BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

Llŷr Williams
Llŷr Williams’s carefully constructed programme examined the Golden Age of the Baroque, as viewed through the eyes of three very different Romantic composers.Brahms’s Variations and Fugue on Handel’s seemingly innocuous...
Indian Voices Day
What has become a regular event of the BBC Proms season, the day-long celebration of a particular musical theme, was taken this year by the "Indian Voices" concerts: Khyal and...
Orpheus … Choral Symphony
Ilan Volkov’s final BBC Prom as Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since 2003, presented a rarity and an old favourite. Stravinsky’s ballet...
Popcorn Superhet Receiver … Apollo … The Mask of Orpheus
The world, or at least that part of it that prizes Western art music, has rightly celebrated the 75th-birthday this year of Sir Harrison Birtwistle. This season’s BBC Proms has...
La valse … Unsuk Chin Cello Concerto … The Rite of Spring
At the end of his tenure with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov wove a concert quite ordinary at the edges but with a heart of pure gold.Rejected as...
Philip Glass
The first BBC Prom (a late-night affair) to wholly feature the music of Philip Glass drew a large crowd, as much as three times the size of that present for...
George Frideric Handel
The pomp and festive brilliance of the four Anthems Handel wrote for the 1727 coronation of George II makes them the ideal basis for a concert marking the 250th-anniversary of...
Patience
We all seem to be in need of having our spirits lifted these days. Cue Gilbert and Sullivan. It is a long time since I experienced such joyous entertainment as...
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
This was a wonderfully entertaining evening of Russian music. The Fairy’s Kiss (1927-8) is an underrated and under-performed ballet score, which Stravinsky composed in homage to his countryman Tchaikovsky. Stravinsky...
Scottish Ensemble
A musically invigorating hour in the company of the Scottish Ensemble had as its centrepiece the world premiere of a new work for violin and strings by John Woolrich. While...
Multiple Pianos Day – 2
After the generally light fare of the afternoon “Multiple Pianos” Prom, it was out with the big guns for the evening. First, a rare opportunity to hear George Antheil’s Ballet...
Multiple Pianos Day – 1
This was the first of two Proms devoted to “Multiple Pianos”. A plethora of pianists lined up to deliver varied repertoire over the two events. The irony of the first...
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
After tackling the two Tchaikovsky piano concertos that are rarely played, Stephen Hough hinted at a slightly different approach to “The most famous piano concerto … ever!” in his performance...
Fountains of Rome … Virga … Jeu de cartes … Islamey
Oliver Knussen's programme for this year's Proms season was a typical mixture of the new and not so familiar. Admittedly the 'new' component featured no first performances (his Cleveland Pictures...
Italian Symphony … Roma amor … Pines of Romes
Anyone already familiar with Peter Maxwell Davies’s Roma amor (1998) might have taken a questioning glance at the 37-minute timing given in the Proms prospectus (and again at that duration’s...
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