The London Proms (classical music)

[LONDONER]

I've cross posted this on the Classical Music Thread since it seems to have got buried among other conversations:

The Proms start in London this Friday the 12th. For those who don't know what the Proms are, they comprise the biggest musical festival in the world lasting from the 12th July rigjht through to the 7th September. It was originally initiated by Sir Henry Wood and promoted classical music. This year they have no less that two "Dr Who" concerts and on the 29th July they have a black group called "Naturally 7" singing among other things, George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"and Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight". The on the 10th August there is what is described as an "Urban Classic Prom" in which the BBC Symphony Orchestra rubs shoulders with rap, R&B, and soul.

What's your opinion about the inclusion of these more polular forms of music in what is in majority, a festival of classical music.

Incidentally, on the 19th of July there is a concert in which the young Canadian/Polish pianist who I mentioned in my first post (http://gayspeak.com/showthread.php?t=26234), will be playing a Mozart concerto.

The Proms can be heard by anyone online at this site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/on-air

[LONDONER]

Just a reminder that the BBC Proms start tonigjht. The first programme includees:

Julian Anderson: Harmony (BBC commission: world premiere)
Britten: Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes'
Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Lutoslawski: Variations on a Theme by Paganini

The Proms can be heard by anyone online at this site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/on-air

[LONDONER]

Oh come on folks, please say that someone is interested!

[Eros]

lol... :c...

[LONDONER]

Princealbert: In the thread about my visit to Prague you said:

"Note that the wonder of music is that it CAN be played by non natives of the land and still beautifully rendered. But I get your drift. Enough local talent to fulfil musical dreams."

Well, in the first night of this year's Proms the Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo with the BBC Symphony Orchestra performed Britten¡s "Four Sea Interludes" quite magnificently. Just seeing him it was possible to detect that he was fully involved with the music. Maybe the somewhat bleak landscape of Suffolk reminded him of parts of his native Finland,

[LONDONER]

For Saturday the 13th July tonight's programme starting at 20.30 CET includes:

Murray Gold: Music from the Doctor Who series and other music from the series, including the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 2, Debussy’s ‘La fille aux cheveux de lin’ and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor

London Philharmonic Choir
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ben Foster conductor

Doctor Who returns to the Proms to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the popular BBC series. As well as showcasing Murray Gold’s music from the past eight years, the concert also journeys back to the early days of Doctor Who and the groundbreaking work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Featuring special guests from the series, big screens and a host of monsters ready to invade the Royal Albert Hall, this is not the year to be exterminated!

The Proms can be heard by anyone online at this site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/on-air

[LONDONER]

I am leaving my apartment early Sundayn morning and will be out all day so won't have time to post Sunday prgramme so I'll do it now. This is an important Prom since it will make the 100th anniversay of the first performance of "The Rite of Spring" and for this performance it will be performed on original instruments, i.e., instruments available at the time, gut strings on the violins etc.

Programme for Sunday the 14th:

Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth live at the BBC Proms with dance music from the court of Louis XIV to the Ballets Russes

Lully: Le bourgeois gentilhomme - overture and dances
Rameau: Les Indes galantes - dances
Delibes: Coppélia - excerpts
Massenet: Le Cid - ballet music (excerpts)

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Les Siècles
François-Xavier Roth (conductor)

An evening of riot and revolution in dance music from the court of Louis XIV to the Ballets Russes. Francois-Xavier Roth directs Les Siècles in the first period-instrument performance at the Proms of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, marking the work's centenary. Scenes from ballets by Lully, Rameau, Delibes and Massenet provide more than two centuries of historical context for the work that scandalised musical Paris at its premiere in 1913.

The Proms can be heard by anyone online at this site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/on-air

[LONDONER]

Thank you ChrisD, I'm glad to know that my little contrtibution doesn't fall entirely on deaf ears.

[LONDONER]

Programme for Monday the 15th. Starts at 20.30 CET

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Arditti Quartet and Jonathan Nott live at the BBC Proms with one of Mahler's best-loved symphonies and the UK premiere of a work by Helmut Lachenmann.

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Presented by Christopher Cook

Helmut Lachenmann: Tanzsuite mit Deutschlandlied (UK premiere)

Arditti Quartet
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
Jonathan Nott (conductor)

Written over the summers of 1901 and 1902, Mahler's Fifth remains one of the best-loved symphonies in the repertory, its famous Adagietto a love-letter to his wife, Alma. Before it, the brilliantly virtuosic Arditti Quartet joins the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra for Helmut Lachenmann's Tanzsuite mit Deutschlandlied, an abrasive, unsettling example of the composer's 'musique concrète instrumentale', whose metallic timbres and subtle textures promise to transfix and enthrall.

The Proms can be heard by anyone online at this site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/on-air

[naitsirc]

One of my favourite cds is The Last Night at the Proms. I would love to see some of these shows in person. The inclusion of Dr Who and other similar music sounds great. I once saw a school orchestra play themes from Lord of the Rings and I am sure this type of music would be spectacular at the Proms.