Stephen Bryant

Hitting the right note demands a good understanding of each other, reveals this team from the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Jiri Belohlavek, chief conductor, and Stephen Bryant, leader, BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Jiri: Every conductor has a great concern - the quality of his musicians and especially the leading ones. The leader is the closest the conductor gets to a partner, and this relationship is crucial for the whole collaboration to work. I am blessed to have a great concert master in Stephen. I love to work with him, not only for his excellent professionalism, but also for the way he approaches the members of the orchestra. He has a very specific style - calm but exciting at the same time - and he has a marvellous British sense of humour.

Stephen: Leaders and conductors need to trust each other in order to get the freedom they need to work. Jiri is not only a consummate musician but he knows how they tick. He never stifles the strings and therefore the sound he gets from the orchestra is beautiful. It’s inspiring. Best of all, there’s no ’side’ to him. What you see is what you get and there is none of the ‘bluff’ that some conductors employ and that orchestral musicians see through so easily. He even understands my peculiar sense of humour, although, admittedly, it has taken him quite a few years!

From BBC Ariel magazine 2008

Despite 13 years of performing at the Proms, Stephen still feels there’s nothing quite like it. As leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, his responsibility for the success of each performance is second only to the conductor’s. ‘I’m the link between the conductor and orchestra,’ he explains. ‘I sit right under his nose, on the first stand of violins, and have to bring my section in at the right place. I also play solos and prepare the parts beforehand, as well as pulling things to bits after rehearsal if the phrasing or intonation isn’t right.’

Before his current position, Stephen was co-leader of the London Philharmonic and before that led a string quartet, before deciding it wasn’t for him. Having found his true vocation, Stephen says there’s nothing quite like the famous last night. ‘It’s incredibly exciting, partly because the promenaders are such a good audience. They’re so enthusiastic and open-minded, it really lifts you as a performer. All in all it’s a wonderful experience.’

Visit: Dan Roberts Website

On June 25th the BBC Proms went ‘Out and About’. For me, it meant leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a concert at Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherds Bush and playing string quartets in Lyric Square Hammersmith!

What has been dubbed ‘The Stephen Bryant String Quartet’ comprising myself, Caroline, Mary and Marie played a programme of light music in Lyric Square in what can only be described as less than perfect conditions thanks to the unpredictable weather! It was very hot and very windy – neither of which is good for outdoor music making! A couple of stands went flying in the windy conditions and although we had pegged our music to the stands the wind was too strong. One member of the quartet, who shall remain nameless (Mary - oops!) resorted to keeping the music in place with a foot! It was also extremely noisy with the hustle and bustle of people going about their everyday activities – many probably wondering what on earth was going on!

Later in the day the Orchestra decamped from our Maida Vale Studios to the new Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherds Bush. Luckily, we were inside for this concert of British music including – Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten and London Calling by Eric Coates. We also played the world premiere of Chelsea Reach by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.

I enjoyed a good Italian meal and looked around the centre. Although the shops were enticing (shopping being a favourite pastime of mine) I managed to resist their allure and came away empty handed for a change!

This year the 115th Prom season gets under way on the 17th July and kicks off with a programme of Stravinsky – Fireworks, Chabrier – Ode a la Musique, Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No 3 in E Flat Major, Poulenc – Concerto for Two Pianos, Elgar – In the South (Alassio), Brahms – Alto Rhapsody and Bruckner – Psalm 150 plus two intervals!

Even though I’ve taken part in about 140 Proms (to date!) I still get excited being part of this great annual event. As any Promenader worth his salt knows, the Proms are the world’s biggest music festival and were started back in 1895 by Henry Wood at the Queen’s Hall and then moved to the Royal Albert Hall in 1941 after the Queen’s Hall was damaged in an air raid. Although not always the easiest hall in which to play acoustically speaking, the Albert Hall is an aesthetically beautiful building steeped in tradition and atmosphere.

The Proms attract a huge selection of really top notch conductors and soloists but, for me, the best thing about the concerts is the audience. Prom audiences and the famous Promenaders are knowledgeable, informed, open minded and enthusiastic and since I’ve been doing the Proms for a long time now, I recognise many friendly faces each year!

Of course the BBC Symphony Orchestra is proud to play a major role in the Proms, including opening and closing the season with the First and Last Nights. This year I’ve tried to spread my share of the Proms more evenly over the season. So here are the Proms I’m doing this summer!

Prom 1 – 17th July

Programme as above – conducted by Jiri Belohlavek.

I last worked with Jiri, our Chief Conductor, at the end of May in an exciting performance of Mahler 5 which wrapped up our Barbican season until October. I’m looking forward, as always to working with him for the First Night of The Proms.

Prom 24 – 2nd August

Susanna Malkki conducts:

Ben Foskett – new work (BBC commission, world premiere)

Beethoven – Symphony No 4 in B flat major

Berlioz – Te Deum

There are some excellent women conductors around today in a profession that is still extremely male dominated, so it will be interesting to work with Susanna Malkki as I haven’t worked with her before. Also, Trinity Boys Choir are performing – my old school!

Prom 46 – 19th August

Semyon Bychkov conducts:

Detlev Glanert – Shoreless River

Rachmaninov – Rhapsody on a Theme of Pagannini

Shostakovich – Symphony No 11 ‘The Year 1905’

Last year the BBCSO did a Prom with Semyon Bychkov which many reckoned was among the best of our season. I haven’t worked with him since my days at the LPO so I’m looking forward to this concert featuring Shostakovich’s massive Symphony No 11!

Prom 57 – 28th August

David Robertson conducts:

Stravinsky – Agon

Tchaikovsky – Concert Fantasia in G Major Op 56

Variations on a Rococo Theme

Francesca da Rimini

This programme, with our Principal Guest Conductor David Robertson, includes Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with the very fine cellist Steven Isserlis and Stravinsky’s Agon which I have played at the Proms in the past and which has some fiendish violin solos.

Prom 63 – 2nd September

David Robertson conducts:

Xenakis – Numos gamma

Rachmaninov – The Isle of the Dead

Xenakis – Ais

Shostakovich – Symphony No 9 in E flat Major

David Robertson again, this time conducting two pieces by Xenakis sandwiched in between two of my favourite orchestral works – Shostakovich - 9th Symphony and Rachmaninov – The Isle of the Dead, where at the beginning you can hear Charon rowing his boat across the River Styx – much more reliable than the trains I believe! Two days later we’re taking this programme to Berlin to play in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall.

Prom 72 – 9th September

Jiri Belohlavek conducts:

Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Overture and Incidental Music

Augusta Read Thomas – Violin Concerto No 3 ‘Juggler in Paradise’

Beethoven – Symphony No 6 in F major ‘Pastoral’

This interesting programme includes the Augusta Read Thomas Violin Concerto which I don’t know at all but am looking forward to hearing!

I’m taking the Last Night of the Proms off this year as I’ve done it the previous two years! I have four days rest and then it’s on to Besancon and Montreaux with the orchestra for a week.