Bruce Liu Plays Tchaikovsky

Bruce Liu Plays Tchaikovsky

Royal Albert Hall

I'm half an hour late to this evening's Prom, but not without good reason. My parent's were in the area and we dined out at the Ring O' Bells pub in Frodsham. Good reviews apparently, and it did not disappoint. For my part I enjoyed a '14 Hour Braised Beef and Ale Pie', washed down with a pint of J.W. Lee's Manchester Pale Ale. Finished it off with a raspberry bakewell with custard, and an Irish coffee. A feast fit for a hero.

I arrive back to mine in a daze of happiness and, thanks to the wizardry of BBC Sounds, I'm able to listen to tonight's Prom from the start. And talking of wizardry, it's Bruce Liu at the keys this evening. I have no need to wash any dishes etcetera tonight, so I plump for the living room HiFi to enjoy tonight's programme.

The first piece is Antrópolis by Gabriela Ortiz, which apparently is a homage to urban nightlife in Mexico City. Bodes for a full-flavoured piece, and, not for the first time this evening, I'm pleasantly satisfied. It's a heavily percussive broth, with a soupçon of the flamenco. Very tasty!

Next up it's Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto in full. I'm a fan of Tchaikovsky's music, first encountering it, I think, from the 1990 film Misery. One of the many powerful scenes in that film features Tchaikovsky's piano concerto number one. So... I'm very familiar with his first, but what of his second? It's perhaps not as intense as the first, but it's Tchaikovsky all right - all the hallmarks are there. Softly floating bubbles of piano, kept airborne by smooth strings throughout.

The encore to the first half is a corker - we're treated to a rousing rendition of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag, with the percussion joining in the fun being led by the piano. Any aspiring pianist will tell you that this (along with The Entertainer) is a must-learn piece, but it's incredibly demanding to play. I hear a bit of a chuckle from the audience when it starts. And why not? It brings us all back to life after the unabridged Tchaikovsky. One fine rag!

The interval plays and I draw the curtains - this is happening noticeably earlier than last week.

I'm very happy with how things are going so far, but have no clue of what to expect from the final piece, which is Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. It kicks off and, Oh My GOD!, it's the theme tune to the The New Statesman! Rik Mayall's number one fan right here, but that's something I'll have to fill another blog with sometime.

The presenter Ian Skelly muses that the capacity crowd will be heading home, 'walking on air.' I know I would be. Unexpectedly, one of my favourite of the 2025 Proms so far. I'm pleasantly stuffed tonight, in every possible way :)