History in the making at the opening concert in a series of Sunday nights at the BBC Proms with the first ever visit from the China Philharmonic Orchestra. Founded in 2000, the orchestra has made its mark in a country where the appetite for classical music keeps growing and growing.  Star soloist Alison Balsom joins the orchestra and conductor Long Yu for a new trumpet concerto by Chinese composer Qigang Chen, alongside music by Elgar and Tchaikovsky. There is also a spectacular piano concerto by Liszt performed by rising young virtuoso Haochen Zhang, all culminating in Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Presented by Katie Derham.

The Sunday Prom: China Philharmonic Orchestra

BBC Proms Masterworks: Bach's St John Passion

Friday Night at the Proms: Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony

The greatest classical music festival in the world gets underway from the Royal Albert Hall.

Katie Derham introduces a performance of Elgar's sublime biblical oratorio, The Kingdom, a powerful musical portrayal of the acts of the disciples after the ascension of Jesus.

Sir Andrew Davis returns to the Proms in his 70th birthday year to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC National Chorus of Wales. They are joined by soloists Erin Wall as the Blessed Virgin, Catherine Wyn-Rogers as Mary Magdalene, Andrew Staples as St John and Christopher Purves as St Peter.

First Night of the Proms

Following the excitement of the First Night, presenters Petroc Trelawny and world-renowned soprano Danielle de Niese kick off the regular Friday night slot with Beethoven's much-loved 6th Symphony. This lyrical paean to the renewing powers of nature is conducted by David Zinman in his final appearance as chief conductor of Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, in a concert that also includes Richard Strauss's sparkling tone-poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Dvorak's Violin Concerto in A minor. This Romantic masterpiece is performed by its champion, German violinist Julia Fischer, who says it has 'the greatest beginning of any violin concerto'.

Tom Service presents as Russian maestro Valery Gergiev brings the World Orchestra for Peace to the Proms for a performance of Mahler's all-encompassing Sixth Symphony. In celebration of Richard Strauss's 150th birthday year, Gergiev also conducts the symphonic fantasia Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Samira Ahmed and pianist Nicholas McCarthy present a concert of contrasts, with Mozart's intimate and elegant Piano Concerto no 23 paired with Ravel's sumptuously orchestrated ballet Daphnis and Chloe, originally commissioned by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The soloist is Argentinian Ingrid Fliter and the BBC Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Spaniard Josep Pons.

Friday Night at the Proms: Mozart's A Major Piano Concerto

From the Royal Albert Hall, Katie Derham presents a 150th anniversary celebration of the birth of Richard Strauss. The acclaimed Danish soprano Inger Dam-Jensen sings the composer's exquisite Four Last Songs in a prom which also showcases two of Strauss's rarely heard works - his majestic Festival Prelude and his Deutsche Motette for choir and four solo voices.  The mood of late-romantic nostalgia continues with a performance of Elgar's Second Symphony. Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Singers.

The Sunday Prom: Richard Strauss Celebration

Tom Service invites us to listen to well-known, definitive masterworks from two of the greatest composers of all time with a fresh ear. Donald Runnicles takes on Beethoven's Fourth Symphony with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and joins forces with the National Youth Choir of Scotland and four top British soloists for Mozart's Requiem - a work of tragic beauty both musically and historically, left unfinished by Mozart just before his death in 1791.  Soloists are the soprano Carolyn Sampson, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice, tenor Jeremy Ovenden and bass Neal Davies.

BBC Proms Masterworks: Mozart and Beethoven

In his proms concerto debut, French pianist Alexandre Tharaud performs one of Ravel's last great works, the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. Conductor Juanjo Mena also leads the BBC Philharmonic in a Mahler masterpiece, the Fifth Symphony, which includes one of greatest love letters ever written - the famous Adagietto. Presented by Suzy Klein and Nicholas McCarthy.

Friday Night at the Proms: Ravel's Left Hand Piano Concerto

Sir John Tavener, who died in 2013, was one of the country's defining musical voices. His sacred choral music, inspired by his deep Orthodox faith, touches the hearts of millions and has been the soundtrack to some of this nation's most moving events.  Just before he died he completed his Requiem Fragments, commissioned by the BBC for this Prom. The Tallis Scholars are conducted by Sir John's great friend Peter Phillips, who describes the work as a miraculous masterpiece. The concert begins with his radiant choral work Ikon of Light.  Presented by Katie Derham.

The Sunday Prom: John Tavener Premiere

BBC Proms Masterworks: Strauss and Mahler

The work that changed the course of music forever, Beethoven's epic Eroica Symphony is the culmination of this concert from Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé. Berlioz's swashbuckling overture Le corsaire, depicting the adventures of pirates on the ocean wave, opens the concert with a splash. Elder is famed for his Elgar and he is joined by British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote for the Sea Pictures, Elgar's orchestral song-cycle exploring the fascination and fear inspired by the sea. Presented by Suzy Klein and Rodney Earl Clarke.

