Nils Frahm
BBC Proms
Royal Albert Hall
5/5

The genius of Nils Frahm, live, offered a deconstruction and then reconstruction of the styles normally associated with ambient music, classical piano, impro-jazz and electro-techno music, and the result was as unique as it was exciting.

Despite the delicacies of the music Frahm puts aside any notion of going easy on his instruments by being constantly in motion on stage for the beautiful Says, the rising action of Berduxa, the hectic intensity for Hammers and speed-beat rhythms of Toilet Brushes, More.

With arms often stretched, Frahm leans across instruments to play both, or crouches over them, triggering heavy electronic atmospheres and rhythm loops from a bank of modulators and electronic “keys” while moving between two pianos, an upright and grand, on either side, both tuned to provide a curious and engaging sound and played with a range of ferocious time changes, patterns and cycles, hypnotic melody, moments of quiet dance and powerful energies.

Frequently Frahm lets out beating rhythms and hums with voice as a release from his chase towards the notes that he knows are coming and those notes he discovers while playing.

This set-up of what might appear to be separate instruments on stage provides Frahm with what is really a mass of instruments, dials and switches, acting as one, posing as an extended single entity, with conjoined parts, made by Frahm to work within, with the sole purpose of enabling an absolutely riveting spectacle of musicianship to occur.

His performance oozes technical flair in each movement of the piano playing, and in each and every moment of improvisation and deviation there is total immersion for the musician and a solid state experience of gasping for breath, bewilderment and whooping sounds of joy for the audience.

Nils Frahm was in devastating form for this wickedly brilliant inclusion for this years Proms series, organized by Mary Anne Hobbs from BBC Radio 6, so much so that the performance of Atomos by A Winged Victory for the Sullen, with Fukiko Takase and other dancers from Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance Company, could only act as a prelude for the stunning affect of what Frahm did.

BBC Proms runs to Saturday 12 September. Nils Frahm recordings are released on Erased Tapes Records.