BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

Vom Himmel Hoch … Threni
I wondered whether I would really want to hear anything after Mahler’s Third Symphony, especially after such a great performance as given by Donald Runnicles and the BBC Scottish Symphony...
Mahler 3/Runnicles
With Mahler all around us, it is hard now to recall just how infrequent performances of his Third Symphony used to be. Both Barbirolli and Horenstein memorably championed it (in...
Serenade to Music … The Lark Ascending
This oddly programmed and lopsided Prom began with a concerto, once again confirming that starting a concert with music featuring a soloist is a very unsatisfactory arrangement. Beginning this particular...
Aimard & Nott
Four-and-a-half years after his debut with the orchestra, and following a brace of well-received appearances at last year's BBC Proms, Jonathan Nott here returned to the BBC Symphony for a...
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Christensson, Neven & Eijsackers
The third in the Proms Chamber Music series introduced two of the BBC’s New Generation Artists – always a guarantee that you’re going to hear some potentially great musicianship –...
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Roméo et Juliette … Tristan und Isolde
On the question of ‘authenticity’ (which is what the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment aspires to be about), I wonder just how ‘authentic’ it is to present excerpts from...
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Wayne Marshall Plays Wagner
“Fast” and “furious” are not words normally used to describe the opening of the Prelude to Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” (pace the programme note, Wagner designated “vorspiel” – prelude...
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Sondheim at 80
Stephen Sondheim describes himself as a “playwright in song”; a description which has unwittingly done the man a disservice as with it he appears to rank his skills as a...
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The Australian Youth Orchestra
It might seem a little odd but Shostakovich has lost his shine with Russian audiences. On a visit to St Petersburg in the composer’s centenary year (2006) I attended a...
Late-night Dvořák & Mozart
This was the second Prom this year due to have been conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, and featuring repertoire the late conductor held dear. While it would have been a...
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Paul Lewis Beethoven (2) [CBSO/Nelsons]
This very fine concert offered further evidence that Andris Nelsons, who has been at the helm of the CBSO since 2008, is continuing the transformative work of his predecessors. By...
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BBCSO/Knussen Leila Josefowicz – Jubilee
Oliver Knussen can be relied on for imaginative but also intelligent concert planning, and so it proved with this Prom. A three-part programme lasting around 80 minutes might appear extravagant,...
Beethoven – Paavo Järvi & Hilary Hahn
This programme revived the spirit of “Beethoven Night” at the BBC Proms for the second time in a week, and these were no ordinary performances. As its four-year Beethoven Project...
Medée … a table of noises … Till
If this particular Proms confection didn’t quite capture the public’s imagination in terms of bums on seats and feet in the Arena, there were still a few oddballs dotted around...
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Francesco Piemontesi & Navarra Quartet
With Meta4 unable to appear due to the illness of its cellist, and thus the postponement of Jouni Kaipainen’s String Quartet No.6 (a BBC co-commission), Francesco Piemontesi was joined at...