Friday Night at the Proms: Beethoven's Eroica Symphony

Jazz singer and broadcaster Clare Teal transports us back to the heady days of the swing band era of the 1930s and 1940s in a recreation of the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Conductor James Pearson of the Count Pearson Proms Band takes on Grant Windsor of the Duke Windsor Proms band in a roof-raising battle, with help from vocalists Gregory Porter and Vula Malinga. The evening culminates in a bespoke rousing 'battle royal' for the biggest audience ovation.  Presented by Katie Derham

Proms on Four: Battle of the Bands

Tom Service reaches the 20th century on his route through Masterworks at the Proms, by way of Jean Sibelius and William Walton. Canadian violinist James Ehnes performs Walton's striking violin concerto, and Thomas Sondergard conducts the National Orchestra of Wales in two works by Sibelius - the transcendent tone poem The Swan of Tuonela, and his Fifth Symphony with its memorable, ecstatic 'swan theme'.

BBC Proms Masterworks: Walton and Sibelius

Razia Iqbal and Petroc Trelawny present a special concert drawing together four composers whose lives and music were impacted by WW1.  The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze performs Vaughan Williams's post-war composition, the elegiac Pastoral Symphony.  The three promising young composers also featured in the concert were all killed in the war and have left us poignant evocations of lost lands and innocence destroyed - George Butterworth's settings of poems from AE Housman's nostalgic collection A Shropshire Lad; Australian-born Frederick Septimus Kelly's Elegy for his friend Rupert Brooke; and, from across the battle lines, German composer Rudi Stephan's Music for Orchestra.

Friday Night at the Proms: In Memoriam WWI

English weekend at the Proms continues with Elgar's autumnal, sepia-toned Cello Concerto, written after the horrors of the First World War. Norwegian virtuoso cellist Truls Mørk joins the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, visiting the Proms from Australia for the first time and conducted by a Proms favourite, Sir Andrew Davis. The concert opens with Richard Strauss's spectacular tone poem about the serial womaniser Don Juan, with romantic unrequited love at the heart of the final piece, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.  Presented by Katie Derham.

The Sunday Prom: Elgar's Cello Concerto

Join CBeebies at the Royal Albert Hall for the first ever CBeebies Prom.  The BBC Philharmonic, with some of your CBeebies favourites, take you on a musical journey to discover lots of different and exciting sounds. Salty Dog is the first animal to appear in a Prom concert, alongside her friend Jack, Bernard Cribbins, while Robert the Robot is out and about around London finding the perfect sound to finish the concert.  Enjoy energetic orchestral pieces and CBeebies themes with Andy, Cat, Chris, Gem, Katy and Mr Bloom.

CBeebies Prom

Tom Service presents as the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain return for their annual Proms performance. Ed Gardner conducts an energetic programme of 20th-century music featuring Stravinsky's vivid ballet Petrushka, Lutoslawski's colourful Concerto for Orchestra and Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto with soloist Louis Schwizgebel.

BBC Proms Masterworks: Stravinsky and Lutoslawski

A Proms visit from Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is always an exciting event. The international ensemble's home is Seville and the programme has a strong Spanish flavour. Razia Iqbal and organist-conductor Wayne Marshall present Mozart's sparkling overture to the Marriage of Figaro - set just outside Seville - and a series of Ravel pieces including Rapsodie espagnol, Pavane for a Dead Princess and the ultra-popular Bolero.

Barenboim Conducts the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Proms

The Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra make their debut at the festival. Music inspired by the east colours the programme, with the sounds and scents of bazaars and seraglios, as well as portraits of the Queen of Sheba by both Handel and Respighi. Also, violin virtuoso Daniel Hope premieres a new concerto by the remarkable young composer Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of the great Sergei Prokofiev.  Presented by Katie Derham.

The Sunday Prom: Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Tom Service presents music from multi-award-winning American composer John Adams, alongside Mahler's imaginatively ambitious 1st Symphony. Saxophonist Timothy McAllister performs the UK premiere of Adams's Saxophone Concerto and Marin Alsop conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

BBC Proms Masterworks: Mahler and Adams

Samira Ahmed presents a concert celebrating 50 years of the world-famous Monteverdi Choir, founded by conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. This Prom of Beethoven's mighty Missa Solemnis also features the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique with a line-up of star soloists. The performance is introduced by a short film exploring the Monteverdi Choir's impact on the music scene over 50 groundbreaking years.

Friday Night at the Proms: Monteverdi Choir Birthday Prom - Beethoven

The Royal Albert Hall shimmers with flamboyance as Paloma Faith takes to the stage in her debut Proms performance. The multi-platinum London-born singer-songwriter is reunited with conductor, composer, trumpeter and arranger Guy Barker, a 42-piece jazz orchestra and the elite Urban Voices Collective for a one-off concert featuring new arrangements of songs including Picking up the Pieces, Can't Rely on You, Only Love Can Hurt Like This and Upside Down.

