Prom 4 was always going to be a grand affair, as Hallé musical director Sir Marks Elder steps down, after twenty-four years. Far from a somber affair, Elder has chosen to pair new with old, as the well-renowned Sir James MacMillan gets the Proms premiere of his dramatic Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia (2022), the appetiser to the Mahler feast: Symphony No. 5 in C# minor (1904).

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of MacMillan’s twenty-minute adventure is his epic use of all three Hallé choirs: adult, youth, and children’s.  All three sing with great aplomb; and as the final moments ring out, their combined voices fill the auditorium to deathly silence.  The final bars are particularly affecting, with great crashes, punctuated finally with a gentle but deep and cavernous harmony, that seems to cut right through us all.

The Mahler is equally effective in its reach, providing the schizophrenic drama it has come to be known so well for.  Mahler is the kind of artist whose life and work are inextricably, often painfully, interlinked; and the ebbs and flows of that pain are well communicated in Elder’s interpretation. While all the musicians play with great feeling, leader Roberto Ruisi seems to throw himself into every slick lunge and wide bow, especially in the fourth movement when it is needed the most.  One to watch.

It’s been a great start so far to the BBC Proms 2024. Old with new faces, arrivals and departures, and a handsome number of patrons give hope that the traditions are alive and well.  Then again, with Elder, MacMillan and Mahler supplying the work? It’s hardly a surprise is it?!

Tickets for all 73 Proms are available from just £8 on the BBC Proms 2024 website.