2017 BBC Proms Photo: BBC
BBC Proms 2017 begins by marking two significant birthdays for two very significant composers. The First Night of the Proms includes 70 year old John Adams’ Harmonium, a work originally commissioned by the San Francisco Orchestra whose then conductor Edo de Waart (our NZSO’s current Music Director) asked for a choral symphony without solo vocalists.
The other special birthday being acknowledged in this week's Proms is that of film composer John Williams. To mark Williams’ 85th birthday, the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart performs music from scores such as Jurassic Park and Star Wars.
Tuesday 1 August 2017
7pm Music Alive
BBC Proms 2017
Over the next seven weeks we bring you a selection of concerts from this year’s BBC Proms
First Night of the Proms
American composer John Adams Photo: Supplied
Igor Levit (piano), BBC Proms Youth Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC SO/Edward Gardner
COULT: St John’s Dance (BBC commission, world premiere); BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor Op 37; ADAMS: Harmonium (recorded by the BBC, Royal Albert Hall, London)
Wednesday 2 August 2017
7pm Music Alive
BBC Proms 2017
Lisa Batiashvili (vln), Staatskapelle Berlin/Daniel Barenboim
SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D minor Op 47; ELGAR: Symphony No 1 in Ab Op 55 (recorded by the BBC, Royal Albert Hall, London)
Thursday 3 August 2017
10am Weekday Classics with Clarissa Dunn
BBC Proms 2017
Isabelle Faust (violin), Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Bernard Haitink
MOZART: Symphony No 38 in D K504, Prague; Violin Concerto No 3 in G K216; SCHUMANN: Symphony No 2 in D Op 11 (recorded by the BBC, Royal Albert Hall, London)
Friday 4 August 2017
7pm Music Alive
Star Wars Photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
BBC Proms 2017
Celebrating John Williams
BBC Concert Orch/Keith Lockhart
The BBC Proms celebrates the film composer’s soundtracks – including Star Wars and Jurassic Park – to mark his 85th birthday (recorded by the BBC, Royal Albert Hall, London)
Saturday 5 August 2017
(none)
Sunday 6 August 2017
10am BBC Proms 2017
Two Proms concerts
I Fagiolini/Robert Hollingworth
MONTEVERDI: a selection of vocal music;
R WILLIAMS: Là ci darem la mano (BBC commission, world première) (recorded by the BBC, Cadogan Hall, London)
11.05am
Royal Northern Sinfonia/Nicholas McGegan
TELEMANN: Water Music, Overture; DELIUS: Summer Night on the River; HANDEL: Water Music Suite No 3 in G; MASON: River (BBC commission, world première); MENDELSSOHN: Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage, Overture; RAMEAU: Naïs, Overture; G WILLIAMS: Sea Sketches (recorded by the BBC, The Dock, Hull)
6pm Opera on Sunday
Stuart Skelton Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0
BBC Proms 2017
Stuart Skelton (Florestan), Ricarda Merbeth (Leonore), Louise Alder (Marzelline), Benjamin Hulett (Jaquino), Detlef Roth (Don Pizarro), David Soar (Don Fernando), Brindley Sherratt (Rocco), Orfeón Donostiarra, BBC Phil/Juanjo Mena
BEETHOVEN: Fidelio
(Recorded by the BBC, Royal Albert Hall, London)
