Proms Prompter - Week 2

What’s coming up in week two of the 2017 Proms season? Susan Omand gives you some Proms Prompters...



Oh there’s so much on this coming week that I want to listen to, it’s going to be difficult to come up with just three to recommend for you. I’m fascinated by the idea of an orchestra performing Beethoven’s Eroica from memory and I want to see how technical or otherwise the lecture section of the prom gets. I also love the idea of the “taster plate” that is this year’s Ten Pieces presentation. And then there’s The Planets and The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and an upcoming rant about why the songs of Scott Walker, although very good, should have no place in a season of orchestral music and...



But I think I’ve narrowed it down and it’s the three Proms later in the week. Wednesday sees a World premiere of a new piano concerto with a couple of vividly dramatic pieces from Liszt and one of my favourites with imagery-filled Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The Russian theme continues on Thursday with the glorious and highly emotional Pathetique Symphony from Tchaikovsky (hopefully everyone claps after the 3rd movement as tradition dictates) preceded by something called The Immortal by Mark Simpson which, I must admit, has me completely intrigued as it is an oratorio inspired by Victorian seances.



And the Russian revolution continues on Friday with the beautiful Arabian Nights inspired Scheherezade from Rimsky-Korsakov (who my father insisted on calling “Ripped-‘is-corsets-off”... philistine!) Talking of Philistines, Homer’s Odyssey provides the inspiration for Anders Hillborg’s Sirens and the sea takes centre stage again with the short opener of Erich Korngold’s highly evocative overture for the Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Sea Hawk. As a comment I read said “before there was John Williams, there was Erich Korngold”.









As well as the televised concerts, every Prom is broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and HD Sound online, so “people in countries all over the world can tune in and have 'the best seat in the house’”. They’ll also be available to download on the Radio 3 app and you’ll find any you missed on iPlayer.



Here’s the full list of what’s on where this week (Saturday 22nd to Friday 28th July)



Saturday 22 July 2017



AURORA ORCHESTRA – BEETHOVEN’S ‘EROICA’ (Televised on 18th August on BBC Four)



The Aurora Orchestra is back, again performing a classic work from memory. This year, with the help of presenter Tom Service, they explore Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony – the first Romantic symphony – in an event that’s part concert, part lecture.



Programme



Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 3 with live excerpts (25 mins) Tom Service and Nicholas Collon introduce Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, with live excerpts

Richard Strauss Metamorphosen(27 mins)



INTERVAL



Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No 3 in E flat major 'Eroica'(47 mins)





Sunday 23 July 2017



TEN PIECES PRESENTS SIR HENRY'S MAGNIFICENT MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS!



Proms founder-conductor Sir Henry Wood is on a mission to find out what sparks musical inspiration. Join him to discover how nature, history, literature and art have all inspired composers to create musical masterpieces. Perfect for all the family.



Programme



Aaron Copland Fanfare for the Common Man (3 mins)

Edward Elgar The Music Makers, Op 69 (2 mins)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The Magic Flute (Overture)(6 mins)

Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (orch Maurice Ravel)(2 mins)

Lili Boulanger D’un matin de printemps(5 mins)

Ravi Shankar Symphony - Finale: Banjara (excerpt)(7 mins)



INTERVAL



Antonio Vivaldi Gloria in D major, RV 589(2 mins)

Sir Henry Wood Fantasia on British Sea-Songs - Jack’s the Lad (Hornpipe)(2 mins)

William Walton Henry V - Overture(1 mins)

William Walton Henry V - extract 3rd movement "Charge & Battle"(5 mins)

Kerry Andrew No Place Like Home(4 mins)BBC Commission: world premiere

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The Magic Flute - Aria De Holle Rache(3 mins)

Ottorino Respighi Pines of Rome(5 mins)

Sir Henry Wood Fantasia on British Sea-Songs - Jack’s the Lad (Hornpipe)(1 mins)





Monday 24 July 2017 (televised on 28th July on BBC Four)



MALCOLM SARGENT’S 500TH PROM



Marking 50 years since the death of Malcolm Sargent, Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC SO recreate Sargent’s 500th Prom. With music by Elgar, Holst, Walton and Berlioz, as well as Schumann’s mercurial Piano Concerto, with Beatrice Rana as soloist.



Programme



The National Anthem (arr. Wood)(3 mins)

Hector Berlioz Overture 'Le carnaval romain'(9 mins)

Robert Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor(34 mins)



INTERVAL



Edward Elgar Overture 'Cockaigne (In London Town)'(14 mins)

William Walton Façade, Suite No. 1

William Walton Façade Suite No. 2 – Popular Song(14 mins)

Gustav Holst The Perfect Fool(11 mins)

Frederick Delius On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring(6 mins)

Benjamin Britten The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra(8 mins)





Tuesday 25 July 2017



HOLST – THE PLANETS



John Wilson directs the BBC SSO in this all-English programme. Holst’s vividly atmospheric The Planets is set against the mellow loveliness of Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 9 – the last that the composer would write.



Programme



Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 9 in E minor (34 mins)



INTERVAL



Gustav Holst The Planets (50 mins)



also Tuesday 25 July 2017

THE SONGS OF SCOTT WALKER (1967 – 70) (televised live on BBC Four)



A celebration of the extraordinary career of Scott Walker, whose music has influenced artists from David Bowie to Leonard Cohen. Jules Buckley and the Heritage Orchestra pay tribute, with star guests including Jarvis Cocker and John Grant.





Wednesday 26 July 2017



MUSSORGSKY – PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION



Drama is at the heart of a Prom that moves from the psychological drama of Liszt’s Hamlet to the vivid portraits of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Plus Steven Osborne joins Ilan Volkov and the BBC SSO for a Julian Anderson world premiere.



Programme



Franz Liszt Hamlet(10 mins)

Julian Anderson Piano Concerto(25 mins)BBC co-commission with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra: world premiere



INTERVAL



Franz Liszt From the Cradle to the Grave(14 mins)

Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (orch Maurice Ravel)(34 mins)





Thursday 27 July 2017



TCHAIKOVSKY’S PATHÉTIQUE



Life and death collide in a Prom that explores what lies beyond human existence. Tchaikovsky’s passionate final symphony dares to face death with hope, while Mark Simpson’s critically acclaimed The Immortal takes inspiration from Victorian seances.



Programme



Mark Simpson The Immortal(34 mins)London premiere



INTERVAL



Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 in B minor, 'Pathétique'(46 mins)





Friday 28 July 2017



SIRENS AND SCHEHERAZADE



James Gaffigan and the BBC Symphony Orchestra take you on a journey from the exotic oceans of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade to the Siren-filled waters of Homer’s Odyssey and the stormy seas of Korngold’s stirring film score for The Sea Hawk.



Programme



Erich Wolfgang Korngold The Sea Hawk – overture(6 mins)

Anders Hillborg Sirens(33 mins)UK premiere



INTERVAL



Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade(45 mins)


Original Image - © David Iliff, Royal Albert Hall
Info - BBC