BBC Proms2003
The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival. The BBC Proms is a classical music festival held every summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and in recent years has explored an innovative series of Proms around the UK with concerts in all four nations. Its aim: to bring the best in classical music to the widest possible audience, which remains true to founder-conductor Henry Wood’s original vision in 1895. Whether you are a classical connoisseur or think classical music isn’t for you, there is something for everyone in the eight-week stretch of concerts.
Where to Watch BBC Proms • 2003
25 Episodes
- First Night of the PromsE1
First Night of the PromsIt's that time of year again. Promenaders will be donning their finery and flocking to events around the country to celebrate the highlight of the classical music season. Stephanie Andrews introduces the opening concert live from the Royal Albert Hall , where chief conductor Leonard Slatkin will be leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Chorus of Wales with mezzo Irina Tchistyakova and baritone James Rutherford in tonight's programme. - The Nation's Favourite PromE2
The Nation's Favourite PromTwo British opera stars, the soprano Rosemary Joshua and tenor John Mark Ainsley , sing arias voted for in the BBC Proms/Radio Times Readers' Poll in the annual concert of popular classics from London's Royal Albert Hall. The programme also features David Attenborough , narrating Prokofiev's famous symphonic fairy tale Peter and the Wolf, and the young Dutch violinist Janine Jansen , who appears as a soloist in Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams. With the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth. Introduced by Charles Hazlewood. - First Night of the BBC4 PromsE3
First Night of the BBC4 PromsPianist Stephen Hough guests as BBC4's two-week Proms coverage begins. The Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Ivan Fischer, play Brahms's Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor and Rachmaninov's Symphony No 2 in E minor. Introduced by Charles Hazlewood. - Proms on FourE4
Proms on FourThe 350th anniversary of Arcangelo Corelli 's birth is celebrated with a performance of his Christmas Concerto in tonight's concert - which also features Handel's Dixit Dominus , HWV232. The English Concert and Academy of Ancient Music are joined by leading soloists, conducted by Andrew Manze. - Proms on FourE6
Proms on FourRichard Strauss's Four Last Songs and Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in C minor are performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda , with Italian soprano Barbara Frittoli. Plus Scottish composer James MacMillan conducts the European premiere of his third symphony, Silence. Introduced by Tommy Pearson. - Proms on FourE7
Proms on FourRuby - a new percussion concerto composed by Joe Duddell and performed by Colin Currie - is the centrepiece of tonight's programme. Tommy Pearson also introduces music by Bartok and Tchaikovsky, as conductor Marin Alsop makes her Proms debut with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. - Proms on FourE8
Proms on FourThe Halle Orchestra perform Elgar's epic Symphony No 1 in A flat - a work they premiered 95 years ago - in their sole showing at this year's Proms. Conductor Mark Elder talks to host Tommy Pearson. The programme also includes Berlioz's Les Nuits d'Ete and Colin Matthews's new work Vivo. - BBC Proms 2003E14
BBC Proms 2003Music by British composers provides a stirring programme for a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the coronation, which took place yesterday evening in front of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at London's Royal Albert Hall. Michael Parkinson presents highlights of the night's entertainment, conducted by Andrew Davis, which feature mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, the choristers of Winchester Cathedral, and the BBC Singers, Symphony Chorus and Orchestra performing works such as Walton's Coronation Te Deum, Elgar's Sea Pictures and Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. - Proms on FourE17
Proms on FourRavel's Le Tombeau de Couperin, Mozart's Piano Concerto No 9 in E flat (pianist Leif Ove Andsnes) and Mendelssohn's Symphony No 3 in A minor (Scottish) form this evening's programme. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is conducted by New Yorker Alan Gilbert, making his debut at the Proms. Introduced by Charles Hazlewood. - BBC Proms 2003E18
