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The Best Episodes of BBC Proms Season 71

Every episode of BBC Proms Season 71 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of BBC Proms Season 71!

The Best Episodes of BBC Proms Season 71

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,...
  1. Background image for First Night of the Proms - Part 1
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    #1 - First Night of the Proms - Part 1

    S71:E1

    BBC Proms 2017 kicks off in style tonight at the Royal Albert Hall. Beethoven's dramatic Third Piano Concerto is performed by star soloist Igor Levit with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Edward Gardner. This opening concert of the world's biggest music festival also includes a raucous new work by Tom Coult, St John's Dance, the first of 13 world premieres at Proms 2017. Presented by Katie Derham.

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  2. Background image for First Night of the Proms - Part 2
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    #2 - First Night of the Proms - Part 2

    S71:E2

    The First Night of the Proms culminates with Harmonium, a dazzling choral work from American music titan John Adams, who celebrates his 70th birthday this year. Harmonium is a thrilling and captivating setting of poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Proms Youth Choir, conducted by Edward Gardner.

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  3. Background image for Barenboim's Elgar
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    #3 - Barenboim's Elgar

    S71:E3

    Broadcast of Prom 4: Daniel Barenboim and Staatskapel Berlin Inspirational maestro Daniel Barenboim makes his second appearance in this opening weekend of the 2017 Proms season. Conducting his German orchestra Staatskappelle Berlin, Barenboim brings an entirely English programme to the Royal Albert Hall, including Elgar's poignant Second Symphony and the UK premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Deep Time, a work dedicated to the memory of Birtwistle's friend and colleague Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

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  4. Background image for John Williams’ Film Prom
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    #4 - John Williams’ Film Prom

    S71:E4

    Broadcast of Prom 8: Celebrating John Williams Celebrate the 85th birthday of one of the world’s favourite film composers in an evening of big emotions and even bigger melodies.

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  5. Background image for Haitink’s Mozart
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    #5 - Haitink’s Mozart

    S71:E5

    Broadcast of Prom 3: Bernard Haitink conducts Mozart and Schumann BBC Proms legend Bernard Haitink returns to the Royal Albert Hall to conduct his beloved Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Acclaimed German violinist Isabelle Faust plays Mozart's joyous Third Violin Concerto, which is paired tonight with his groundbreaking Prague Symphony. Schumann's Second Symphony closes the programme.

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  6. Background image for Malcolm Sargent Revisited
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    #6 - Malcolm Sargent Revisited

    S71:E6

    Broadcast of Prom 13: Malcolm Sargent's 500th Prom Nicknamed 'Flash Harry', Sir Malcolm Sargent was the chief conductor of the Proms for two decades, bringing the concerts to TV audiences for the first time. Marking the 50th anniversary of his death, conductor Sir Andrew Davis, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and sensational young pianist Beatrice Rana recreate Sargent's 500th Prom from 1966. Alongside Schumann and Berlioz, there's a feast of English music, including works by Elgar and Holst, culminating in Britten's much-loved Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.

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  8. Background image for Scott Walker Revisited
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    #7 - Scott Walker Revisited

    S71:E7

    Broadcast of Prom 15: The Songs of Scott Walker (1967–70) Jarvis Cocker leads an eclectic line-up in this late night tribute to the 60s cult icon Scott Walker. Conductor Jules Buckley has arranged tracks from Walker's four eponymous albums, performed with live orchestral backing for the very first time. Featuring Jules Buckley's Heritage Orchestra and London Contemporary Voices.

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  9. Background image for Zhang’s Beethoven
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    #8 - Zhang’s Beethoven

    S71:E8

    Broadcast of Prom 21: Beethoven – Symphony No. 9, ‘Choral’ Beethoven's much-loved Ninth Symphony, with its passionate plea for unity, is performed by the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales and the CBSO Chorus, conducted by Xian Zhang. Its companion piece is the European premiere of A European Requiem, written in 2015 by the great Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan.

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  10. Background image for Beethoven’s Fidelio
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    #9 - Beethoven’s Fidelio

    S71:E9

    Broadcast of Prom 9: Beethoven – Fidelio Beethoven’s only opera is a passionate musical protest against political oppression that premiered in the wake of the French Revolution. Stuart Skelton stars as the imprisoned Florestan, with soprano Ricarda Merbeth as Leonore. Juanjo Mena conducts.

