Bruce Liu and the Philharmonia Orchestra: Live at the Royal Albert Hall

There are moments when music rises above the professional and reaches the ranks of extraordinary. There were several such moments at the Royal Albert Hall on 20 August when the Philharmonia Orchestra was joined by principal conductor Santtu-Matthias Rouvali and pianist Bruce Liu.

The evening opened with Gabriela Ortiz’s Antropolis. As the audience filed into the stunning Royal Albert Hall, the timpani player (centre stage, just beneath the ubiquitous Proms bust of Sir Henry Wood) was quietly running through his part. When the piece started, it was obvious why - the music captures the sounds of Mexico’s clubs and you can’t do that without some incredible drumming. The timpani cadenzas were brilliant and the whole piece was the perfect choice to open a night at the Proms. Ortiz is the Featured Composer for the Philharmonia’s 2025/26 season and it was a delight to hear this Grammy-winner’s work.

The fabulous programming continued as the orchestra shrank and a grand piano was wheeled into place for Bruce Liu’s Proms debut: the choice of Tchaikovsky’s rarely-performed Piano Concerto no 2 in G major was inspired. Not only was the piano playing truly sublime (Liu’s list of awards is topped by his 2021 First Prize at the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw) but the orchestral work was similarly inspired. The second movement was absolutely dominated by the solo work from leader of the orchestra Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay and principal cello Steffan Morris. There is still a dilemma about whether it is acceptable to applaud between movements and this was one place where the audience appeared to be simply bursting with the drive to clap loudly and wildly.

Once Liu had completed his virtuoso demonstration with the Tchaikovsky and the audience had finally completed the extended applause, he moved from classical to jazz with Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. Joined by double bassist Tim Gibbs and Santtu-Matthias Rouvali (swapping his conductor’s baton for drum brushes), this delightful trio proved their musical versatility with the perfect encore.

During the interval, there was more moving around of orchestral seats and music stands, to allow for the Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. There was particularly beautiful solo playing from Simon Haram (alto sax), and trumpets Jason Evans (principal), Robin Totterdell (no. 2 trumpet), Christian Barraclough (no. 3 trumpet) and Toby Street, with the whole Philharmonia performing beautifully.

The BBC Proms once more delivered the new, the unusual and the more familiar to a capacity Royal Albert Hall.