BBC Proms 2018
23rd April 2018
Two BBC-commissioned works will receive their world premieres at this year’s festival. Joby Talbot has once again written a work for the BBC Proms, this time the Balkan-inspired Ink Dark Moon for Prom 25 on August 2. It will be performed by Montenegrin guitarist Miloš Karadaglić and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the musical leadership of Alexander Vedernikov.
The second BBC-commissioned work for Prom 62 on August 29 is Aurora by Iain Bell, composed for the German soprano Diana Damrau. Bell has long held a close artistic relationship with Damrau and has written works including Daughters of Britannia and The Hidden Place, as well as the opera A Harlot’s Progress. Damrau will give the world premiere together with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vasily Petrenko.
Symphony No 3 by Per Nørgård, one of the most prominent Danish composers after Carl Nielsen, sees its first UK premiere at Prom 51 on August 20. Nørgård composed this extraordinary piece over three years, during which he could test his multi-layered ‘hierarchic’ compositional technique on both small instrumental groups and full orchestra. The work premiered in Copenhagen in 1976 with the legendary Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and has since been regarded as one of the classics of Danish contemporary repertoire. This summer, the Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard will give the UK premiere with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, London Voices and the National Youth Chamber Choir of Great Britain.
For Prom 52 on August 21, violinist Alina Ibragimova and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner, will give the world premiere of a new violin concerto, Whirld, by Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin, one of Scandinavia’s leading composers today. Wallin’s previous concerts include the critically acclaimed trumpet concerto Fisher King and his percussion concerto das war schön!, both of which have been performed widely across the world, the Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra, as well as his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize.
Marking the composer’s 90th birthday, the orchestral piece Phoenix Rising by Thea Musgrave will be performed at Prom 33 on August 7. Inspired by the ancient fable of the phoenix rising from the ashes, the work which consists of an extended single movement progressing from darkness to light: "Throughout the work, the timpani player represents the forces of darkness, and the solo horn (at first off-stage) the distant voice of hope that eventually grows to lead to rebirth and life" (Musgrave on Phoenix Rising). Her BBC-commissioned work first premiered in 1998 and has been described as "a beauty, one of those pieces that walk into your life and become a friend forever" by The Boston Globe.
Other performances include The Firebird Suite on July 26 and Soldier’s Tale on August 4 by Igor Stravinksy, Symphony No 5 in E flat major on August 13 and Symphony No 7 in C major on July 24 by Jean Sibelius, as well as Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum on July 21 by Olivier Messiaen.
List of performances
21 Jul 2018, Roundhouse, Camden, 15.00
Proms at … The Roundhouse
Olivier Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum
Susan Bickley, mezzo-soprano
London Sinfonietta
George Benjamin, conductor
22 Jul 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 11.00
Prom 10: Fauré, Franck & Widor’s Toccata
Sir George Thomas Thalben-Ball: Variations on a Theme by Paganini
Thierry Escaich: Deux Évocations
Iveta Apkalna, organ
24 Jul 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.30
Prom 14: Sibelius, Schubert & Zimmermann
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No 7 in C major
BBC Philharmonic
John Storgårds, conductor
26 Jul 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.30
Prom 16: Stravinsky, Debussy & Wagner
Igor Stravinsky:The Firebird (suite) – 1945 version
Hallé
Mark Elder, conductor
2 Aug 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.00
Prom 25: Tchaikovsky, Glinka & Joby Talbot
Joby Talbot: Guitar Concerto (BBC commission: World Premiere)
Miloš Karadaglić, guitar
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Vedernikov, conductor
4 Aug 2018, Lincoln Drill Hall, 15.00 & 19.30
Proms at … Lincoln Drill Hall: The Soldier’s Tale
Igor Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale
Hebrides Ensemble
William Conway, conductor
Tue, Aug 7, Royal Albert Hall, 19.30
Prom 33: Brahms's A German Requiem
Thea Musgrave: Phoenix Rising
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Richard Farnes, conductor
8 Aug 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.00
Prom 34: Barber, Britten & Copland
Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra (Two Scenes)
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena, conductor
13 Aug 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.30
Prom 42: Grieg's Piano Concerto
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No 5 in E flat major
Khatia Buniatishvili, piano
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Paavo Järvi, conductor
20 Aug 2018, Cadogan Hall, 13.00
Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 6 – The Sense of An Ending
Gustav Holst: Nunc dimittis
BBC Singers
Sakari Oramo, conductor
20 Aug 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.30
Prom 51: Strauss, Wagner & Per Nørgård
Per Nørgård: Symphony No 3 (UK premiere)
London Voices
National Youth Chamber Choir of Great Britain
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
21 Aug 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.00
Prom 52: Edward Gardner & Bergen Philharmonic
Rolf Wallin: Violin Concerto (World Premiere)
Alina Ibragimova, violin
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor
29 Aug 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 18.00
Prom 62: Diana Damrau sings Strauss
Iain Bell: Aurora (BBC co-commission: World Premiere)
Diana Damrau, soprano
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
8 Sep 2018, Royal Albert Hall, 19.15
Prom 75: Last Night of the Proms
Hubert Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Davis, conductor
For more information and full programme details, please visit the BBC Proms website.