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  11. Background image for Ella and Dizzy Revisited
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    #10 - Ella and Dizzy Revisited

    S71:E10

    Broadcast of Prom 27: Ella and Dizzy: A Centenary Tribute A special Proms tribute to jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie, in the centenary year of their births. Grammy Award-winning singer Dianne Reeves and sensational trumpeter James Morrison perform with the BBC Concert Orchestra under the baton of Hollywood music legend John Mauceri, as they showcase some of the music most closely associated with Ella and Dizzy.

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  12. Background image for Ades Conducts Stravinsky
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    #11 - Ades Conducts Stravinsky

    S71:E11

    Broadcast of Prom 28: National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain returns to the BBC Proms under the baton of renowned composer and conductor Thomas Ades. The formidable young musicians perform Stravinsky's thrilling ballet score The Rite of Spring, the London premiere of Mural by Francisco Coll and Ades's own work Polaris.

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  13. Background image for Oklahoma!
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    #12 - Oklahoma!

    S71:E12

    Broadcast of Prom 35: John Wilson conducts Oklahoma! Cowboys and farm girls are let loose in the Royal Albert Hall as the John Wilson Orchestra transports us to the Great American Plains in Oklahoma! Rodgers and Hammerstein's first ever musical was an instant hit when it premiered on Broadway in 1943 and it's not hard to see why - it's chock-full of toe-tapping classics, including Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin', People Will Say We're in Love, and of course the title song itself. With a stellar cast, sensational dance numbers and the unique energy of the John Wilson Orchestra, the magic of the original lives on in 2017.

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  14. Background image for Dausgaard’s Rachmaninov
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    #13 - Dausgaard’s Rachmaninov

    S71:E13

    Broadcast of Prom 37: Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No. 3 This all-Rachmaninov programme features two of the composer's greatest and most-loved works performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under conductor Thomas Dausgaard. Alexander Gavrylyuk is the soloist for the famously demanding Third Piano Concerto, which is followed by the capricious and impassioned Second Symphony. The Latvian Radio Choir joins the line-up, setting both pieces alongside the Russian Orthodox chants that the composer would have known.

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  15. Background image for Beethoven’s Eroica Revisited
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    #14 - Beethoven’s Eroica Revisited

    S71:E14

    Broadcast of Prom 10: Aurora Orchestra – Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ The fearlessly brilliant members of Aurora Orchestra put Beethoven's revolutionary Eroica Symphony under the Proms microscope. Presenter Tom Service and conductor Nicholas Collon perform a lively and revealing on-stage dissection of the score that changed musical history. The Prom culminates with a full performance of the symphony, which the orchestra will play entirely from memory.

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  16. Background image for Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar
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    #15 - Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar

    S71:E15

    Broadcast of Prom 41: Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar Two goliaths of 20th-century music, Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass, recorded the studio album Passages together in 1989. The result was a unique fusion of Hindustani sitar music with American minimalism. Tonight the album is performed live and in full for the first time, with Shankar's daughter Anoushka playing the sitar alongside a dazzling array of Indian soloists and the Britten Sinfonia, conducted by Karen Kamensek.

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  17. Background image for Bach’s St John Passion
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    #16 - Bach’s St John Passion

    S71:E16

    Broadcast of Prom 49: Bach’s St John Passion In one of a series of Proms performances marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, John Butt directs his Dunedin Consort in a complete performance of Bach's powerful St John Passion, with Nicolas Mulroy as the Evangelist and Matthew Brook as Jesus. Reflecting the church setting for which it was written, the performance includes congregational singing from the Proms audience.

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  18. Background image for Charles Mingus Revisited
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    #17 - Charles Mingus Revisited

    S71:E17

    Broadcast of Prom 53: Beneath the Underdog: Charles Mingus Revisited A giant in 20th-century jazz, the legendary composer, bandleader and bass player Charles Mingus is celebrated by conductor Jules Buckley and his Metropole Orkest. Plus a brilliant line-up of soloists, including saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, trumpeter Christian Scott and singer Kandace Springs, are on the bill.

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  19. Background image for CBSO play Beethoven’s Fifth
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    #18 - CBSO play Beethoven’s Fifth

    S71:E18

    Broadcast of Prom 50: Beethoven, Stravinsky and Gerald Barry Katie Derham introduces the first of six weekly programmes celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Proms, featuring some of the most memorable concerts from the unrivalled Proms archive. Katie is joined by conductor Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla to mark Beethoven’s 250th birthday year with another chance to see her acclaimed Proms appearance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2017. As well as a thrillingly fresh interpretation of Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony, the concert also includes his Leonore Overture No 3 and a world premiere by Irish maverick Gerald Barry, performed by tenor Allan Clayton. All this alongside Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major performed by Leila Josefowicz.

