Prom 70

T2137580729
Part of the BBC Proms.

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Archive :: production:T2137580729, concert:S6008, venue:V221

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Bridge/Sir Harrison Birtwistle & Holst

Frank Bridge is at his most romantic and Lisztian in the Keats-inspired Isabella, given its world premiere at the Proms by founder-conductor Henry Wood. Sir Harrison Birtwistle's concerto, his first for a string instrument, was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Christian Tetzlaff and unveiled by him in March to rave reviews. The composer himself studied the clarinet, although he says, 'I had some violin lessons at school, so I have a memory of the physical feel of the instrument, in a sense. It's rather like remembering how to bowl a leg break in cricket, even if I couldn't do it now.' Holst's planetary survey displays astonishing verve in its orchestration and in the radicalism of much of its content for its time. Finish time: approx. 21:10