Gyorgy Kurtag's Endgame - T124031783'Beckett has been waiting for Kurtág all this time,' wrote The New Yorker after the triumphant La Scala premiere of György Kurtág's Endgame (Fin de partie) in 2018. Subsequently named one of the greatest operas of the century by The Guardian, Kurtág's ‘unforgettable' adaption of Samuel Beckett's absurdist play has its highly anticipated UK premiere. Semi-staged. Sung in French with English surtitlesPerformer Frode Olsen (Hamm). Performer Morgan Moody (Clov). Performer Hilary Summers (Nell). Performer Leonardo Cortellazzi (Nagg). Company BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth. | |
| 17 Aug 23 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L01112601218 |
Handel's Solomon - T1111101516The Proms' ongoing sequence of Handel oratorios continues with Solomon. Sofi Jeannin conducts early music specialists The English Concert in this mature masterpiece that combines operatic drama with spiritual solemnity in its retelling of the story of the wise King Solomon. The exhilarating ‘Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' is just one highlight in a work whose intricate choral writing and richly varied orchestration combine in a score of breadth and beauty. American soprano Joélle Harvey and British counter-tenor lestyn Davies lead an all-star cast.Performer Iestyn Davies (Solomon). Performer Joelle Harvey (Solomon's Queen / First Harlot). Performer Benjamin Hulett (Zadok). Performer Ashley Riches (A Levite). Company BBC Singers. Company The English Concert. Conductor Sofi Jeannin. | |
| 19 Aug 22 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L01493134505 |
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - T1579030137Performer Anu Komsi (soprano). Performer Hilary Summers (contralto). Performer Michael Weinius (tenor). Performer Mika Kares (bass). Performer Andreas Haefliger (piano). Company BBC Symphony Chorus. Company BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Sakari Oramo. Conductor Neil Ferris. | |
| 19 Aug 19 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1715745624 |
Daniel Barenboim & West-Eastern Divan Orchestra - T01104905782Daniel Barenboim and his pioneering West-Eastern Divan Orchestra return to the Proms for a concert marrying passion and politics. One of the most richly Romantic works in the repertoire - Tchaikovsky's heart-rending Violin Concerto, performed here by Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili - is paired with Scriabin's ecstatic, orgiastic The Poem of Ecstasy, an attempt to bridge the divide between spirituality and sexuality in music. At the centre of the concert is David Robert Coleman's Looking for Palestine for soprano and orchestra, a work commissioned by the ensemble, and one that speaks to its uniquely political identity.Performer Elsa Dreisig (soprano). Performer Lisa Batiashvili (violin). Company West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Conductor Daniel Barenboim. | |
| 14 Aug 18 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L01647878259 |
Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony - T954525879Charles Dutoit and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra take us on a colourful journey through Spain. In his ballet El amor brujo, Falla captured the essence of his homeland, while Joshua Bell is the soloist for Lalo's Symphonie espagnole.Performer Stephanie d'Oustrace (mezzo-soprano). Performer Joshua Bell (violin). Performer Cameron Carpenter (organ). Company Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Charles Dutoit. | |
| 17 Aug 17 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1879393102 |
Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra - T01510117162Daniel Barenboim returns with his orchestra of young Arabs and Israelis, and with another iconic musician, Martha Argerich. Composer J?rg Widmann harnessed the energy of Beethoven's fast movements in the ?exercise in fury and rhythmic insistence' that is his Con brio. After Liszt's thunderously virtuosic First Piano Concerto, Daniel Barenboim - who conducted Wagner's Ring cycle at the Proms in 2013 - concludes with powerful excerpts from three of the composer's operas.Performer Martha Argerich (piano). Company West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Conductor Daniel Barenboim. | |
| 17 Aug 16 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L026622391 |
T0875621521Who better to bring this year's cycle of Sibelius symphonies to a close than Finnish conductor Osmo V?nsk?, with one exceptional cycle already completed on disc and another currently under way. ?These symphonies of mine are more confessions of faith than are my other works,' wrote Sibelius, but the later symphonies were hard-won confessions in which the composer's creativity struggled with self-doubt and hostile critics. The results, however, are exceptional, from the soaring horn-led ?Swan Hymn' of the Fifth to the innocent beauty of the Sixth to the single-movement Seventh, with its total symphonic unity and an ending that has been called 'the grandest celebration of C major there ever was'. Finish time approx. 21:30Company BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Osmo Vanska. | |
