hoping he'll be able to join us up here in the gallery
for a bit of a chat during the interval.
But, Hannah, we spoke of pyrotechnics for the violin,
but, my goodness, every instrument there was showing virtuosity
which was just beyond, wasn't it?
Exactly. I mean, La Follia, just the tune of the moment.
It pretty much went viral!
Scarlatti, Purcell, Handel - all at it.
There's an entry in a Spanish dictionary from 1610
that said that the musicians played so fast,
it was almost as if they were out of their mind.
I mean, it has been a breathtaking first half from Le Consort.
They've given us this wonderful mix of the familiar
and the slightly less familiar, haven't they?
Yes. It's already their trademark, I think.
I mean, this has been beautifully curated for the Prom,
but it's also something of a showcase of the albums
that they've brought out so far,
and they are ambassadors for the likes of Marco Uccellini,
and, you know, he's a composer we should know a lot more about -
an earlier version of Vivaldi, in some respects.
He was a violin-playing priest, and wrote so many sonatas,
concertos, that are beautiful and deserve to be better known.
Difficult question, but a highlight so far?
HANNAH LAUGHS
Well, I've just been really impressed by two things, really.
The lyricism - language is so important
to speak the music of the Baroque.
It was at the time, and actually,
at the moment that you had these travelling virtuosos,
they were coming from across Europe, they were bringing their new ideas,
so you would have French people playing Italian music,
Italians playing French music.
There would be all sorts of styles in that melting pot,
and I think that they really play with that touching lyricism,
and you can hear a piece of music you know so well,
like the Air on a G String, but hear it as if afresh.
Well, I'm delighted to say that Theotime and his violin
are going to join us right now.
He's come up to the gallery. Welcome, Theotime.
Come and take a seat.
Thank you so much! Thank you!
Yes, a round of applause...
THEY APPLAUD
..for a wonderful first half. How are you feeling about it?
Very good. Yeah? It's very... It's very warm.
It's impressive to see the crowd. Right.
And you can really feel that everybody is very friendly,
and they are passionate about music, and they want to hear great music,
so it's a very good experience. Yeah.
You completely held them spellbound, but we were just curious -
how did this repertoire, how did Vivaldi get into your blood?
I think it's because of Vivaldi that I'm now playing the violin,
because I heard the Four Seasons when I was a kid,
and I think it's a masterpiece.
Also, to bring this music to people and bring the music to children,
and I really love to listen to the Four Seasons a lot.
Which is a bit of luck, because we are going to hear it,
of course, in the second half!
THEY LAUGH
What is it particularly about Summer that you love?
I think it's very striking, the atmosphere at the beginning,
because, you know, summer for us, it's Ibiza,
it's like Cote d'Azur, but at the time of Vivaldi,
it was... We wish, yeah! ..not.
It was not at all. It was very dramatic.
The beginning of L'estate is very, like...
It talks about death,
it talks about a lot of very, very strong feelings,
and so I love this, and I love the apocalypse of the third movement.
It's very biblical apocalypse, and it's very inspiring to play.
Yeah! And this music just feeds off the audience reaction, doesn't it?
You mentioned the children. Some have just come past here.
But you know, that kind of...
..the zing and the sense that you get of the cackle of the audience.
Does it inspire you to take more risks, go further?
Yeah, and sometimes the silence sounds completely different
with this kind of crowd,
and so it's very interesting to see how they react
if you have just one little bit more of silence than you are used to.
And this is very impressive,
because you feel the connection with everybody in the audience.
What I love about a lot of the music you've played today
is this sort of lyrical, singing quality to it.
I mean, you were a singer, weren't you, when you were a kid?
I was a boy singer, in a boys' choir. Yeah.
My parents are teaching singing, and I was raised as a singer,
but I choose violin.
Lovely violin, by the way! Tell us about the violin.
You've got it with you. It's a very beautiful Bergonzi violin,
so Bergonzi is the one who bought the shop of Antonio Stradivari. OK.
And so it's really similar to a Stradivarius,
it's just even better!
How old? 1733.
SHE GASPS
Oh, my goodness!
So it could have known some of the composers that we are playing today.
Exactly! Can you imagine that?! Yeah.
That must make it feel pretty special to play, right?
Yeah. It's very special.
I love its sound, and it's a great friend of mine, in a way.
Well, Theotime, you know, take your friend back downstairs,
get ready for the second half!
Thank you so much for taking the time to come and talk to us.
Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you.
Well, we had a spectacular first half,
we had a wonderful chat with Theotime, and as he was saying,
we have Summer from the Four Seasons to come,
but before we get to that, we have even more Vivaldi in store.
We've got his Violin Concerto in A minor
and his Concerto for Strings,
and as it is a Vivaldi and Bach Prom,
only right that we have a bit more Bach as well.
We're going to hear the Largo from his Violin Concerto in G minor.
Now, Hannah, I know you have been knee-deep in Vivaldi,
as it's the 300th anniversary coming up of
the publication of the Four Seasons, which is a big deal. Exactly.
I spent a lot of last year trying to follow in his footsteps,
whether it's through his music and his manuscripts
or actually over in Mantua and in Venice as well, so, yeah.
Someone had to do it! I was going to say!
That's not a bad way to spend your time.
I mean, what does it tell you when you look back at the music,
about his world and the time he lived in?
It tells you a lot, and the more time you spend there,
the more you realise about the sounds -
the significance of the different bird calls,
the festivals that were going on, the sights that he would have seen.
They are in many ways
sonic postcards or snapshots of his time,
and when we think about seasonality, right -
if you were going to write the Four Seasons today,
it would be flash floods and forest fires,
and there may come a time when we're even more nostalgic
for the real, even quarterings of the year
that we can really still feel through the Four Seasons.
