Proms 2014: Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich/David Zinman, Albert Hall - music review

One of the chief attractions of the Proms is the participation of foreign orchestras, and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich were welcomed like old friends. Their chief conductor David Zinman, looking ever more like a genial Georg Solti, was making his last appearance with the orchestra.

His reading of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony adopted the brisk tempi of historically informed performance but with a warmly Romantic handling of woodwind (ornithological imitations elegantly done) and strings (babbling brook) in the slow movement. A more agreeable lazy afternoon in the country could scarcely be imagined.

There were rustic pleasures in Dvorak’s Violin Concerto, where the wistful Bohemian mood was captured to perfection. Julia Fischer was the accomplished and eloquent soloist.

The highpoint of Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel was the reprise of the merry prankster’s theme after his execution, which Zinman and his orchestra, with the subtlest of touches, placed in affectionate quotation marks — a touching tribute to an irrepressible spirit.

“Now for some real Swiss music”, Zinman announced for the encore. Evviva I Soci (arranged by Florian Walser) involved cowbells, a folksy knees-up and a turn with wooden spoons for two percussionists. At least we were spared the yodelling. But I swear you could smell the fondue.

The Proms run until Sept 13 (bbc.co.uk/proms). Prom 5 is broadcast on BBC4 on Friday.