Of Sunday's two Proms, the first was the obvious crowd-pleaser: Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel, two of today's starriest singers, backed by Welsh National Opera's classy orchestra. Two operatic chunks dominated the first half. First it was Terfel singing Wotan's Farewell, giving a tantalising glimpse of the role he will sing in Covent Garden's next Ring cycle - one in which, if this authoritative, thoughtful performance is anything to go by, he could be world class. Fleming gave us the final scene of Strauss's Capriccio, a confection that, although mellifluously sung, sounded flimsy in comparison.
The second half ranged from Mozart to Les Mis, with Gareth Jones handing the baton over to Broadway specialist Paul Gemignani for the lighter music. Terfel duly charmed everyone within earshot, making several women near the stage blush during Leporello's Catalogue aria from Don Giovanni. Fleming, however, seemed determined to play against her strengths, which are the beauty of her sound and the way she can effortlessly spin silky lines of tone. She pulled the tempo around self-indulgently during Porgi, Amor from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, and haltingly emoted her way through several numbers that needed to be delivered straight if they were to sound sincere.
Still, there was atmosphere in the packed hall, though the feelgood factor was dissolved for some by the discovery that during all this schmaltz a zealous traffic warden had gone around the hall and clamped their cars. If that meant they stayed for the later concert, then all to the good, as the BBC Symphony Orchestra's programme was crowd-pleasing in an altogether more satisfying way.
First up were excerpts from the gloriously weird and witty Carmen suite arranged by Shchedrin. Then, even better, we had two virtuoso violin showpieces played by Leonidas Kavakos with unwavering commitment, superb clarity and an exhilarating impetuous streak. Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony rounded off the day, a work that Leonard Slatkin, conducting from memory, plainly loves. This was a generous performance, full of unexpectedly Romantic grandeur.