Interesting as well that it was published in Amsterdam,
not in Italy. Yes.
This music travelled, didn't it? It really did.
It made Vivaldi famous,
and his decision to publish in Amsterdam was no mistake.
He could have published in Venice or in Rome, as he did,
but actually, Amsterdam had the connections,
and through that and through his very business-savvy father
he was able to cut a deal with Etienne Roger
and then his son-in-law Le Cene,
and his music then went through all of their networks across Europe.
APPLAUSE
Theotime and the other 20 members of Le Consort
coming back to the stage,
ready to share some more Baroque delights in this Prom, Hannah.
Yes, the ensemble beginning the second half of today's concert
with one of more than 200 concertos Vivaldi wrote for solo violin,
this one in A minor,
composed for the women and girls of the Pieta,
the institute in Venice where he created a world-class ensemble
to showcase his music.
APPLAUSE CONTINUES
APPLAUSE
Le Consort with a sparkling rendition
of Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in A Minor.
And next, we're going to hear the Largo from Johann Sebastian Bach's
Violin Concerto in G Minor.
APPLAUSE
Another phenomenal display from Le Consort.
That was Vivaldi's Concerto for Strings in G Minor.
Just stunning play, full of verve and virtuosity.
It's almost hard to believe, isn't it,
that Vivaldi's music was forgotten for a good part of a century,
not long after his death.
We're going to round off today's concert with a violin concerto
that is known to most of us as Summer in Vivaldi's Four Seasons,
a piece of great significance to Theotime.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
A roar from the audience here in the Royal Albert Hall
for that performance of Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons
by Le Consort.
And Vivaldi might have been neglected in the centuries
after his death but, my goodness, I think he's made
something of a comeback recently.
I mean, that is now one of classical music's most-recognised
and loved pieces, and we just heard it performed spectacularly well.
"Apocalyptic" was the word that Theotime described.
I mean, Hannah, he may have been leading Le Consort,
but they all played a shining part, didn't they?
Absolutely. And what they do so well
in their sound and their body language as well
is, you know, you're invested, you believe in the plight of the season
and the soloist's character particularly. It's that fear...
Look at him! He's a bit of a rock star, isn't he? He is. He is.
But they brought that fear, and you really believed it
from the heat and the winds and the thunder.
You know, it is a destructive force that they turned it into.
We earlier saw the core quartet performing alone,
and you can see them at the front.
We've got the violinist Sophie de Bardonneche,
we've got Hanna Salzenstein on cello,
Justin Taylor, the harpsichord, as we saw... Oh!
We've got an encore, I think, coming up.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
I'm feeling quite out of breath after that encore.
That was a piece by Charles Avison,
who was a British composer of the Baroque period.
He lived in Newcastle. It was called Con Furia
from his Concerto Grosso Number 6 from 1744.
I mean, Hannah, that was a choice!
Talk about catching the winds of Vivaldi's summer storm.
APPLAUSE
Gosh, absolutely beautiful.
That was the French Ensemble Le Consort
concluding their Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall
with a second encore by a British composer.
Music there from a suite called The Mad Lover by John Eccles
from 1695. Gorgeous, that.
Yes. The calm after the storm of that Furia. I think we needed it.
They have given us such a wonderful selection of music
to celebrate their debut, their tenth anniversary as well.
I've been so impressed by the way they have brought new vigour
to this music, wouldn't you say?
Absolutely. I mean, you've got to be excited to see where they go next,
haven't you, after this.
The audience have loved it.
Oh!
It does look as if he is leaving... Or is he?
Who knows? Is he teasing us?
Do you want to hear something again?
AUDIENCE: Yes! What?
AUDIENCE SHOUTS OUT
This is democracy.
LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE
LAUGHTER AND CHEERING
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Talk about giving the audience what they want!
Le Consort really letting rip there, Hannah,
saying, "Do you want some more? OK. We'll do the hits again."
I love it!
And you just trust him, don't you?
Standing ovation for them.
I mean, they are a force. They're a real force to be reckoned with.
They are. As I say, you trust him.
You know he's going to take it right to the edge of every extreme,
but he's got the panache, he's got the style and the substance.
CHEERING CONTINUES
I just love seeing how much fun they've been having. Yes.
The performance, with the music, with each other.
I mean, it's just joyful, isn't it? It's a real team sport, isn't it?
Yes! A team sport.
Come on.
Aw, Hannah, what a treat that has been.
And what a nice touch, wasn't it, having British composers
of Baroque - Avison and the Eccles as well. Beautiful pieces of music.
It was a lovely touch, and it really showed what we were talking about
earlier, about how Italian music and these virtuosos spread across Europe
and were incredibly popular here. And also testament
to what they're doing - Avison and Eccles on stage with Vivaldi,
just how it should be. Listen, thank you so much for joining me
here in the gallery today. It really has been such a pleasure
having you with me. But the time has come, I'm afraid,
to say farewell to Le Consort's Prom.
But Andi Oliver is here on BBC Four on Sunday evening
with more exciting young talent,
this time five-time Grammy-award-winning
singing sensation Samara Joy.
The 25-year-old from the Bronx and her band join forces
with the BBC Concert Orchestra to perform songs
from the Great American Songbook and beyond.
And we are only a week into what is already proving to be
a very memorable season and, as ever,
each of this year's 86 Proms will be broadcast live
on BBC Radio 3. You can listen back to them all
on BBC Sounds, of course.
Coming up on TV and the BBC iPlayer,
we have a soul music prom, we've got Viennese waltzes,
we've got Anoushka Shankar with her sitar,
Grammy award-winning performer St Vincent,
and the much-anticipated Traitors Prom to name but a few.
There really is something for everyone.
So until next time, goodbye from the Royal Albert Hall.