BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

10362 1
Prom 29: National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain – Gait … Turangalîla
On paper this looked to be one of the oddest Proms this season – how could you follow Turangalîla with anything? But Anna Meredith’s HandsFree (with NYO movement-tutor David Ogle)...
10361 1
Prom 28: JoAnn Falletta, Ulster Youth Orchestra & Ulster Orchestra, James Galway
Over the road from the Royal Albert Hall, alongside the Albert Memorial, huge marquees are filled with national displays from such as Russia and South Africa. The RAH itself became...
Prom 27: Donald Runnicles conducts Wagner & Bruckner
Anton Bruckner revered Richard Wagner to the extent that his Third Symphony was dedicated to him (and originally included quotations from his works), so the two composers make a natural...
Prom 26: Bach’s Mass in B minor [The English Concert/Harry Bicket]
J. S. Bach’s Mass in B minor came right at the end of his career and used a good deal of material from earlier cantatas. It’s a work of depth...
Prom 25: BBCSO/David Robertson – The Unanswered Question … A Child of Our Time
Create a meditative and mystic string background, add a solo trumpet from somewhere undefined but tangible, and then enliven with four increasingly animated and abrasive flutes. It’s the recipe for...
10335 1
Prom 24: BBC Radio 3 World Routes Academy [José Noguera & Egidio Cuadrado]
From ancient Babylon to infectious Colombian accordion rhythms in just an hour – it’s the volt face that the Proms revels in; the only reason it took an hour was...
Prom 23: Tallis Fantasia … These Things Shall Be … Belshazzar’s Feast
The tranquillity of the Royal Albert Hall was a welcome respite from Olympics frenzy. Choral music and two orchestral works proved inspired programming. The Hall’s Gallery and boxes were put...
Prom 22: Noseda conducts Mozart, Knussen & Mahler
The BBC Philharmonic was back for its second Prom, this time with former Principal Conductor, now Laureate, Gianandrea Noseda – both were on the typically high-energy form that distinguishes their...
10332 1
PCM3: La Tarantella – L’Arpeggiata & Christina Pluhar
Little Miss Muffet and other arachnophobes would have steered clear of Cadogan Hall for this Proms Chamber Music recital, for the ensemble L’Arpeggiata was celebrating the tarantella – the music...
10329 1
Prom 21: Aldeburgh World Orchestra/Mark Elder – At the Speed of Stillness … The Rite of Spring
On an initial perusal of the BBC Proms Guide all those Launch weeks ago, this was one of the standout concerts of the 2012 season, certainly in terms of a...
10330 1
Prom 20: Musical Marvels – The Wallace & Gromit Prom
In my review of the first Doctor Who Prom on the equivalent Sunday four years ago, I ended by suggesting there should be a Wallace & Gromit Prom. Here we...
10353 1
Prom 19: Dausgaard & Müller-Schott – Ixion … Incontri … Pathétique Symphony
Three years ago Thomas Dausgaard caused quite a stir with the UK premiere of Rued Langgaard’s Music of the Spheres. Its transcendent vision represents one extreme of its composer’s thinking:...
10328 1
PSM2: Le 24 Violons du Roy/Roger Norrington
A fascinating history lesson: a recreation of the world’s first professional orchestra, some 250 years after it shut up shop in pre-revolutionary France. The name – Le 24 Violons du...
10327 1
Prom 18: Barenboim conducts Beethoven’s Choral Symphony
The first false-start of the Olympics triggered shortly after 6.30. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra rose, the audience applauding, to greet Daniel Barenboim, who duly failed to appear. Much nervous laughter...
Prom 17: Late-night Beethoven & Boulez – Le marteau sans maître
Coming just before the final concert in its Beethoven symphony cycle, it was fitting that this late-night Prom from members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra focussed on the two composers...