The scheduling of certain Proms seems to be a controversial topic in some quarters, with certain factions expressing a desire for the first week of the season to be entirely classical - and then start dipping into different genres once the dust has settled.
As classical performance continues to wrestle with relevance, accessibility and representation, the Proms are under pressure to lead this change.
In a slightly disappointing end to the festival, short pieces and long pauses failed to live up to much of the wonder of the previous eight weeks.
Another helping of Shakespeare, in this otherwise rather Eastern European-themed Prom.
“What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?” More often than not, when Shakespeare is adapted into different formats, the text is largely lost but the story remains - not so in this case.
The climax to the Proms' Choral Day could only be George Frideric Handel's majestic Messiah.
There were no phone screens, no sotto voce conversations, no fidgeting, as a packed Hall watched the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in rapt appreciation.
“Can you tell me what it is, this capacity for emotion, this force of suffering that is wearing me out?” The focal point of Prom 58 was Hector Berlioz’s 49-minute “Episode in the Life of an Artist”, his Symphonie fantastique; written while he was still in his twenties and at the mercy of h
With soloists Leonidas Kavakos, Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma on violin, piano and cello respectively coming together to form a mighty trio of classical musicians, audiences are in for a treat, regardless of what is being played.
“Never seen a TARDIS before?” For many in attendance at the Royal Albert Hall, this probably is quite likely! The Proms haven’t had any adventures in time and space since Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary celebrations back in 2013, so its return was well overdue - especially as there have been s
If anyone were to worry about the future of classical music, Prom 46 would surely reassure them that we are in good hands.
Since 2005, Aurora Orchestra have been performing classical pieces from memory with no score and free movement around the stage.
With the inclusion of several beloved all-time classics and an exceptional new cello concerto by Spanish composer Francisco Coll, the 38th 2024 BBC Prom marks a tremendous success for conductor Tianyi Lu.
Two giants of the jazz world and one composer who has had vast influence on modern music made up a mixed, but interesting, evening at the BBC Prom 35 in the ever-majestic Royal Albert Hall.
Robert Ames leads a superb performance from the London Contemporary Orchestra.
There has always been much conjecture over what it really means to be British – most recently, a group of self-proclaimed “patriots” got together and trashed libraries, independent businesses, and community hubs across the country in the name of supposedly getting their country back.
What is there to be said about the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra that hasn’t already been said? For twenty-five years it has united Arab and Israeli musicians under the baton of Jewish co-founder Daniel Barenboim (late Palestinian Critical Theorist Edward Said is the other co-founder); their decl
During the Restoration and beyond, there were numerous attempts at rewriting Shakespeare - one famous example being Romeo and Juliet changing to a happy ending.
John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London have rightly earned a reputation for holding audiences rapt with their vivid realisations of music.
Auntie had no need to be worried.
A lively, varied and yes, sassy night celebrating a groundbreaking artist.
“I believe in nothing.
Never to shy away from embracing new genres, BBC Proms introduced its first ever Disco Prom at a glitter ball-bedecked Royal Albert Hall.
Unlike the Last Night of the Proms, which has developed its own mythology and status (thanks to the traditions that surround it), the First Night of the Proms is not bound by any particular structure or the need to play any specific pieces; there’s a freedom to it that spills out into the audience
The 2022 BBC Proms celebrates a homecoming of large-scale orchestral repertoire to the Royal Albert Hall.
