Janácek’s monumental Glagolitic Mass, steeped in Moravian rhythms, is heard alongside Dvorák’s fairy-tale tone-poem The Golden Spinning Wheel and and a World Premiere by Zosha Di Castri, a new work that marks the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s mission to the Moon. Karina Canellakis conducts the massed forces of the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, BBC Singers and soloists in one of the 20th century’s great choral masterpieces. “The performance of the season” (The Times) PROGRAM Zosha Di Castri: Long Is the Journey – Short Is the Memory; Dvorak: The Golden Spinning Wheel; Janacek: Glagolitic Mass
BBC Proms 2019: Jakub Hruša conducts Dvorák and Smetana
Czech conductor Jakub Hruša returns with two popular masterpieces from his homeland. With its song-like slow movement and irrepressible, folk-infused finale, Dvorák’s Violin Concerto is one of the best-loved in the repertoire. American virtuoso Joshua Bell joins the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra as soloist. Journey through the Czech countryside in the second half with Smetana’s symphonic suite Má vlast – a colourful celebration of a nation’s landscape, castles and warriors, with the sweeping melody of ‘Vltava’ at its heart. “An absolute triumph” (The Daily Telegraph) PROGRAM Dvorák: Violin Concerto; Smetana: Má vlast (‘My Country’)
John Wilson at the BBC Proms 2019 – The Warner Brothers Story
Ten years since their first Proms appearance together, John Wilson and the John Wilson Orchestra present an evening of sumptuous technicoloured scores from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. With music from films including The Sea Hawk, The Constant Nymph, Calamity Jane, A Streetcar Named Desire and Harry Potter. “Audiences had a wonderful time, applauding wildly, stomping their feet” (The Times)
BBC Proms 2014: Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich
“This beautiful Prom marked the end of an era. David Zinman’s final concert as chief conductor of the Zurich Tonhalle was a superb example of his intelligent musicianship” (The Guardian). Program: RICHARD STRAUSS Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 / ANTONIN DVORÁK Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53 / LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”, Op. 68
BBC Proms 2014: West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Program: Mozart, Figaro Overture / Kareem Roustom, World premiere / Ayal Adler, World premiere / Ravel, Rapsodie espagnole, Alborada del gracioso, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Boléro
Simon Rattle conducts Sibelius
For the recent major London residency of the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Barbican Sir Simon Rattle has chosen music that means most to him, the complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies in honour of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth: “Sibelius is so concentrated and exact. With Sibelius you feel that if one drop touches your skin it would burn right through the bone.“ “High-voltage Sibelius kicks off Rattle’s London Residency” raved the press consequently over the opening of the cycle. The Telegraph agreed: “Sibelius’s symphonies sounded thrillingly new in the hands of Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil”, in a way, that “a great orchestra and conductor can make familiar music seem the hottest thing in town”.
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Proms
The orchestra’s London appearance, as part of the 120th anniversary Proms season, marked a significant date for Barenboim himself: he was celebrating 65 years (less a day) since making his debut in his native Buenos Aires. His programme cleverly contrasts the anti-Romantic terseness and crystalline beauty of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony – “a taut, rhythmic performance with a fine sense of dramatic momentum” (Evening Standard) – with the tempestuous emotionalism of Tchaikovsky’s opus, where “the orchestra rose to all technical challenges in an interpretation of overwhelming energy and power” (The Guardian), while Beethoven’s Triple Concerto could almost serve as a paradigm for the orchestra’s egalitarian ethos where Barenboim and his partners “offered urbane poise, ideally suited to this relaxed, airily melodic work” (The Telegraph). PROGRAM Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony; Beethoven: Triple concerto; Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
John Wilson at the BBC Proms – Tribute to Leonard Bernstein
John Wilson and his orchestra are an annual Proms highlight, bringing the glitz and glamour of old-time stage and screen to the Royal Albert Hall. The performance this year is all about Leonard Bernstein – America’s multitalented conductor, pianist and composer. He reinvented the musical with the anger, energy and feral beauty of West Side Story, his updated take on Romeo and Juliet. A starry cast of soloists including Proms favourite Julian Ovenden and the West End’s Louise Dearman join the John Wilson Orchestra and Maida Vale Singers for a tribute to the composer that includes Bernstein’s biggest hits as well as a selection of rarities. And with vivid colour, foot-tapping energy, and evident enjoyment on the part of conductor, orchestra and chorus America’s multitalented conductor, pianist and composer could not have been better remembered: “An evening of highlight after highlight – John Wilson together with his handpicked forces brought the house down. 5 out of 5 stars!” (Evening Standard)
BBC Proms 2016 – Gergiev, Abduraimov and Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Valery Gergiev and his Munich Philharmonic Orchestra open with Ravel’s hypnotic Boléro and close with a suite from Richard Strauss’s waltz-filled opera Der Rosenkavalier. In between, Galina Ustvolskaya’s Symphony No. 3 pleads for redemption on raw brass and winds. Composed in 1983 it is based on the texts of the 11th-century German monk and musician Hermanus Contractus and includes solo recitatives performed by Alexei Petrenko. Young Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov is the soloist in Rachmaninov’s soaring Piano Concerto No. 3. “Abduraimov ist phenomenal!“ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). “He should be on any must-hear list.” (The New York Times).
John Wilson at the BBC Proms – George & Ira Gershwin Rediscovered
Once again John Wilson and his orchestra, “combining swing authenticity with the poise of a deluxe concert Orchestra” (The Times), return to the Royal Albert Hall with a performance counted among “the star attractions” (Financial Times) of this year’s Proms. Their concert, accompanied by three of the “greatest West-End musical theatre stars” Louise Dearman, Matthew Ford and Julian Ovenden (also known from Downtown Abbey), pays tribute to George and Ira Gershwin, one of America’s most celebrated song-writing duos. Divided between film score theme tunes, dance numbers, and songs from musicals such as the favourites “Embraceable You”, “Love Walked In”, “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” and the ballet music from the 1951 film An American in Paris, “this glorious concert” (The Times) just “dazzled on every level.”