BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

Birtwistle & Brendel
A memorable, rather special evening, the Harrison Birtwistle portrait a notable part, the climax being Alfred Brendel’s final engagement at the Proms. He’s not retiring; simply he no longer wishes...
Gergiev
Not everyone can see the point of Valery Gergiev, certainly not those who equate great music-making with maximal textual fidelity or textural elucidation. Sviatoslav Richter for one was mystified by...
Chamber Music No.5
By far the most interesting of the three Silk Road Project concerts, this intimate Chamber Music Prom was introduced in her usually infectious vein by Stephanie Hughes with the added...
B minor Mass
It was interesting to read in the ‘Further listening and reading’ section of the programme that Sir John Eliot Gardiner's recording of the Mass in B minor is considered “middle-of-the-road”....
Music of the Silk Road
“From its birth before Christ, through the heights of the Tang dynasty, until its slow demise six to seven hundred years ago, the Silk Road has had a unique role...
(Half) Viennese Night
Concerts like this are the bread and butter of BBC Concert Orchestra repertoire, the nation-wide “Friday night is music night” compilation, quality light music. This Prom found the ensemble more...
On Marking Marginally Important Occasions
Leonard Slatkin celebrates his 60th birthday with a Prom concertSeptember 1 has been sitting on my calendar for some time now. On that date, I will turn 60 years old....
Turangalîla
Billed as the London Sinfonietta, the orchestra for this performance would have been better called ‘London Sinfoniettas’ as there were three or four times the number of players you usually...
Mi-parti
Bathed in the curious dappled lighting that has plagued us this season, this vaguely Baltic programme attracted a relatively small crowd which included a mobile phone user, several influenza victims...
BBC Scottish/Volkov 2
Something non-musical first – the ghastly colours projected onto the organ. I wish there were good reasons for doing this, especially when there are no television cameras (like tonight) to...
Academy of Ancient Music
There was a near-capacity audience for this Prom that included Biber’s extravagant Missa bruxellensis. The Bohemian composer Heinrich Biber (1644-1704) was renowned as a virtuoso violinist. During his long service...
Organ & Winds
The 2004 Proms celebrate the Royal Albert Hall organ – a magnificent instrument with a new mechanism, 220 additional pipes and a performance-saving CD facility.Naji Hakim was born in Beirut...
BBC Scottish/Volkov 1
Ilan Volkov’s lucid musicianship was much in evidence throughout this Prom, yet none of the works quite took wing. The early Ravel, which needs a great deal of help, was...
Chamber Music No.4
This ambitious, well-constructed programme introduced the young Welshman’s notably beautiful sound. Throughout this demanding recital there was never an ugly note or anything forced. Nor was there any doubt as...
The Spectre’s Bride
The first half consisted of a relaxed and spacious account of Janáček’s Sinfonietta, the BBC Symphony Orchestra displaying its chameleon quality and producing a balance that was clear without sacrificing...
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