Though monikered the ‘Queen of Soul’, Aretha Franklin mastered the realms of jazz, blues, and gospel with unwavering conviction. Celebrated recently in both the biopic Respect and the National Geographic television series Genius, Franklin was always due her night at the BBC Proms – despite the grumblings of some Proms purists. Conductor Jules Buckley, premiering his own orchestra of handpicked musicians, joined forces with American vocalist Sheléa Frazier for this triumphant concert.

Unsurprisingly, the set drew primarily from Franklin’s Atlantic-era heyday with signature tunes such as ‘Respect’, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’, and ‘Think’, as well as gospel material from her lauded Amazing Grace album. Buckley and Sheléa also nodded to Franklin’s earlier years at Columbia Records with a performance of the jazz standard ‘Skylark’, and to her later, pop-oriented tenure at Arista with the smash ‘I Knew You Were Waiting For Me’ (a duet with George Michael).

Relied upon for vocal duties by David Foster, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones, Sheléa had all the range, skill, and technique to carry Franklin’s challenging repertoire. But she also brought a ferocious soulfulness to the evening. Tonally dissimilar to Aretha but clearly steeped in the influence of the Black Church, Sheléa’s voice bends, slides, and skyrockets with apparent ease; her melismatic inclinations always felt in service of the material. Her performance of the irresistibly funky ‘Rock Steady’ was all wailing highs and liquid limbs. Sitting at the piano, she treaded lightly through the blues-soaked ‘Dr Feelgood’ before turning to the audience and ripping through the sexually explosive breakdown. Her ‘Amazing Grace’, initially at the piano but later joined by the orchestra before an a cappella denouement, was searing.

Realising the material of a cadre of talented arrangers, Buckley’s orchestra was also riveting (with a horn section to die for). There were moments of pure musical ecstasy as Shelea adlibbed over the jamming rhythm section and the fervent gospel choir led by Vula Malinga. The choir also displayed their impressive solo voices on ‘Spanish Harlem’ and ‘Day Dreaming’ while Sheléa enjoyed a well-deserved respite.

As Buckley trailed in his earlier interview with The House That Soul Built, the set occasionally dipped into more obscure material: firstly, a rendition of the showtune ‘Somewhere’ (from West Side Story), which Franklin recorded with Quincy Jones for her underperforming but artistically appreciated Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973) album; and secondly, the title track from the Curtis Mayfield-produced album Sparkle (1976). Sparkle restored Franklin to her chart heights after a brief commercial slump, Sheléa told us – though, as Aretha-ologists are keen to point out, the Sparkle project was first offered to her younger sister Carolyn. Buckley’s shimmering strings were put to fine use on this Mayfield composition.

The encore rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ – a fine example of how Franklin would wrap her gospel sensibility around secular material – was spine-tingling.

Prom 47: Queen of Soul is available now on BBC Sounds HERE

Photography Credit: Mark Allan