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  20. Background image for Big Band Swing with Clare Teal
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    #19 - Big Band Swing with Clare Teal

    S71:E19

    Broadcast of Prom 57: Swing No End Singer and broadcaster Clare Teal heads the charge in this big band spectacular. Travel back in time with this rip-roaring Prom to the 1930s and 1940s and celebrate the irrepressible music of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton and more, plus a special tribute to the unassuming giant of the big band world, Mary Lou Williams. Band leaders Guy Barker and Winston Rollins take to the stage alongside their eponymous big bands with help from a myriad of guest artists.

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  21. Background image for Stax with Jools Holland
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    #20 - Stax with Jools Holland

    S71:E20

    Broadcast of Prom 65: Stax Records: 50 Years of Soul Founded in 1957, Memphis-based Stax Records was synonymous with southern soul - a distinctive blend of funk, gospel and R&B that brought listeners across America together at a time of racial conflict and political unrest. In this Late Night Prom, Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra pay tribute to the pioneering label and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stax/Volt Revue's first tour of the UK, in a concert featuring some of the label's greatest surviving artists. Stax legends Booker T Jones and Sam Moore appear alongside Sir Tom Jones, a longtime fan and interpreter of the Stax songbook. Both Jones and Moore were part of the 1967 tour and join fellow Stax artists William Bell, Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd in this unique coming-together. They are joined by more fans of the Stax sound in Beverley Knight, James Morrison, Nadia Rose & Sweetie Irie and Ruby Turner.

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  22. Background image for Simon Rattle’s Gurrelieder
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    #21 - Simon Rattle’s Gurrelieder

    S71:E21

    Broadcast of Prom 46: Schoenberg – Gurrelieder In one of the highlights of this year's Proms season, Sir Simon Rattle brings Schoenberg's colossal Gurrelieder to the Royal Albert Hall, uniting the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, CBSO Chorus, Orfeo Catala and a stunning line-up of soloists including Eva-Maria Westbroek, Simon O'Neill and speaker Thomas Quasthoff. An epic love story conceived on a Wagnerian scale, it reaches its climax with a truly unforgettable depiction of sunrise.

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  23. Background image for Classical Music of India and Pakistan
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    #22 - Classical Music of India and Pakistan

    S71:E22

    Broadcast of Prom 55: Classical Music of India and Pakistan To mark the 70th anniversary of independence from British rule and the subsequent Partition of India from Pakistan and Bangladesh, this special late-night Prom celebrates the power of music to heal and unify. Curated by the cultural heritage trust Darbar, it brings together virtuoso soloists and world-leading groups representing the three great traditions of classical music from India and Pakistan. From late evening into the night, the concert takes us from the Hindustani music of north India to the Carnatic music of the south, and leads to an ecstatic climax with devotional Sufi qawwali from Pakistan.

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  24. Background image for Andras Schiff Plays Bach
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    #23 - Andras Schiff Plays Bach

    S71:E23

    Broadcast of Prom 73: Sir András Schiff performs Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier After his extraordinary performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations at the 2015 Proms, world-renowned pianist Sir Andras Schiff returns to the Royal Albert Hall for another solo Bach recital. He performs Book One of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, a cycle that he will complete next year with Book Two. Almost three centuries after Bach composed his two sequences of preludes and fugues in all 24 keys, 'the 48' remains a touchstone for all great pianists.

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  25. Background image for Dvořák and Bartók
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    #24 - Dvořák and Bartók

    S71:E24

    Broadcast of Prom 70: Missy Mazzoli, Bartók and Dvořák Bartok's sparkling Second Piano Concerto and Dvorak's Eighth Symphony are in the spotlight as American pianist Jeremy Denk joins conductor Karina Canellakis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The concert opens with Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) by young American composer Missy Mazzoli, music 'in the shape of the solar system'.

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  26. Background image for Chineke! Orchestra with Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Jeanine De Bique
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    #25 - Chineke! Orchestra with Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Jeanine De Bique

    S71:E25

    Broadcast of Prom 62: Chineke! The UK’s first majority BME orchestra, Chineke!, makes its Proms debut. 2016 BBC Young Musician winner, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, is the soloist, and the concert also includes works by composers George Walker and Hannah Kendall.

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Season 71 Ratings Summary

"First Night of the Proms - Part 1" is the best rated episode of "BBC Proms" season 71. It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 7/14/2017. This episode is rated NaN points higher than the second-best, "First Night of the Proms - Part 2".