BBC Proms 2003Stephanie Hughes presents tonight's promenade concert from London's Royal Albert Hall , where the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain are making their annual visit. Yan Pascal Tortelier guest- conducts as the ensemble performs two major works by composers whose music is being celebrated in 2003. First on the programme is an early work from Messiaen, the "symphonic meditation" Les Offrandes Oubliées. The Byronic concerto Harold in Italy by Berlioz - whose bicentenary is this year - follows, with viola soloist Lawrence Power. The evening climaxes with Prokofiev's rousing Symphony No 5 in B flat major, a work he composed nine years before his death in 1953. In the interval Stephanie Hughes is joined by special guests. - Film Night at the PromsE19
Film Night at the PromsA selection of some of the greatest British film music, presented by actor Timothy West, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and conducted by Rumon Gamba live at London's Royal Albert Hall. Scores from the 1930s and 40s such as Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto, performed by pianist Philip Fowke, and Arthur Bliss's Things to Come contrast with more recent classics - Richard Rodney Bennett's Murder on the Orient Express, Malcolm Arnold's suite for The Belles of St Trinian's, the soundtrack to The Cruel Sea and themes from the Bond movies. Introduced by Stephanie Hughes who, in the interval, is joined by special guests, including film director Ken Russell and composer Michael Nyman. - BBC Proms 2003E20
BBC Proms 2003The violinist Viktoria Mullova is joined by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Bremen, under the baton of British conductor Daniel Harding in a performance of Sibelius's tempestuous yet lyrical Violin Concerto. The concert, from the Royal Albert Hall, concludes with Beethoven's joyful Symphony No 7 in A. Introduced by Stephanie Hughes. - BBC Proms 2003E21
BBC Proms 2003The BBC Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor, Leonard Slatkin , lifts his baton in London's Royal Albert Hall to conduct a programme selected entirely from the rich repertoire of Russian orchestral music. Highlights include Sergei Prokofiev 's score for the ballet Romeo and Juliet, the dawn prelude to Musorgsky's epic opera Khovanshchina, and Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No 1, with exciting young German soloist Christian Tetzlaff. Introduced by Charles Hazlewood who, in the interval, is joined by special guests, including tonight's soloist Christian Tetzlaff and Shostakovich expert Elizabeth Wilson. - BBC Proms 2003E22
BBC Proms 2003Live coverage from London's Royal Albert Hall of Prom 54. Virtuoso conductor Mariss Jansons leads the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra through their second Prom, which forms part of his farewell European tour as the orchestra's Music Director. The programme opens with a rendition of Mendelssohn's richly lyrical Violin Concerto in E minor. Following the interval, the orchestra is joined by acclaimed Israeli-American violinist Gil Shaham for a performance of Mahler's titanic Symphony No 1. Prior to the second act, presenter Stephanie Hughes will be talking to both the soloist and the conductor. - Last Night of the PromsE23
Last Night of the PromsSoprano Angela Gheorghiu and violinist Leila Josefowicz star in the final Proms season concert, live from the Royal Albert Hall. Presented by Stephanie Hughes. The BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and BBC Chorus - conducted by Leonard Slatkin - perform Berlioz's Overture: Roman Carnival, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens, Pavane by Faure, a premiere of the newly commissioned Lumina by Joseph Phibbs, Ebben? Ne Andro Lontana (La Wally) by Catalani, O Dieu! Que de Bijoux! from Gounod's Faust and Stridono Lassu (Pagliacci) by Leoncavallo. - Last Night of the PromsE24
Last Night of the PromsThe Proms season comes to a spectacular close as BBC1 takes over live coverage, introduced by Stephanie Hughes. The second-half programme commences with Overture: The Wasps by Vaughan Williams, Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) by Borodin, Meditation (Thais) by Massenet, L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Carmen) by Bizet and Muzica (Valurile Dunarii) by Grigoriu. The evening concludes with the traditional celebrations as the audience in London's Royal Albert Hall are joined in song by the thousands attending Proms in the Park events around the country.