It's a sign of the times that Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise" second symphony, so adored in mid-19th century Britain, has only been performed once at the Proms in the last 100 years before this week, while Berlioz's La Mort de Cléopâtre, spurned in the composer's own lifetime, is now regularly programmed. But if any conductor can make the cases for the two utterly contrasting works, it is Mark Elder.
The Berlioz half of the evening got off to a cracking start with a performance of the Benvenuto Cellini overture whose energy never faltered. But in Cléopâtre, the deeper and darker originality of Berlioz's genius was revealed, with Susan Graham the imperious mezzo soloist. In the closing pages, Graham and Elder extracted so much tension and drama from the work's fragmented and spare writing that, even at a distance of 180 years, one could see why the traditionalist judges of the Prix de Rome were shocked by the youthful Berlioz's composition.
Mendelssohn's second symphony has all the musical and spiritual equanimity that Berlioz's cantata eschews. But it is a highly original work nevertheless, lasting more than an hour, with three purely orchestral movements followed by a further nine for chorus and soloists, which achieves the feat of never once appearing to ape Beethoven's Ninth. It sprawls at times in the cantata sections, and Mendelssohn's writing occasionally seems to be set on cruise control, but the symphony is knitted together by a stirring recurrent theme, not unlike a Berlioz idée fixe, which announces the long opening orchestral Maestoso and which returns in the blazing choral hymn at the end. Elder took the symphony at a brisk pace, clearly determined that his momentum would carry the work through its more static pages. Steve Davislim's well-projected tenor stood out among the soloists and the Hallé Choir gave their all.
The Albert Hall was the perfect venue for this hybrid symphony-cantata, and it should not be another century before it is heard again at the Proms.
The Proms run until 12 September. Details: www.bbc.co.uk/proms
