BWW Review: PROM 50: ORCHESTRE DE PARIS, Royal Albert Hallby Charlotte Downes - August 28, 2019Prom 50 featured the Orchestre de Paris playing three pieces: Robert Schumann's Genoveva-overture, Jörg Widmann's Babylon Suite, and Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major, a?oePastorala??. BWW Review: PROM 43: BEETHOVEN'S NINTH SYMPHONY, Royal Albert Hallby Debbie Gilpin - August 20, 2019You may not have realised it at the time, but at some point or other in your life there's a strong chance you will have heard some of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in D minor. Whether it was thanks to Alex's love of a bit of a?oeLudwig vana?? in A Clockwork Orange or through the affiliation of a?oeOde to Joya?? to the European Union, it has cropped up a lot in the almost three hundred years it has existed. It was no surprise, then, that the Royal Albert Hall was packed to the rafters for its performance at this year's Proms; it has been part of the programme nearly every year, this time at the hands of the BBC Symphony Orchestra a?' and the voices of the BBC Symphony Chorus. BWW Review: PROM 35: ENIGMA VARIATIONS, Royal Albert Hallby Marianka Swain - August 15, 2019Conductor Martyn Brabbins celebrated his 60th birthday in fine fashion: with a new commission for 14 composers to create their own set of orchestral variations on an anonymous theme, mirroring the shape of Elgar's Enigma Variations. Programme notes from the composers illustrated a genuine fondness for the celebrated conductor, and their perceptions of him - energy, warmth, generosity, humour and virtuosity - shone through in an impressively unified work. BWW Review: PROM 23: SWAN LAKE, Royal Albert Hallby Caroline Cronin - August 8, 2019The BBC Philharmonic made a triumphant return to the BBC Proms for Prom 23: a concert showcasing the work of two of Russia's finest classical exports - Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. BWW Review: PROM 26: MOZART'S REQUIEM, Royal Albert Hallby Aliya Al-Hassan - August 8, 2019Prom 26: Mozart's Requiem, is the perfect expression of the Proms in a darker mood; a captivating evening of music redolent of love, loss and death. This was a wonderfully emotionally charged concert, with powerful performances of epic pieces. BWW Review: PROM 11: THE SOUND OF A SUMMER, Royal Albert Hallby Debbie Gilpin - July 27, 20191969. The year of the moon. But that was far from all; Woodstock, the Stonewall riots, Monty Python's Flying Circus and the Battle of the Bogside were but a snapshot of life in the last year of the sixties - The Beatles' career came to an acrimonious end just as David Bowie's started its ascent to stratospheric heights. Prom 11 commemorated the changes in culture, science and society that occurred 50 years ago, with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the heart of the action. BWW Review: PROM 6: THE RITE OF SPRING, Royal Albert Hallby Debbie Gilpin - July 23, 2019a?oeParisians hiss new balleta?? read The New York Times upon the première of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (with choreography from the renowned Vaslav Nijinsky) back in 1913; it supposedly sparked riots as the audience reacted badly to this daring piece of music, though it's thought that the strange new dance moves were the real focus of their wrath. Fast forward to the 21st century, and the piece is firmly established as a classic of its era a?" the Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music and The Juilliard School performing it as part of this year's BBC Proms season. BWW Review: PROM 4: THE PLANETS, Royal Albert Hallby Aliya Al-Hassan - July 22, 2019You must have been living under a rock or watching too much Love Island if you have missed the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to land on the Moon. The BBC Proms continues this celebration with a fantastically energetic and nuanced Prom 4: The Planets.
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