BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

Prom 42 – La mort de Cléopâtre
You expect the unexpected (negatively and positively speaking!) from Valery Gergiev, and this concert was no exception. Beethoven’s The Consecration of the House is not an overture at every conductor’s...
Proms 2003 – Chen Yi & Daphnis
The relatively recent introduction of Composer Portraits to the Proms is an innovative and welcome idea. An opportunity to meet the composer and hear some chamber music in the intimate...
Proms Chamber Music No.5 (18 August)
To the non-specialist, the prospect of an hour of unaccompanied 16th-century religious music by the little known Filippo di Monte, even when served with a leavening of Byrd and Lassus,...
Prom 40 – The Oceanides
While Osmo Vänskä has become a familiar figure at the Proms through his appearances with the BBC Scottish Symphony, his work with the Lahti Symphony is known primarily through a...
Prom 39 – Benvenuto Cellini
“Est-ce folie ou bien génie?” – Is this madness, or is it genius? Thus cries Cellini towards the end of this remarkable opera. Such a thought must surely have occurred...
Prom 38 – Flying the (British) Film Flag
At last – Rumon Gamba gets his own evening Prom!A stalwart of the morning Blue Peter Proms of recent years with his quondam orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, it was perhaps...
Prom 37 – A German Requiem
A programme with few laughs – a tragic symphony and a requiem! Maybe not, either, the most vibrant showcase for a visiting orchestra. The Mozart was as disappointing as the...
Prom 36 – Orpheus: Death / Behind the Wire
Eric Ericson was associated with both choirs singing in the Royal Albert Hall tonight, putting modern choral works firmly in the Swedish repertoire. The two choirs – each with 33...
Prom 35 – Boston Concerto
What promised to be a highlight of the current Proms season – in the guise of a major new orchestral piece by Elliott Carter. 95 in December, Carter has maintained...
Prom 34 – Strip-Weave
One of the incidental pleasures of this year’s Proms is the chance to hear several little-known works by Prokofiev during the fiftieth anniversary of his death. And there are few...
Prom 33 – Rameau to Webern
The splendid chamber orchestra sponsored by the city of Bremen is a virtuoso, versatile and chameleon-like band. Here is a group of musicians that can play Rameau with infectious communication...
Prom 32 – Old Brass
Even at 10 in the evening, the RAH was stifling.Penderecki’s Sinfonietta was enjoyable as long as you didn’t demand much. Some bits were routinely discordant – angry, abrasive and ’modern’....
Proms Chamber Music No.4 (11 August)
The mezzo-soprano Alice Coote has garnered praise for performances both on the operatic stage and the recital platform. Her voice is warm and smooth, though in this recital she did...
Prom 31 – Alexander Nevsky
All credit to one conductor, two soloists, some 100 orchestral players and over 230 choral-singers for performing in that great heat, in formal wear.On this night, Germany and Austria lost....
Proms 2003 – Poulenc & Stravinsky
Although Stravinsky served as a role model for Poulenc in many respects, contrasts in expression outweigh similarities in technique – as tonight’s pairing amply demonstrated. Completed in 1958, La voix...