
The first of the two Proms performances of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story was great, if sometimes problematic. The performance, given by the John Wilson Orchestra and a terrific cast was a stunner. The piece, however, came in an authorised concert version that occasionally marred its impact.
The score was played complete, but the dialogue was omitted, except for passages intended to be spoken over music and a few sections introducing individual numbers. This was West Side Story without the bulk of Arthur Laurents’s book, and the work inevitably suffered. Anyone unfamiliar with the piece would have had trouble following the narrative, while important characters such as Bernardo, Riff and even Anita tended to become ciphers.
Yet the score hit home, and hearing it at the Proms was a reminder Bernstein’s phenomenal ability to obliterate every distinction between classical and popular music by eliding the Broadway musical with Stravinsky and even 12-tone music in the Cool fugue. Wilson conducted with white-hot intensity, and the orchestral sound, with its plush strings and big-band brass, sent shivers down the spine.
Tony and Maria were played by Ross Lekites and Mikaela Bennett. She sounded gorgeous, if a bit operatic. Lekites, a real star, sang with wonderful ease and heady abandon. Eden Espinosa was the firebrand Anita. Gian Marco Schiaretti’s aggressive Bernardo and Leo Roberts’ laconic Riff made their marks, despite the loss of much of their dialogue. Louise Alder sang Somewhere with a breathtaking beauty of tone.
The work was presented, meanwhile, in a semi-staging by Stephen Whitson. There was no dancing, and, mistakenly perhaps, he omitted the fights. However, he used the space effectively, as Jets and Sharks confronted each other across the orchestra from the front of the platform and the organ gallery, while one of the Albert Hall’s many balustrades served as a balcony for Bennett and Lekites in Tonight. It was a wonderful performance, despite qualms about the version used.
• The BBC Proms continue until 8 September.