| 17 Aug 15 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L140297190 |
Rachmaninov, Stravinsky & Tchaikovsky - T1186451667Tonight's all-Russian programme opens with the buzzing energy of Stravinsky's Scherzo fantastique and ends in a burst of cannon-fire, bells and brass as Tchaikovsky's '1812' Overture celebrates the defeat of Napoleon. This musical spectacle is more than matched by Rachmaninov's choral symphony The Bells, chiming the journey from birth to death. After making her Proms debut last year with Szymanowski's Violin Concerto, young Latvian violinist Baiba Skride returns to perform Stravinsky's neo-Classical Violin Concerto - lively with dance and invention. Finish time approx. 21:40Performer Baiba Skride (violin). Performer Luba Orgonasova (soprano). Performer Stuart Skelton (tenor). Performer Mikhail Petrenko (baritone). Company Crouch End Festival Chorus. Company BBC Symphony Chorus. Company BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Edward Gardner. | |
| 18 Aug 14 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1701747034 |
Tallis Scholars - T01229166621Peter Phillips directs the Tallis Scholars, as the group celebrates its 40th anniversary, in a Late Night Prom contrasting the music of John Taverner and of Carlo Gesualdo, who died 400 years ago. Taverner was the first organist and choirmaster of what is now Christ Church, Oxford, falling from favour a year after his master, Cardinal Wolsey, and into professional obscurity. Aristocrat and harmonic adventurer Carlo Gesualdo is best known for the boldness of his madrigals. There will be no interval. Finish time: approx. 23:30Company Tallis Scholars. Conductor Peter Phillips. | |
| 14 Aug 13 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L449349290 |
Delius, Saint-Saens & Tchaikovsky - T01515467825Charles Dutoit, noted interpreter of French music, begins with the Parisian memories of an Englishman abroad: anniversary composer Frederick Delius was particularly fond of the city and his unfairly neglected nocturne for orchestra has not been heard here since 1984. Benjamin Grosvenor, who hit the headlines in 2004, aged 11, when he won the keyboard final of BBC Young Musician of the Year, made sensational Proms debut appearances last year. He returns in a Gallic concerto for which he has a special affinity. Finally to St Petersburg for Tchaikovsky's rousing but equivocal triumph. Finish time approx. 21:15Performer Benjamin Grosvenor (piano - New Generation Artist). Company Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Charles Dutoit. | |
| 14 Aug 12 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1324939718 |
Copland/Bax/Barber/Bartok & Prokofiev - T0939075442Tonight's composers have something, or someone, in common: Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevitzky. Copland's Fanfare was later incorporated into his Third Symphony, written for the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, which also commissioned Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. Bax's Second Symphony was dedicated to the conductor, who also championed Barber's music in the 1940s. The original version of Prokofiev's Fourth Symphony was commissioned for the BSO's 50th anniversary and premiered under Koussevitzky. Finish time: approx. 22:10Performer Yuja Wang (piano). Company Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Andrew Litton. | |
| 16 Aug 11 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L01206347807 |
BBC Singers - T1979053225Estonian composer Arvo Pärt emerged on to the landscape of later-20th-century music after making a decisive break from his former modernist ways and building a new language from scratch, with the simplest musical elements. The pure, hypnotic atmosphere of his slowly shifting harmonies have won him a place among the key figures of so-called 'spiritual minimalism' – with a style that appears rooted in ancient religion while also sounding fresh and personal. Poised between the Lutheran and Catholic traditions, the austere yet serene St John Passion is sure to create a special aura in this ideal Late Night Prom setting. Finish time: approx. 23:30Conductor David Hill. Company Endymion. Company BBC Singers. Performer Andrew Kennedy (Pilate). Performer Brindley Sherratt (Jesus). Performer Iain Farrington (organ). | |
| 17 Aug 10 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L0599451576 |
