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Royal Albert Hall, LondonWith a stand-in conductor and a stellar cast, Berlioz’s monumental opera came into its own at the Proms; the BBC Symphony Orchestra let Bruckner’s colours unfurl; and Aurora’s Stravinsky played from memory proved unforgettableGrabbing headlines like a pillaging advance party, the offstage story surrounding Berlioz’s Les Troyens (1856-8) was never going to sabotage the main event. Nor did it. A star cast, near flawless choir and tireless orchestra arrived at the Proms last weekend, from a European tour, to reveal this sprawling work in all its ambition. The conductor John Eliot Gardiner, who dreamed up the project, trained the musicians and no doubt contributed to the semi-staging, was absent: he has withdrawn from all remaining concerts in 2023 after allegedly assaulting one of the soloists. His younger associate, Portuguese-born Dinis Sousa, already a considerable conductor in his own right, leapt into the breach with grace and intensity, directing the Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and soloists, led by Alice Coote, Paula Murrihy and Michael Spyres, in a spellbinding, well-paced performance.This dazzling and lopsided opera, recounting the fall of Troy and the fateful love of Dido and Aeneas – Berlioz’s own libretto draws on Virgil’s Aeneid – was not performed in full in the composer’s lifetime. A summation of his maverick creative ingenuity, it gathered dust for most of a century. Now back in the repertoire but always a monumental undertaking, it retains the feel of a novelty. Theatre stagings can be problematic. The five-act work found ideal realisation in the Albert Hall. Performers made use of stairs, galleries, side entrances (movement director Tess Gibbs, lighting Rick Fisher). Playing period instruments and enhanced by ophicleide and an army of offstage saxhorns, the orchestra sounded transparent and lithe, Berlioz’s sonic originality bursting forth. Continue reading...