Gabetta/BBCSO/Lu Review: Francisco Coll Premiere Explores Widely

Francisco Coll’s Cello Concerto, premiered in the UK by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Tianyi Lu, featured in the Sunday morning Prom. This concerto, part of a series of works Coll has written for Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta, compresses a vast amount of instrumental vigor into its four movements. Textures in the outer sections of the piece clash and interweave, creating a shifting musical landscape, with two slower introspective movements in between, culminating in an impressive cello cadenza.

Coll’s music is renowned for its broad stylistic range. The first movement of the concerto echoes the tangos of Gabetta’s homeland, Argentina, with rhythms that recall the cubist era compositions of Stravinsky, while some passages in the cello resemble Elgar’s concerto. Emphasizing the South American connection, Gabetta performed an encore with Coll’s solo piece, “The Secret Life of Tango,” which meanders around the dance motif before briefly settling into it.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra mirrored Gabetta’s technical prowess, navigating the demanding orchestral sections with precision under Lu’s masterful direction. Lu’s program was punctuated by showpieces like Dukas’s symphonic scherzo “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” a marvel of French music, and a suite from Stravinsky’s “Firebird” ballet—the extended 1945 version instead of the shorter 1919 edition. Both pieces were performed with meticulous attention to detail.

Additionally, there was a nod to one of this year’s anniversarians with a rare piece by Puccini, the Preludio Sinfonico. This piece, written as a graduation exercise in 1882, was later partially revisited in his first two operas, “Le Villi” and “Edgar.” It stood apart from the rest of Lu’s program, coming from a completely different musical world.

Available on BBC Sounds. The BBC Proms continue until 14 September.