Late Night Live with Paloma Faith and Guy Barker

Katie Derham is live at the world's biggest classical music festival as the legendary Cleveland Orchestra perform at the BBC Proms. This is a rare chance to hear one of America's best orchestras in a huge Proms favourite, Brahms's First Symphony. The concert opens with Brahms in a lighter mood in his Academic Festival Overture and also includes the UK premiere of an elegant, dance-like flute concerto by German clarinettist and composer Jorg Widmann.

The Sunday Prom: The Cleveland Orchestra

A celebration of the 80th birthdays of two of the country's greatest living composers, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Sir Harrison Birtwistle, whose works changed forever the landscape of British music.  Tom Service presents a selection of their music from the 2014 Proms, with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies as his guest at the Royal Albert Hall.

BBC Proms Masterworks: Maxwell Davies and Birtwistle

Daniel Hope and Danielle De Niese present a pair of great Romantic blockbusters - Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, featuring soloist Denis Matsuev. The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra makes its first visit to the BBC Proms, conducted by its music director Han-Na Chang.

Friday Night at the Proms: Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Katie Derham introduces the final concert of the 2014 Proms season.  The programme includes William Walton's Popular Song from Façade and Malcolm Arnold's overture Peterloo, receiving its first performance in a new choral version with lyrics by Sir Tim Rice.  There is a tribute to the late Sir John Tavener with his iconic Song for Athene and the Strauss anniversary celebrations conclude with a performance of the composer's massive work Taillefer, with soloists Elizabeth Watts, John Daszak and Roderick Williams.  Celebrated Dutch violinist Janine Jansen plays Chausson's evocative Poème and the concert begins with the world premiere of Velocity by young British composer Gavin Higgins.  The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC Singers are conducted by Sakari Oramo, conducting the Last Night of the Proms for the first time.

Last Night of the Proms - Part 1

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Katie Derham introduces the grand finale to the 2014 Proms.  Violinist Janine Jansen and baritone Roderick Williams join the combined forces of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers and the BBC Symphony Chorus on stage under the baton of Sakari Oramo, who conducts the Last Night of the Proms for the first time.  Around the UK, Proms in the Park audiences in Glasgow, Swansea, Belfast and London join in the singing of favourites from Walt Disney's classic film Mary Poppins to celebrate its 50th anniversary, before the traditional climax of Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem.

Last Night of the Proms - Part 2

John Wilson and his orchestra are joined by a spectacular ensemble of singers and dancers from Broadway and the West End for a unique performance of the classic musical Kiss Me, Kate.  Hits including Another Op'nin, Another Show, Wunderbar and Too Darn Hot combine to create a dazzling evening of music, dance and theatre to mark 50 years since the death of its celebrated composer and lyricist Cole Porter.  This hilarious take on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is performed in its glorious 1948 original orchestration, a highlight of the 2014 BBC Proms season at the Royal Albert Hall. Starring Ben Davis, Alexandra Silber, Tony Yazbeck and Louise Dearman.

Kiss Me, Kate at the Proms

A major new musical adaptation of the international hit War Horse, created by the National Theatre for the BBC Proms.  Simon Russell Beale presents the unique production at the Royal Albert Hall with Gareth Malone's Proms Military Wives Choir, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Cambiata Choir North West, alongside the National Theatre Ensemble with the astonishing Handspring Puppets. There's even a role for writer Michael Morpurgo as himself.

War Horse at the Proms

Prom 31: Beethoven's Eroica Symphony

Prom 33: BBC Proms Masterworks: Stravinsky and Lutoslawski

Prom 35: BBC Proms Masterworks: Walton and Sibelius

Prom 42: In Memoriam WWI

Prom 44: Elgar's Cello Concerto

Prom 46: Barenboim Conducts the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Proms

Prom 54: Monteverdi Choir Birthday Prom - Beethoven

Prom 63: BBC Proms Masterworks: Mahler and Adams

The Royal Albert Hall shimmers with flamboyance as Paloma Faith takes to the stage in her debut Proms performance. The multi-platinum London-born singer-songwriter is reunited with conductor, composer, trumpeter and arranger Guy Barker, a 42-piece jazz orchestra and the elite Urban Voices Collective for a one-off concert featuring new arrangements of songs, including Picking up the Pieces, Can't Rely on You, Only Love Can Hurt Like This and Upside Down.

Prom 65: Late Night Live with Paloma Faith and Guy Barker

Prom 67: Friday Night at the Proms: Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto

Prom 68: The Sunday Prom: The Cleveland Orchestra

The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival.  The BBC Proms is a classical music festival held every summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and in recent years has explored an innovative series of Proms around the UK with concerts in all four nations. Its aim: to bring the best in classical music to the widest possible audience, which remains true to founder-conductor Henry Wood’s original vision in 1895.  Whether you are a classical connoisseur or think classical music isn’t for you, there is something for everyone in the eight-week stretch of concerts.

The Sunday Prom: China Philharmonic Orchestra

Seasons80

Season 68 Episodes40

Discussion

Episode Summary