Proms Prompter - Week Three

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



Week three coming up already and, before I get to my recommendations for this week, I want to say what a brilliant idea tomorrow’s Relaxed Prom sounds like as it goes back to the original ethos of the Proms, by allowing people to properly promenade if you think about it. There’s no issue with talking, singing, dancing or even stepping out to one of the chill out zones when it gets too loud, and the mix of music sounds good with everything from Rossini to Doctor Who to entertain and involve. You can find out more about it here.



So what am I looking forward to personally this week? I’ve picked a couple of seriously “religious classical” offerings and one that is stretching the point a bit. Firstly, Monday’s Monteverdi’s Vespers. I adore religious choral music and this particular composition, performed here to mark 450 years (yes really) since the birth of the composer, sends shivers down my spine every time. Secondly I direct you to the drama of Handel in full oratorio mode and it’s NOT the Messiah (it’s a very naughty boy... oh never mind). Israel in Egypt tells the story of the Israelites after the death of Joseph and uses passages from the Old Testament as its libretto. If you love Handel’s Messiah give this a go. Finally, at the other end of the spectrum, there’s the Ella and Dizzy concert on Friday. While I still believe non-orchestral music shouldn’t have a place in the Proms concerts, I’m a sucker for jazz trumpet so I’ll say this one falls into a grey area and allow it, because the music is going to be AMAZING!









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 29th July to Friday 4th August)





Saturday 29 July 2017



RELAXED PROM



The BBC’s first ever Relaxed Prom is suitable for children and adults with autism, sensory and communication impairments and learning disabilities as well as individuals who are Deaf, hard of hearing, blind and partially sighted.



STEPHEN HOUGH PLAYS BRAHMS’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1



Stephen Hough is the soloist for Brahms’s turbulent, rule-breaking First Piano Concerto. Its emotional intensity is tempered by the graceful elegance of Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 and the dancing energy of David Sawer’s The Greatest Happiness Principle.



Programme



Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor(49 mins)



INTERVAL



David Sawer The Greatest Happiness Principle(14 mins)

Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 99 in E flat major(25 mins)





Sunday 30 July 2017



BEETHOVEN – SYMPHONY NO. 9, ‘CHORAL’ (Televised live on BBC Four)



Freedom, hope and brotherhood are the notions that underpin both Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Sir James MacMillan’s new choral work A European Requiem – a plea for unity in a troubled world. Xian Zhang and the BBC NOW perform this European premiere.



Programme



Sir James MacMillan A European Requiem(43 mins)European premiere



INTERVAL



Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No 9 in D minor, 'Choral'(65 mins)





Monday 31 July 2017



MONTEVERDI’S VESPERS



Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers is a choral masterpiece of unprecedented musical scope and audacious beauty. Director Raphaël Pichon marks the composer’s 450th anniversary in a performance by dynamic French ensemble Pygmalion in its Proms debut.



Programme



Claudio Monteverdi Vespers of 1610(100 mins)





Tuesday 1 August 2017



HANDEL – ISRAEL IN EGYPT



Filled with frogs, locusts, hailstones and rivers of blood, Israel in Egypt is one of Handel’s most dramatic oratorios, demanding greater virtuosity than ever before. William Christie conducts the Orchestra and Choir of the Age of Enlightenment.



Programme



George Frideric Handel Israel in Egypt(129 mins)(original 1739 version)





Wednesday 2 August 2017



ESA-PEKKA SALONEN CONDUCTS JOHN ADAMS



Moving from the glowing, multi-layered textures of John Adams to Ravel’s sensuous exoticism and Stravinsky’s intricate neo-Classical counterpoint, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra showcase 20th- and 21st-century orchestral classics.



Programme



Johann Sebastian Bach Canonic Variations on 'Vom Himmel hoch, da komm, ich her', BWV 769 (arr. Stravinsky)(11 mins)

Maurice Ravel Shéhérazade(17 mins)



INTERVAL



John Adams Naive and Sentimental Music(49 mins)





Wednesday 2 August 2017



SIR JOHN ELIOT GARDINER AND THE MONTEVERDI CHOIR



Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Bach’s austere and beautiful Lutheran cantatas stand in contrast to the lively rhythms and rich textures of Schütz’s music.



Programme



Heinrich Schütz Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren, SWV 41(8 mins)

Nicht uns, Herr, sondern deinem Namen, SWV 43(6 mins)

Danket dem Herren, denn er ist freundlich, SWV 45(7 mins)

Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata No. 79, 'Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild'(15 mins)

Cantata No. 80, 'Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott'(25 mins)





Thursday 3 August 2017



MOZART AND BRAHMS



The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonic Bremen returns to the Proms for the first time since 2010, performing Brahms’s sunny Second Symphony under Paavo Järvi. Vilde Frang and Lawrence Power join them as soloists for Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante.



Programme



Erkki-Sven Tüür Flamma(16 mins)UK premiere

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sinfonia concertante in E flat major, K 364(30 mins)



INTERVAL



Johannes Brahms Symphony No 2 in D major(45 mins)





Friday 4 August 2017



ELLA AND DIZZY - A CENTENARY TRIBUTE (Televised live on BBC Four)



Celebrate the centenary of jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Grammy Award-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves and trumpeter James Morrison perform their greatest hits, from the Great American Songbook to Gillespie’s bebop beats.



Original Image - © David Iliff, Royal Albert Hall