Every year, the BBC Proms runs the risk of trying so hard to please everybody that they end up pleasing nobody. The complaints are many and varied: too much (or not enough) non-classical music; too many TV tie-ins (do we really need a Prom built around The Traitors – July 26 – even if Claudia Winkelman is the presenter?); not enough UK-based ensembles from outside London; not enough (or too many) orchestras from around the world; and so it goes on.
Yet the fact remains that, while the Proms may or not be “the world’s greatest music festival”, as the endless TV and radio ads try to persuade us, they remain a treasure chest of music of all kinds. Classical music remains at its heart and it’s difficult to complain that it’s been sidelined, but musical life has many facets and the BBC Proms reflects its fair share of them.
1. Samara Joy: The Great American Songbook and Beyond with BBC Concert Orchestra and Samara Joy Octet
Contemporary jazz is haunted by its past. Undeterred, Samara Joy made her 2021 debut album a tribute to the Great American Songbook, wilfully evoking the spectre of Ella Fitzgerald. Joy has since shown that she’s nobody’s copyist but for her first Proms appearance, she returns to the Songbook with her own Octet. Saturday July 19
2. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Mark Wigglesworth
The Proms just love an anniversary and sure enough, in this, the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth, there’s a sprinkling of his works throughout the season. One of the most enticing sees Nicholas McCarthy, dubiously billed as “the world’s only professional one-handed concert pianist”, performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Sunday July 20.
3. BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Anja Bihlmaier
Science fiction writer Philip K Dick’s work has generated all kinds of theories, some crackpot, some inspired. Perhaps both descriptions will apply to Mark Simpson’s ZEBRA (or, 2-3-74: The Divine Invasion of Philip K. Dick), a guitar concerto by another name. The soloist for this world premiere is Sean Shibe, himself something of a visionary. Tuesday July 22.
4. Ensemble intercontemporain, Pierre Bleuse
Boulez and Berio sounds like a comedy double act; in fact, they were composers who dominated the late 20th century musical avant garde. Both were born100 years ago. For this late-night retrospective, Pierre Bleuse (almost a homophone of Boulez) conducts Ensemble intercontemporain with live electronics from IRCAM – two organisations founded by Boulez in the 1970s. Wednesday July 23.
5. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Kazuki Yamada
There seems to be a never-ending supply of brilliant young pianists; few have won the acclaim that has greeted Yunchan Lim. In 2022 he became the youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn competition, playing Rachmaninov, also his choice for this Prom. Needless to say, he has the requisite combination of muscle and finesse that Rachmaninov demands. Friday Aug 1.
6. From Dark Till Dawn, an all-night Prom
Organist Anna Lapwood is Curator in Chief for this rare Proms all-nighter. The line-up runs from the cheerful rowdiness of Norway’s Barocksoloistene to the refined Bach of cellist Anastasia Kobekina and who knows what from Cateen, aka Hayato Sumino, a pianist whose repertoire embraces Chopin, his own compositions and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Falling asleep not an option. Friday August 8
7. BBC Symphony Orchestra, Eva Ollikainen
A Prom of certified floor-shakers: not only Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Ravel’s Bolero, but also Edgard Varese’s Intégrales, all wailing wind instruments and pounding percussion. All topped off by Before we Fall, a cello concerto by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, whose music evokes the extremes of glacial ice and molten lava. Wednesday August 13.
8. Aurora Orchestra, Nicholas Collon
In what has become a regular Proms highlight, Collon and Aurora Orchestra present a major symphonic work, played from memory: no music stands in sight. This year, it’s Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, a turning point in the composer’s career. Both performances will include a theatrical element to provide context and explication. Saturday August 15 and Sunday August 16.
9. London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano
Opera and the Albert Hall are not natural bedfellows; nor are nuns and opera. That doesn’t deter Pappano, one of today’s great opera conductors, who will do all he can to inject theatrical atmosphere into Puccini’s brief but poignant convent-set Suor Angelica. Also on offer, Richard Strauss’s symphonic fantasy on his opera Die Frau ohne Schatten. Tuesday August 19.
