Eye-catching novelties at the BBC Proms
NewsIgnore the annual furore about pop insertions at the classical festival. They are sooo last century.
Our eye is caught by the debut of Garsington Opera, with a Britten production imported from the green and pleasant; by the first appearance of Van Cliburn winner Yunchan Lim, appearing with the BBC Symphony; by the irresistible Víkingur Ólafsson turning up in the Berlin bundle; by Janacek’s Glagolotic Mass and Beethoven’s triple concerto; by Ben Grosvenor playing Busoni’s massive piano concerto; and by performances by Charles Hazlewood’s Paraorchestra, composed of musicians with disabilities.
Too gimmicky by half: Beethven’s 9th ‘played by heart’ by Nicholas Collon’s Aurora Orchestra.
Full prog here.
It’s Charles Hazlewood (not Chris)!
The Aurora Orchestra’s playing from memory gimmick is nothing new. Any decent musician should be able to do that.
Also noteworthy is the significant number of Requiems and war-themed works that are programmed, surely a sign of these difficult and distracted times we live in.
That (the Requiems) would be an interesting question to Proms chiefs — if there were in fact any programmes or articles in which such things were discussed. It will probably remain your interesting observation.
Any decent musician should be able to do that? Only if they are remunerated for the many hours spent learning their part, which I understand is not the case here.
Will be looking forward to hearing Yunchan’s debut!
If Elim Chan delivers the outstanding powerhouse of a Beethoven 5 that she did with the RSNO some years ago it will be outstanding. That orchestra missed a trick not nabbing her as Music Director after a superb stint as Principal Guest Conductor
Does anyone else smell a rat? In previous years, the publication of the Proms Guide was immediately followed by a deluge of promotional clips on Radio 3, several times a day. This year I’ve heard nothing. Any theories?
The BBC can’t afford American Orchestras but can afford loads of overpaid programme presenters etc. No surprise there eh?