Royal Albert Hall, London
Friday 20 July 2001
First Night of the BBC Proms 2001
BBC Symphony Orchestra / Leonard Slatkin

Johnston to the Rescue

The instrumental star of the evening was the 20-year-old cellist, Guy Johnston.  Johnston won the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2000 (in spite of a broken string exposed for all to see on television), playing Shostakovitch. This time, with TV cameras once again up his nose, Johnston gave an elegiac performance of the Elgar Concerto, an altogether different beast.

After this performance, it can safely be said that Johnston has the equipment to be a great artist. His musical intelligence is obvious: this interpretation spelt intensity and introspection; his long elegantly shaped phrases and beautifully coloured. He takes his time pacing and placing the notes; the playing is clean and honest – no fudge in the tricky spiccato passages; his finely balanced dynamics make real sense of the recitatives and passage work. He is a quiet, undemonstrative player, the energy rightly reserved for the music. Slatkin provided a most sympathetic surround with the BBC players.

Annette Moreau