The schedule for the 2023 BBC Proms, an annual eight-week classical music festival, has been announced, and includes music ranging from Bach to Bollywood. Here are just a few of the highlights:
The festival will commence July 14 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Dalia Stasevska performing works by Sibelius, Grieg, Britten, and a world premiere by Bohdana Frolyak.
July 22, the Horrible Histories team joins the English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra for 'Orrible Opera, a "high-decibel dive into the Horrible History of Opera." Music from the operas of Puccini, Mozart, and even Gilbert and Sullivan will feature, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson.
July 25, organist and TikTok star Anna Lapwood plays the Royal Albert Hall's 9,999-pipe organ in a program including works by Claude Debussy, Philip Glass, Hans Zimmer, and more.
July 29, Michael Seal will conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, with singers Palak Muchhal and Palash Muchhal, in a tribute to Bollywood legend Lata Mangheshkar.
August 7, Glyndebourne Festival Opera will present a concert staging of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, conducted by Robin Ticciati and starring Sally Matthews as Blanche de la Force. Also in the cast are Katarina Dalayman as Madame de Croissy, Golda Schultz as Madame Lidoine, and Karen Cargill as Mére Marie.
August 17 will see a performance of György Kurtág's Endgame, an operatic adaptation of Samuel Beckett's absurdist play. Bass Frode Olsen plays Hamm, with bass-baritone Morgan Moody as his servant Clov. Hamm's dustbin-bound parents Nagg and Nell are played by Leonardo Cortelazzi and Hilary Summers. Ryan Wigglesworth will conduct the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the UK premiere of Kurtág's opera.
August 25, countertenor Iestyn Davies will sing two Bach cantatas in a program which also includes the composer's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, played by The English Concert under the direction of Kristian Bezuidenhout.
September 9, the Last Night of the Proms, will feature cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and soprano Lise Davidsen in a program including works by Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Edward Elgar, and many more. Marin Alsop will conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Out of 84 Proms total, 72 will take place at the Royal Albert Hall. The remaining 12 will take place at other venues across the four nations of the UK, including the first ever weekend-long festival of Proms at Sage Gateshead. All the Proms will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
Visit BBC.co.uk to view the full schedule
