It's the night of alternative souls at the Albert Hall; at least, that's the idea. It's a great one on paper: the first collaborative prom between Radio 3 and 6 Music, linking up the London Sinfonietta, known for its contemporary classical repertoire, with artists known for their alternative inclinations. In practice, it's more of a mixed bag.
Steve Lamacq and Tom Service are our entertaining hosts – Lamacq in a suit, Service with his foot on the monitor loudspeaker – but the latter's opening speech about a shared "spirit of adventure" gets heckled. Then, as 13 percussionists begin Edgar Varèse's Ionisation (the first record bought by Frank Zappa), another heckler shouts for The Stranglers' Golden Brown.
Tonight reveals how conservative the 6 Music element of tonight's audience is. We're treated to an ambitious, eclectic programme, halfway between Late Junction and Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone. The classical stuff feels nervy and unsettling in context. Iannis Xenakis's O-Mega (the last piece the Greek composer wrote, for this orchestra, in 1997) fills the space with rolling percussion and discordant strings. Luciano Berio's O King (written after Martin Luther King's assassination), is quiet and beautiful, prompting rude, nervous laughs in the crowd.
The collaborations are less successful, but the sound doesn't help. The Sinfonietta get lost in the Stranglers' No More Heroes; a soundproof barrier between drummer Jet Black and the orchestra feels like a concrete divide. (The heckler gets Golden Brown later, too, but its complex arrangement lessens its power.) Cerys Matthews's song choices work better. She romps gutsily through a 15th-century Welsh dancing song and Blueberry Hill, the Sinfonietta supporting her lightly on the latter. Matthews reveals that she played the oboe in West Glamorgan Youth Orchestra – a nice touch, showing that these worlds aren't that far apart.
A 10-minute version of Laura Marling's Breathe is tonight's highlight, however. The 23-year-old's voice takes on avant-garde tones, swooping between American-accented vocals and disjointed, spoken-word delivery. The strings mirror her melody effectively, too, giving something extra to her song: collaborative spirit as it should be.
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