The BBC has announced an exciting and varied programme for this year’s Proms, including several performances by Rayfield Allied artists, both in the concert hall and outdoors, with repertoire ranging from the early eighteenth-century to new commissions.
One of the much-talked-of highlights of the summer will see the climax of Daniel Barenboim’s Beethoven Cycle coincide with the opening night of the 2012 London Olympics: on July 27 the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra performs Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with René Pape as bass soloist.
Champions of the Baroque repertoire this season include Laurence Cummings with his performance of Handel’s oratorio Judas Maccabaeus with the Choir and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on July 19; and on July 22, Mahan Esfahani directs the Academy of Ancient Music in his own instrumental arrangement of Bach’s The Art of Fugue as part of the Prom’s Chamber music Series at Cadogan Hall.
Elsewhere, as part of the festival’s growing operatic element, Pamela Helen Stephen will play the role of Hecuba under the baton of Antonio Pappano in the Royal Opera House’s production of Berlioz’s The Trojans, and Gillian Ramm sings First Niece in English National Opera’s concert performance of Peter Grimes. Katie Bray will also make her Proms debut in Glyndebourne Festival Opera‘s new production of The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Albert Hall on August 28.
Also at Cadogan Hall, Nicolas Hodges will give the UK premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s latest work for solo piano, Gigue Machine. This follows a highly successful world premiere at the Stuttgart Festival in February, this year. Meanwhile, in the “Proms Plus” series, an electro-acoustic commission by David Sawer will form part of a site-specific walk through South Kensington, in which participants download music directly to their MP3 players as they go.
See the full programme at this year’s BBC Proms here.
