BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

… towards a pure land
In the first of his two Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, both including major new works, Ilan Volkov effortlessly displayed why the orchestral musicians seem to like him...
Métaboles
Yan-Pascal Tortelier was a Proms regular during his productive 10-year spell as Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, and this concert confirmed their rapport has in no way diminished.The all-French...
Michael Haydn & Mozart
Michael Haydn (1737-1806) may not be as well-known as his older brother Joseph – an understatement! – but he was a certainly a most accomplished musician and composer, holding the...
Christian Gerhaher & Gerold Huber
This well-planned Schumann programme – “Dichterliebe” balanced by the three Harfner songs at its close – drew a full and attentive house. Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, both born in...
Heaven is Shy of Earth
With one CD devoted to his music just released on the Ondine label, and another due imminently from NMC, the premiere of a work by Julian Anderson comes at a...
David Goode Organ Recital
The Royal Albert Hall organ has had its problems, suffering from split octaves, a shortage of wind, leaky and noisy bellows and deterioration of the original Willis soundboards. Renovation work...
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
In a brochure separate from the ‘normal’ Proms programme, Alan Rusbridger, Chairman of the National Youth Orchestra, and using the words of Gianandrea Noseda (who conducted the NYO earlier in...
Academy of Ancient Music
This was one of the first occasions to get acquainted with the Academy of Ancient Music under its new leader, founder Christopher Hogwood having left the post after nearly 35...
Dimi Mint Abba & Radio Tarifa
An enthusiastic audience greeted this World Music double-bill, now a regular (if arguably token-gesture) fixture in the Proms schedules, which catches artists who had been at WOMAD in Reading the...
RSNO Fantastique
Having previously conducted “Così fan tutte” for Royal Opera, Stéphane Denève came to this Prom to make what was probably his London concert debut. Bringing two works (the Berlioz and...
Circulating Ocean
It is surprising that the music of Toshio Hosokawa (50 last year) has not made greater headway in the UK, as his fastidiously wrought but accessible music ought to have...
P & C 6
The BBC Symphony Orchestra was here reunited with one of its previous Chief Conductors (and now Conductor Laureate).Prokofiev’s ever-popular Classical Symphony was completed in 1917, a productive year in the...
Voices
Whilst this year’s Proms have rightly if somewhat predictably celebrated Mozart’s 250th-birthday and Shostakovitch’s centenary, the 80th-birthday of Hans Werner Henze has thankfully not gone unnoticed – and he does...
Alexander’s Feast
Andrew Manze has unearthed quite a peculiarity for his appearance at this year’s Proms, presenting a version of Handel’s "Alexander’s Feast" arranged by no less an admirer than Mozart. Commissioned...
Shostakovich 8
The BBC Philharmonic has been busy in the Shostakovich centenary, sharing a survey of all fifteen symphonies with the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester earlier this year. In Vassily Sinaisky, the...