Philharmonia Orchestra - T01647390510Esa-Pekka Salonen makes his first Proms appearance as the Philharmonia's new Principal Conductor. The Labèque sisters return for their third and final appearance this season (see Prom 1 & Prom 32), to celebrate the 70th birthday of the radical Dutch composer Louis Andriessen with the UK premiere of his new concerto - partly inspired by a Tom and Jerry cartoon, partly by a hardcore brand of house music - which they and Salonen premiered in Los Angeles in January. (Andriessen's 1970s classic De staat is performed in Prom 58.) Dance drives the rest of the programme, from Falla's fiery flamenco vision of a midnight exorcism to Ravel's magical fairy-tale evocations and the relentless crescendo of his Boléro. Approx finish time: 21:30Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Performer Katia Labeque (piano). Performer Marielle Labeque (piano). | |
| 17 Aug 09 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L482557877 |
City of London Sinfonia - T0261239372Finish time approx. 21:55Music Mozart (22 mins)). Music Vaughan Williams (19 mins)). Music Nigel Osborne (16 mins)). Music Beethoven (45 mins)). Performer Sharon Bezaly (flute). Performer Lawrence Power (viola). Performer Rebecca Evans (soprano). Performer Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo-soprano). Performer Thomas Walker (tenor). Performer Matthew Rose (bass). Company BBC Singers. Company City of London Sinfonia. Conductor Richard Hickox. | |
| 17 Aug 08 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L0865939617 |
T01425891986Finish time approx. 21:00Conductor Andrew Litton. Performer Boris Berezovsky (piano). Company Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Music Grieg (orch. Halvorsen - Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak). Music Grieg (Piano Concerto in A minor). Music Walton (Symphony No 1 in B flat minor). | |
| 16 Aug 07 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1376803905 |
T01705000127Finish time approx. 21:45Conductor Jiri Belohlavek. Company BBC Symphony Orchestra. Performer Christian Tetzlaff (violin). Music Schumann (Manfred - Overture). Music Beethoven (Violin Concerto in D major). Music Mendelssohn (Symphony No 3 in A minor - Scottish). | |
| 15 Aug 06 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L605689920 |
T1514577929Company BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Performer Leif Ove Andsnes (piano). Music Stravinsky (Fireworks). Music Marc-Andre Dalbavie (Piano Concerto - BBC co-commission with The Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra: world premiere). Music Shostakovich (Symphony No 11 in G minor - 'The Year 1905'). | |
| 16 Aug 05 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L0921178840 |
T0262759031Finish time approx. 21:35Music Brahms (Symphony No 3 in F major). Music Harrison Birtwistle (Sir - Four Settings of Alfred Brendel - BBC commission: world premiere). Music Beethoven (Piano Concerto No 5 in E flat major - 'Emperor'). Performer William Dazeley (baritone). Performer Alfred Brendel (piano). Company Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi. | |
| 17 Aug 04 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1434964136 |
T1447397718Music Ravel (Alborada del gracioso). Music Giya Kancheli (Warzone - UK premiere). Music Ravel (La valse). Music Berlioz (Symphonic fantastique). Company Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Valery Gergiev. | |
| 21 Aug 03 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1013321929 |
T991830432Company Camerata Salzburg. Conductor Roger Norrington (Sir). Performer Joshua Bell (violin). Music Mozart (Divertimento in D major K136). Music Beethoven (Violin Concerto in D major). Music Mozart (Serenade in D major K320 Posthorn). | |
| 21 Aug 02 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L1465774715 |
T1924657888Music Rakhmaninov (Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor). Music Tchaikovsky (Symphony No 1 in G minor 'Winter Daydreams'). Performer Lang Lang (piano). Company St Petersburg Philharmonic. Conductor Yuri Temirkonov. | |
| 22 Aug 01 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L0457109317 |
T01034553150Music Beethoven (Symphony No 5 in C minor). Music Berlioz (La mort de Cleopatre). Music Ravel (La valse). Performer Olga Borodina. Company Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Mariss Jansons. | |
| 16 Aug 00 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L01126011547 |
T0440188414Duke Ellington - A Centenary CelebrationPerformer Clark Terry (trumpet). Performer Wayne Marshall (piano). Company BBC Big Band. Conductor Barry Forgie. | |
| 19 Aug 99 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L0126664060 |
T1296071894Company Black Voices. Company London Community Gospel Choir. | |
| 20 Aug 98 | Royal Albert Hall, Inner London :: V221 listing details L01325276550 |
Part of the BBC Proms.
