BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra – 1 [Liszt, Wagner & Berlioz]
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (named after Goethe’s cycle or diwan of lyric poems modelled on the Persian poet Hafiz) is celebrating its 10th-anniversary since being founded by Daniel Barenboim and...
7369 1
Samson
The marking of the 250th-anniversary of Handel's death continue, though it was disappointing to see large areas at the back of the Arena vacant. Handel-the-English-oratorio composer was on show. Composed...
Shoreless River … Paganini Rhapsody … The Year 1905
Even some of Shostakovich’s greatest admirers seem to have problems with Symphony 11; a curious situation given that it is one of his most fascinating works. If there is a...
7370 1
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
In what must be the busiest late-night BBC Prom in years, the eight players/singers/presenters of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain found themselves before a sea of eager faces in...
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Last year Gramophone magazine ranked the Budapest Festival Orchestra as the ninth best (the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra topped the poll, and the top-placed British one was the London Symphony Orchestra,...
7366 1
El amor brujo … The Hague Hacking … Mother Goose … Boléro
Dutchman Louis Andriessen, seventy this year, was interviewed before the UK premiere of his new work, and revealed an impish sense of humour. The Hague Hacking was played by the...
7363 1
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...
7359 1
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...
7357 1
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...
7356 1
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...
7350 1
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...