Four piano concertos, each with a novel aspect, were presented on consecutive evenings at the Proms. First was Mendelssohn’s No 1 in G minor, familiar enough, but not when played on the instrument Stephen Hough used for his performance with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Adam Fischer. This was already, of course, going to be a period-style account, but, uniquely, we heard the solo part played on the glittering Erard piano, dating from 1856, that was made for Queen Victoria and is normally to be found at Buckingham Palace.
The loan, like the whole Prom programme, honoured the 200th anniversary of the birth of both Victoria and Albert. It even included songs composed by the prince: five, performed by the tenor
