From first to last, the Proms is perfection
The world’s largest classical music festival begins tonight at the Royal Albert hall, with violinist Nicola Benedetti, a Radiohead guitarist and the Clangers all starring over the next eight weeks. The Mail’s music critic picks some highlights.
FIRST NIGHT
The 125th Proms season achieves lift-off with the first of several concerts to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. With New York musician Karina Canellakis the first woman to conduct an opening night, the programme contains the world premiere of Canadian composer Zosha Di Castri’s Long Is The Journey, Short Is The Memory — a piece inspired by the 1969 lunar mission (7.30pm, tonight).
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
CZECH conductor Jakub hrusa returns two years after his Proms debut with two masterpieces from his homeland. Bedrich Smetana’s symphonic suite Ma Vlast is all rolling hills, valleys and rivers. Performed by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, it is paired with Dvorak’s Violin Concerto featuring U.S. virtuoso Joshua Bell (7.30pm, tomorrow).
FLY ME TO THE MOON
A WEEKEND of space-themed music continues on Sunday as the Bourneby mouth Symphony Orchestra performs holst’s The Planets suite and John Adams’s Short Ride In A Fast Machine. For a more family friendly show, this year’s CBeebies Prom, A Musical Trip To The Moon, includes a new piece by film composer hans Zimmer and a meeting with the Clangers (11am, Sunday and Monday).
NICOLA TO NAIL IT
NICOLA BENEDETTI has just released a jazz album with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, but the nation’s favourite violinist returns to more familiar terrain when she joins the National Youth Orchestra Of Great Britain for what should be a vibrant rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Once a prodigy herself, Benedetti has matured into a dynamic live presence (7.30pm, July 27).
EVERYBODY SALSA
BENINESE superstar Angelique Kidjo has been hailed as the queen of African music, but her Proms debut is a tribute to the Cuban salsa diva Celia Cruz. Afro-beat singer Kidjo is no stranger to experimentation, having last year covered the classic Talking heads album Remain In Light in full.
Backed by her nine-piece band, she aims to emphasise the West African influences that inspired Cruz (10.15pm, July 30).
REGAL RECITAL
The 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth is marked by a concert giving a glimpse into her musical taste. her favourite composer, Felix Mendelssohn, will be represented by his ‘ Scottish’ symphony and First Piano Concerto. The latter is to be played on Victoria’s own piano, on loan from Buckingham Palace. Songs penned by Prince Albert will also feature (7.30pm, August 16).
ANNIVERSARY WALTZ
The 150th anniversary of Proms founder Sir henry Wood’s birth is also being commemorated. An Albert hall show on August 31 features Ravel and Debussy classics.
A more intimate concert takes place a fortnight earlier at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in holborn, Wood’s burial place, with pieces by Britten and Vaughan Williams (3pm, August 17).
FEELING GOOD
FOLLOWING past tributes to ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie, the latest jazz legend honoured with their own Prom is Nina Simone.
With Jules Buckley conducting the Metropole Orkest, New Orleans jazz vocalist Ledisi and Rolling Stones backing singer Lisa Fischer will tackle Simone standards including Feeling Good, My Baby Just Cares For Me and I Put A Spell On You (7.30pm, August 21).
ROYAL APPROVAL
SHEKU KANNEH-MASON returns to the Proms for a concert to be broadcast on BBC4. Nottinghamborn Sheku, who played at harry and Meghan’s wedding, will perform elgar’s Cello Concerto with the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (7.30pm, August 22).
SIR DUKE
ANOTHER jazz tribute sees showbiz and spirituality come together as swing pianist Monty Alexander (who played with Sinatra) and singer Carleen Anderson celebrate the religious songs of Duke ellington. A bandleader immortalised in song by Stevie Wonder, ellington recorded three albums of church music between 1965 and 1973, combining big-band, gospel and Broadway (10.15pm, August 29).
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
BERNARD HAITINK has been a Proms stalwart for more than five decades and the Dutch maestro, 90, will roll back the years to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic with Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony.
The night also features American pianist Murray Perahia as soloist in Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto (7.30pm, September 3).
JONNY BE GOOD
RADIOHEAD guitarist Jonny Greenwood was deservedly Oscarnominated for his soundtrack to Phantom Thread, and the world premiere of his latest work, horror Vacui, signals a bold move into acoustic instrumentation (10.15pm, September 10).
PARK LIFE
A NATIONWIDE series of open-air events contribute to a spectacular finale. hyde Park hosts Barry Manilow, Chrissie hynde and Gabrielle, while Susan Boyle is a guest at the Titanic Slipways in Belfast. The National Orchestra of Wales perform in Swansea’s Singleton Park and the Scottish Symphony Orchestra play on Glasgow Green (5pm, September 14 in London, Belfast and Swansea; 7.30pm in Glasgow).
LAST NIGHT
The Proms finale is classical music’s most rousing singalong, and this year will see Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo lead the BBC Symphony Orchestra through flag-waving renditions of Land Of hope And Glory and Jerusalem.
In a celebration of gay pride, soprano Jamie Barton will sing Judy Garland’s Over The Rainbow, while excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s Aida will also feature (7.15pm, September 14).
n All concerts at the Royal Albert Hall unless indicated. Every Prom is live on Radio 3, with some also being shown on BBC TV channels. Standing tickets £6 on the day from the Albert Hall. For other tickets, visit bbc.co.uk/proms.