BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

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Prom 7: BBC Symphony Orchestra/Jiří Bělohlávek with Sarah Connolly, Michael Cox and Isabelle Faust – John Tavener’s Gnosis … Bartók … Shostakovich 10
This Prom had its surprises, not least because Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony was overshadowed by the first of two posthumous premieres from John Tavener (1944-2013) this season, and an outstanding performance...
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Prom 6: Glyndebourne Festival Opera presents Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, with Kate Royal, Tara Erraught, Louise Alder and Franz Hawlata, conducted by Robin Ticciati
The Richard Jones brand is so well established in the opera world that even in truncated form its signature is decipherable – not bad for a staging of Der Rosenkavalier...
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Prom 5: Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich/David Zinman with Julia Fischer – Till Eulenspiegel … Dvořák … Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony
Nearly twenty years on, and with many concerts and recordings, David Zinman has stepped down as Chief Conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. This BBC Prom was his au revoir...
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PCM1: Les Arts Florissants – Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin en concerts
The ‘Pièces de clavecin en concerts’ are the only surviving example of Rameau’s chamber music output, and were here performed in their entirety by members of Les Arts Florissants in...
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Prom 4: World Orchestra for Peace/Valery Gergiev – Roxanna Panufnik, Richard Strauss, Mahler 6
Seeing as Valery Gergiev is a well-known apologist for Vladimir Putin, satire seemed to die another death – calling to mind Tom Lehrer’s words on Henry Kissinger being awarded the...
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Prom 3: BBC Sport Prom – Gabby Logan presents Robin Cousins, Barry Davies, Anne Keothavong, Kenny Logan, Fabrice Muamba, Phil Tufnell & Anna Watkins; BBC Concert Orchestra/Rebecca Miller
The Proms went sporty with this hearty attempt to broaden the appeal of classical music. Good to see a large number of children in the audience – not least bearing...
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Prom 2: China Philharmonic Orchestra/Long Yu with Haochen Zhang and Alison Balsom – Pomp and Circumstance … Romeo and Juliet … Pictures at an Exhibition
Since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 western classical music has regained its previously banned presence and is now thriving amongst the wealthier elements of Chinese society. There...
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Prom 1: Elgar’s The Kingdom conducted by Andrew Davis
The First Night of BBC Proms 2014 was devoted to Elgar’s The Kingdom. An esteemed Elgarian, Andrew Davis, conducted. Premiered in 1906, The Kingdom is the second part (following The...
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Prom 75: The Last Night – BBCSO/Marin Alsop with Iestyn Davies, Joyce DiDonato and Nigel Kennedy
One of the trickier tasks a musician has to master is starting a performance. The traditional overture, concerto, symphony programme offers instrumentalists, and sometimes conductors, a formula that puts the...
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Prom 74: Klaus Sonnleitner plays Bach … Lorin Maazel conducts Vienna Philharmonic in Bruckner 8
Klaus Sonnleitner is the latest successor to Anton Bruckner as organist at the monastery of St Florian (in Linz, Austria). And Bruckner once gave several recitals on the Royal Albert...
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Prom 73: Imogen Cooper & Paul Lewis play Schubert
Imogen Cooper and Paul Lewis are close friends, with Alfred Brendel mutual, for whom the music of Schubert is held dear. With the composer’s music lending itself to late-night listening,...
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Prom 72: Joseph Calleja sings Verdi … Xian Zhang conducts Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony
Giuseppe Verdi has not done as well during this year’s Proms as his bicentennial buddy Richard Wagner. Even playing on a neutral ground in Kensington, a complete-opera score of 7-0...
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Prom 71: BBCSO/Osmo Vänskä – Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, VW/Payne Four Last Songs, Pathétique Symphony
To balance the jolly japes we can expect from the Last Night, the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s penultimate Prom focused on death, with or without hope. And if that seems a...
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Prom 70: BBC Singers/David Hill – Benjamin Britten’s A Boy was Born & George Lloyd’s Requiem
This late-night Prom juxtaposed works by two British composers whose centenaries fall this year. That of Benjamin Britten has been extensively celebrated, whereas that of George Lloyd has been largely...
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Prom 69: Oslo Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko – Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony – Christian Ihle Hadland plays Beethoven
Norway put its best foot forward when the Oslo Philharmonic was joined for its second Prom this season by Christian Ihle Hadland, the pianist from Stavanger – and a BBC...