Prom 73: Vienna Philharmonic / Franz Welser-Möst @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Ben Hogwood

One of the major disappointments of this year’s BBC Proms was learning of the unfortunate withdrawal through illness of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who was due to conduct this programme linking London and Vienna. Franz Welser-Möst proved...

Prom 70: Royal Philharmonic / Maxwell Davies / Walker @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Stephen Crowe

For his 75th birthday celebration Sir Peter Maxwell Davies had the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at his disposal, and to complement the UK premiere of his Violin Concerto No. 2, he was sandwiched between two unlikely,...

Prom 69: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Sam Smith

Take one of the world’s greatest orchestras, a conductor at the height of his game, a top notch pianist, pieces from two of the greatest composers ever to live, and there’s just one difficulty. It’s...

Prom 63: BBCSO/Robertson @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Keith McDonnell

This Prom by the BBC Symphony Orchestra was made up of curiosities and contained the first, and hopefully the last, performance of Xenakis’ Nomos gamma at this prestigious summer music festival – a work so...

Prom 62: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Jansons @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Keith McDonnell

Recently voted the finest orchestra in the world in a Gramophone magazine readership survey, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s second Proms appearance featured works by Haydn and Shostakovich under their principal conductor Mariss Jansons. This concert...

Prom 58: Netherlands Wind Ensemble / Vis @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Simon Thomas

In a season awash with composers’ anniversaries, this late night prom recognised two more birthday boys. Louis Andriessen (whose 70th was marked a couple of weeks ago with the UK premiere of The Hague Hacking)...

Prom 55: BBCSSO/Runnicles @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Stephen Crowe

Music from a grand Romantic, a reconstituted jminimalist, and the evil side of Mozart was a chocolate-box of a Prom. Conceptual cohesion was absent, but there was great orchestration in abundance and fun amid the...

Prom 53: OAE/Norrington @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Keith McDonnell

All four of this year’s birthday boys were featured in this concert with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, but the main reason for catching it was the appearance of the ravishing American mezzo,...

Prom 48 & 49: West-Eastern Divan Orchestra / Barenboim @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Christian Hoskins

A decade after it was founded to bring together musicians from both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra rounded off a 2009 summer tour with a visit to the Proms, the first...

Prom 46: BBCSO/Bychkov @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Keith McDonnell

There can be few conductors who are as synonymous with Shostakovich’s music as Semyon Bychkov, and this deep understanding of the composer’s idiom resulted in an overwhelming performance of his Symphony No. 11, ‘The year...

Prom 45: Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Gemma Tortella

Arriving early I found the steps and low walls outside the Albert Hall thronged by small groups of people playing the ukulele as regular Prom goers drifted around looking amused. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great...

Prom 43: Philharmonia / Salonen @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Stephen Crowe

It’s very charitable to programme a challenging new work (The Hague Hacking) with an all-time favourite (Boléro), since it brings an entirely new audience to a living composer. And with a star conductor in Esa-Pekka...

Prom 39: BBC SO/Brabbins/Wigglesworth @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Simon Thomas

For those who attended one of the half dozen staged performances at English National Opera in 1986, The Mask of Orpheus was an unforgettable event. The sheer power and expressiveness of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s...

Prom 36: The Sixteen/Christophers @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Keith McDonnell

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen present a judiciously chosen selection of Handel’s works to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. Is there a finer choir in the land than The Sixteen? On the...

Prom 35: BBC Concert Orchestra/Mackerras @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Sam Smith

I have never thought that Gilbert and Sullivan works well semi-staged, but this performance of Patience certainly fared better than most. To be sure, like HMS Pinafore in 2005 and Iolanthe in 2000, projection suffered...

Prom 31: National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain/Petrenko @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Christian Hoskins

The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain might not quite have the glamour of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, but their appearance at this year’s Proms certainly packed out the Royal Albert Hall...

Prom 28: BBC Philharmonic/Noseda @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Keith McDonnell

The BBC Philharmonic delivers a highly polished, deeply eloquent and ultimately shattering performance of Mahler’s 6th Symphony under its Chief Conductor Gianandrea Noseda. Given its length, at just over eighty minutes, it’s more usual these...

Prom 27: London Sinfonietta/Atherton @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Simon Thomas

Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s 75th Birthday was celebrated by the London Sinfonietta in a stirring late night programme comprising three of the composer’s earlier works. The event was somewhat nostalgic, with the Sinfonietta, whose connection with...

Prom 20: SCO/Nézet-Séguin @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Keith McDonnell

Given his rapturously received concerts with the LPO, it came as no surprise the Royal Albert Hall was packed to the rafters for Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s conducting debut at the Proms with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra....

Prom 18: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/Nott @ Royal Albert Hall, London

by Laura Battle

There seemed to be a conflict of interest in Prom 18. The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, under their Principal Conductor Jonathan Nott, were here to present a concert of Austro-German music that spanned 150 years, but...