10. Philharmonia Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali
Ravel sneaks in sideways with his lavish orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, originally for piano. Bruce Liu returns the piano to centre-stage with Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto. Completing the programme, Gabriela Ortiz’s Antrópolis, which, the composer says, “narrates the sound of [Mexico] City through its dance halls and nightclubs”. Wed 20 August.
11. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä
Visiting orchestras don’t come any more lustrous than Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In the first of their two Proms, Mäkelä juxtaposes Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with Berio’s Rendering, an enigmatic completion-cum-reimagination of Schubert’s incomplete Tenth Symphony. The following evening, Janine Jansen is soloist in Prokofiev’s equally enigmatic First Violin Concerto. Sat Aug 23 and Sun Aug 24.
12. Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
As the season nears its end, visiting orchestral heavyweights come thick and fast. The Gewandhaus Orchestra (founded in the 1700s) offers a nicely varied line-up. From Arvo Pärt’s heartfelt Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, to Dvořák’s failsafe Violin Concerto (soloist Hilary Hahn) and Sibelius’s Second Symphony, the programme embodies Sibelius’s belief that music is “a beautiful mosaic”. Tuesday August 26.
13. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
Reaching the Albert Hall after a run-in at Glyndebourne, the company’s annual Proms visit does away with the company’s evening dress and picnic interval rigmarole but otherwise tries to replicate the opera-house experience. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro should buff up nicely, especially with the period-instrument support of Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Wednesday August 27.
14. Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Pekka Kuusisto
Finnish violinist/conductor Kuusisto always ploughs his own furrow. His Prom begins with songs by Swedish singer Katarina Barruk (one of the few remaining speakers of the Ume Sámi language) alongside Bach, Tippett and Glass. The second half looks more conventional – Arvo Pärt and Shostakovich – but rest assured that Kuusisto will disrupt expectations. Sunday August 31.
15. BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds
Shostakovich’s almost-feminist opera The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District got Shostakovich into trouble with Stalin in 1936, while a New York critic described it as “pornophony”. It still packs a mighty punch today. For this one-off, semi-staged performance, the BBC Phil has assembled an excellent cast, including Amanda Majeski in the title role. Mon September 1.
16. BBC Concert Orchestra, Edwin Outwater
Music shapes the way we feel a film, and few composers toyed with our emotions more skilfully than Bernard Herrmann. Marking the 50th anniversary of his death, this Prom presents “classic thriller soundtracks”, mostly from Hitchcock films, plus music by David Raksin, who worked with Chaplin and studied with Schoenberg: a rare combination. Thurs Sept 4.
17. Chineke!, Simon Rattle
Since it was founded ten years ago, Chineke! has played an important role in promoting black composers. In this, his first concert with the orchestra, Simon Rattle conducts works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and George Walker. But the orchestra doesn’t avoid the classical mainstream: also on the bill is Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony. Friday Sept 5.
18. Vienna Philharmonic, Franz Welser-Möst
Working with the London Philharmonic in the 1990s, Welser-Möst had a hard time with players, audiences and the press. Now, though, he’s in the first division of orchestral conductors, as witness these two Proms with the Vienna Phil. He’s sticking to core repertoire (Bruckner, Mozart, Tchaikovsky) but these concerts will be special events. Mon Sept. 8 and Tues Sept 9.
19. Between Worlds Ensemble, Rustavi Choir, Avi Avital
The mandolin is an underused instrument, but Avi Avital works proves that it can stand proud in classical repertoire. He’s commissioned dozens of new works but Bach and Vivaldi have also been central to his career. This late-night Prom embraces countries around the Black Sea, where multiple vibrant musical cultures come together. Tuesday Sept 9.
20. Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
John Wilson and his orchestra have a stellar reputation for bringing out the best in film music; no doubt they’ll bring a wide-screen perspective to Ravel’s ballet Daphnis and Chloe. One reviewer called their recording “the finest recorded Daphnis for a generation”. Also on offer, violinist James Ehnes in Bernstein’s Serenade. Friday Sept. 12.
