BBC Proms 2024: Ensemble Resonanz and Riccardo Minasi Shine in Spirited Mozart Showcase

BBC Proms 2024: A Night of Mozart Excellence

If there’s ever a moment where classical music feels electric, it’s when a group and conductor hit the Royal Albert Hall for their first Proms together and just own the room. That’s exactly what happened at Prom 41 of the BBC Proms 2024. The German-based Ensemble Resonanz and conductor Riccardo Minasi didn’t just play Mozart—they brought turbocharged focus and spirit to every bar.

The night was all about Mozart. No fillers, no sidesteps. It started fast with the dashing opener from The Marriage of Figaro. That familiar rush got people leaning in, and the energy barely dipped when the Don Giovanni overture hit. You could tell right away that Minasi had a vision for Mozart—something crisp, punchy, but never heavy-handed. Instead of pounding away with big sound, the orchestra honed in on lean textures and sudden shifts in mood, making the music feel alive and full of surprises.

Soloists Steal the Show

The centerpiece? Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola (K. 364). Here’s where violinist Clara-Jumi Kang and violist Timothy Ridout came into the spotlight. Watching them was like seeing two friends locked in a wordless conversation—passing phrases effortlessly, matching one another’s tone, and tossing lines back and forth without missing a beat. Their cadenzas snapped with precision, and the slow movement sang with warmth and real emotional depth.

People love to toss around the word ‘chemistry’ when it comes to solo pairings, but Kang and Ridout took it further—it was like eavesdropping on the secret language of musicians who get each other’s style inside out. They leaned into Mozart’s lyricism, never letting the showmanship get in the way of real feeling. For their encore, they chose the Adagio from Mozart’s Duo in G major (K. 423). It’s a tricky piece—elegant but exposed—and their playing was all about subtle dialogue, with each turn of phrase balanced perfectly.

The second half brought out the biggest statement of the evening: Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony (K. 551). Minasi here was in his element, getting the orchestra to sound transparent but punchy; every line clear, rhythms crisp, not a note wasted. Climaxes hit with force but never blared. The orchestra was tight—you could sense how they listened to each other, especially in the explosive last movement where counterpoint whirled at breakneck speed. It made you hear why this piece still floors listeners today.

Not willing to let the energy drop, the group picked Presto from the Haffner Symphony (K. 385) as their final encore. This movement flies by, and Minasi egged everyone on to take Mozart’s “as fast as possible” challenge to heart. Fingers blurred, bows flew, and the whole hall buzzed as the ensemble burned through the ending with a sense of wild fun—not perfect but razor-sharp where it counted.

Critics didn’t hold back, either. They singled out how the orchestra’s sound felt precise without becoming clinical, always shaped by Minasi’s ability to shift from delicate details to thunderous outbursts. What made the night stand out was the mix of discipline and freedom—no one coasting, everyone tuned in, and the spirit of Mozart crackling through the hall. If anyone thought a new face at the Proms might play it safe, Ensemble Resonanz and Minasi proved just the opposite, turning a Mozart program into an evening full of surprises and sparks.