BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

Czech Philharmonic/Gardiner
On paper this triple-decker concert, two of Dvořák's most popular works bookending Martinů's Sixth Symphony and Janáček's The Ballad of Blaník, offered an enticing prospect, especially with the Czech Philharmonic....
Minnesota Orchestra (2)
A packed house greeted the Minnesota Orchestra for its second outing at this year’s Proms. Gil Shaham replaced Lisa Batiashvili in a Berg Violin Concerto that was as remarkable as...
Nash Ensemble – Schumann & Holloway
Over 90 minutes of chamber music without a break can be a long haul for musicians and audiences alike but time passes quickly when treated to the quality of performances...
Minnesota Orchestra (1)
Osmo Vänskä here made a welcome return to the Proms for the first of two concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, of which he has been Music Director since 2003 (and...
Jamie Cullum
Making his humble Proms debut (all credit to his closing remarks urging the audience to keep its support for the institution strong), Jamie Cullum brought his trademark energy to Kensington...
Hammered Out
In a season peppered with cancellations, David Robertson was always scheduled to appear twice. Gil Shaham will now be doing the same, an illustrious cover for the indisposed Lisa Batiashvili...
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
The origins of Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ Symphony date from 1782, begun by a commission from the Haffner family to celebrate the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner. In 1776 Mozart had written a...
Sydney Symphony/Ashkenazy
As part of its European tour, which has so far taken in the Stresa and Lucerne festivals, the Sydney Symphony made a welcome visit to the Proms with Principal Conductor...
Swedish Chamber Orchestra
The Royal Albert Hall can sometimes be an unforgiving venue for a chamber orchestra, the tone thin, the sound underpowered. This performance by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra showed that this...
Song of Songs/Stile Antico
The award-winning vocal ensemble Stile Antico (literally ‘ancient style’) entranced a crowded Cadogan Hall with extracts from “The Song of Songs” (sometimes entitled “Songs of Solomon” or “Canticles”), the shortest...
The Magic Flute … Cantata profana
A mixed bag here, in choice of repertoire and in performance. The heart of this prom was two contrasting works by Bartók, the resolutely secular and rarely performed “Cantata profana”,...
Rodgers & Hammerstein
This Promenade Concert was scheduled to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the death on 23 August of Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960). However, you could not celebrate the work of the...
Tannhäuser … Rückert-Lieder … Eroica
The Philadelphia Orchestra clearly made a canny choice in appointing Yannick Nézet-Séguin as its Music Director from 2012, and it is hoped that he will continue as the Rotterdam Philharmonic’s...
Flow my tears … Neharot, Neharot
This third Proms Saturday Matinee boasted something of a high-concept programme, marrying renaissance vocal works with more-recent compositions which have been inspired by them. Death stalked each of these pieces...
Cage Cardew Skempton Feldman
This late-night Prom offered one of the season's most interesting programmes, not only on account of its content. Above all, it marked the appearance of Cornelius Cardew's music at these...
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