BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

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...
National Youth Orchestra
The National Youth Orchestra’s annual visit to the Proms is always a significant event. This year it was Sir Roger Norrington’s turn to bring his individuality to bear.Norrington has for...
Theseus Game
The concert’s theme was ‘innovation’. Innovation suggests new and different. Strange sounds may commit an assault upon the ears. Yet, once presented, the innovation may be repeated and copied so...
The Pines of Rome
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales’s association with Tadaaki Otaka, its Conductor Laureate, goes back nearly twenty years. Prom 29 proved an experience to cherish.Despite its eclectically various composers, the...
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic
One of the most-welcome aspects of the Proms season is the opportunity to hear orchestras from around the world, not just high-profile ensembles from the main capitals. To my knowledge,...
Antarctic Symphony
Two symphonies with extra-musical connotations and a source in plainsong – the ostensible ‘theme’ of this Prom, maybe. What Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s Antarctic Symphony and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique proved...
Staatskapelle Dresden 1
Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the oldest orchestras having been founded in 1548. With Bernard Haitink, 75 this year, and Dresden’s chief conductor since 2002, the combination of Mozart and...
Freiburg Baroque
This late-night Prom, performed with athletic aestheticism and very tight ensemble, included music by two Bohemian composers: Jan Dismas Zelenka (whose sacred choral music, if the examples I’ve heard are...
BBC Phil Vengerov
On the face of it an enticing programme, although it turned out an uneven and, at times, unsatisfactory concert.Szymanowski’s Concert Overture was one of the first works to draw the...
Water Concerto
Composer/conductors are hardly uncommon these days – and, on the basis of this Prom, Tan Dun's conducting is one of executive rather than interpretative leaning. A composer who first made...