91Èȱ¬ Proms 2007
Anniversary Composers
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Edward Elgar (1857–1934)
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Elgar was popular with Proms audiences during his lifetime and remains so in the 150th anniversary of his birth. His Cello Concerto alone, one of his much-loved works, has been performed at the Proms more than 50 times since 1922 (when Elgar himself conducted it), and Elgar was one of the first composers to be commissioned by the 91Èȱ¬.
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The Last Night Of The Proms would certainly not be the same without his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 (Land Of Hope And Glory).
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The 91Èȱ¬ Proms joins the worldwide celebrations in 2007 with performances of a range of his works, from the cherished Cello Concerto on the first night through chamber music, songs, choral and orchestral works to the first of his three
patriotic wartime choral settings dedicated to the victims of the First World War and published under the title The Spirit Of England on the Last Night.
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Elgar highlights at the Proms
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- Star-studded performance of The Apostles (18 August)
- First Night Cello Concerto from Paul Watkins (13 July)
- Weekend of celebrations include Serenade for Strings, choral and organ works and Enigma Variations (4 & 5 August)
- Violin Sonata from brilliant young Canadian James Ehnes (23 July)
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Elgar listings
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- Friday 13 July, 7.30pm (Prom 1)
Cello Concerto
Paul Watkins (cello); 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra/Jiřà BÄ•lohlávek
- Monday 16 July, 1.00pm, Cadogan Hall (PCM 1)
Pleading; Speak, Music
Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano); Graham Johnson (piano)
- Monday 23 July, 1.00pm Cadogan Hall (PCM 2)
Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82
James Ehnes (violin); Eduard Laurel (piano)
- Saturday 28 July, 2.00pm (Prom 20)
Severn Suite
Grimethorpe Colliery Band; Black Dyke Band/Nicholas Childs
- Saturday 4 August, 3.00pm Cadogan Hall (PSM 2)
Serenade for Strings
Scottish Ensemble/Jonathan Morton (director)
- Sunday 5 August, 4.00pm (Prom 30)
Choral works; Organ Sonata in G major – finale
Iain Farrington (organ); 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Chorus/Stephen Jackson
- Sunday 5 August, 7.30pm (Prom 31)
Enigma Variations
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Daniele Gatti
- Saturday 18 August, 6.30pm (Prom 46)
The Apostles
Amanda Roocroft (soprano); Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano); Anthony Dean Griffey (tenor);
Alan Opie (baritone); James Rutherford (bass-baritone);
Peter Rose (bass); City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus;
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo
- Saturday 8 September, 7.30pm (Prom 72: Last Night Of The Proms)
The Spirit of England – The Fourth of August; Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, Land of Hope And Glory
Andrew Kennedy (tenor); 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Chorus; 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra/Jiřà BÄ•lohlávek
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Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
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Sibelius died 50 years ago and was, like Elgar, much celebrated by British composers and
audiences during his lifetime. Sir Henry Wood championed his music at the Proms (his
works were heard on nearly 80 occasions at the Proms between 1895 and 1914) and he
was as popular as Tchaikovsky and Rakhmaninov in the interwar years. His music remains a
firm favourite today, and 91Èȱ¬ Proms marks the 50th anniversary of his death with five
concerts and a pair of films.
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Sibelius highlights at the Proms
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- All-Sibelius programme from star Finnish artists conducted
by Osmo Vänskä (15 August)
- Performance of the complete incidental music to The
Tempest – one of his last completed works (15 August)
- Three of his great symphonies – No. 2 conducted by Mariss
Jansons (29 August), No. 5 by Sir Colin Davis (11 August)
and No. 7 by Osmo Vänskä (15 August)
- Christopher Nupen's acclaimed pair of Sibelius films
introduced by Nupen himself (11 August)
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Sibelius Listings
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- Tuesday 31 July, 7.00pm (Prom 24)
Tapiola
91Èȱ¬ Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov
- Monday 6 August, 1.00pm Cadogan Hall (PCM 4)
String Quartet, Voces Intimae
Henschel String Quartet
- Saturday 11 August, 2.00pm Royal Geographical
Society (Proms Film)
Jean Sibelius:The Early Years, dir. Christopher Nupen (1984)
Jean Sibelius: Maturity and Silence, dir. Christopher Nupen (2006)
Introduced by Christopher Nupen
- Saturday 11 August, 6.30pm (Prom 38)
Symphony No. 5
European Union Youth Orchestra/Sir Colin Davis
- Wednesday 15 August, 7.30pm (Prom 42)
The Tempest – complete incidental music (sung in Finnish);
Songs with orchestra; Symphony No. 7
Helena Juntunen (soprano); Lilli Paasikivi (mezzo-soprano); Juha Hostikka, Petri Lehto (tenors); Ville Rusanen (baritone); Dominante; Lahti Symphony Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
- Wednesday 29 August, 7.00pm (Prom 60)
Symphony No. 2, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Mariss Jansons
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Other composer anniversaries
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The centenary of Edvard Grieg's death is marked with performances of his lyrical Holberg Suite (4 August), and choral Psalms (5 August).The orchestra from Grieg's home town, the Bergen Philharmonic, brings his Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak and popular Piano Concerto with pianist Boris Berezovsky on 16 August.
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Elizabeth Maconchy, a pupil of Vaughan Williams and
much performed at the Proms during her lifetime, was born
100 years ago this year. Her Music for Strings and Four
Shakespeare Songs are performed on 4 and 13 August
respectively.
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Dieterich Buxtehude died in 1707 and a selection of his
organ works are played by John Scott on 3 September.
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Domenico Scarlatti, who died 250 years ago, is
remembered on 3 September in two separate concerts.
The first features two of his sonatas in a lunchtime Proms
Chamber Music recital by pianist Angela Hewitt and the
second, his 10-part Stabat mater by the 91Èȱ¬ Singers under
their new Chief Conductor, David Hill (Late Night).
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Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Eric Coates both died
in 1957. We hear Korngold's Much Ado About Nothing Suite on
14 July, and two of his opera arias performed by soprano
Renée Fleming on 6 August.We couldn't celebrate British
Films on 14 July without Coates's famous The Dam Busters
from 1954.
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