Tradition,
Innovation and a Taste of Spain with the BBC Proms 2002
Friday
19 July to Saturday 14 September
"
the best cultural bargain in the world
"
New Statesman, September 2001
Spanish
Theme brings over 60 works and flamenco to the Proms
BBC commissions from Anthony Payne, David Sawer,
Mark-Anthony Turnage and Joseph Phibbs
LA Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw and Kirov return
Debuts by James Levine, Frederica von Stade and Maureen Lipman
Great artists: Kissin, Brendel and Vengerov return; Renée
Fleming and Bryn Terfel join forces
Centenaries of William Walton and Richard Rodgers celebrated
Celebrations for the Queens Golden Jubilee
Online booking for the first time
75
years of BBC Proms broadcasts
"Power
of the Proms... this inspired musical tribute"
The Times, September 2001
"An
enlightened change... an ennobling occasion"
The Guardian, September 2001
Following
the most dramatic and most discussed Last Night of the Proms in
recent years, widely praised for its response to the events of 11
September, BBC Proms 2002 returns to a mood of celebration in announcing
its plans for a new season.
The
traditional elements of the Last Night are restored and the exploration
of the highest quality of music and music-making, new and old, continues.
The
BBC Proms had a highly successful season in 2001. Continuing the
steady growth of recent years, a greater number of people than ever
before attended the 73 concerts in the Royal Albert Hall. The final
figures show that total attendance grew from 259,000 in 2000 to
265,000 in 2001, an increase of 2%. Over half of the concerts sold
out and the average audience attendance for the main concerts was
over 87%. The Late Night Proms showed particular growth: 20,300
people attended the 13 concerts in 2001, compared with 12,500 who
attended the 11 concerts in 2000.
Access
to the Proms through BBC Radio, Television and Online this year
is greater than ever. Seventy-five years ago, when the BBC itself
was just five years old, it took over the management of the Proms.
The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts had been founded 32 years earlier,
aiming to bring musical excellence to the widest possible audience,
and the BBC continues to develop this ideal in the new media age.
BBC
Radio 3 broadcasts every concert live on air and online; the BBC
World Service broadcasts selected concerts around the world; and
the BBC introduces audio-on-demand via the Proms
website for the first time.
More
Proms than ever are televised, with four concerts on BBC ONE, six
on BBC TWO and 14 on BBC FOUR. Most of these are webcast in sound
and pictures, giving an even larger audience the opportunity to
experience the Proms.
The
Proms continues to appeal to the widest possible audiences. There
are 73 concerts in the Royal Albert Hall in 2002 offering a tremendous
variety of performers and repertoire, with world-class orchestras,
opera companies and specialist groups performing repertoire as diverse
as the St Matthew Passion and Oklahoma!
There
are world premieres, much-loved classics, choral extravaganzas,
intimate chamber concerts and unique family events such as the Nations
Favourite and Blue Peter Proms.
Buying
tickets for the concerts is also easier than ever, with the introduction
of online booking, mirroring existing telephone and postal booking
procedures through the BBC Proms Guide.
A
new Weekend Promming Pass offers prommers around the country the
chance to beat the queues and save money. The popular Explorer packages
return, encouraging audiences to discover more music for less, with
discounts on a series of Spanish-themed and choral concerts.
As
part of a huge new end-of-season weekend, Hyde Park hosts three
Proms in the Park events for the first time. The Last Night event,
now an established part of the musical calendar, is followed on
Sunday by the return of the CBBC Prom in the Park and the new BBC
Blue Planet Prom in the Park.
Proms
in the Park celebrations spill out of London, going for the first
time to Belfast, and for the second year in succession, to Gateshead.
With all of this, as well as four Proms Composer Portraits, four
Poetry Proms, the Proms Lecture, eight Proms Chamber Music concerts
and more Pre-Prom Talks than ever, the BBC Proms continues to expand
its boundaries and provide something for everyone.
The
108th season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts takes on a distinctly
Spanish flavour in 2002 with the inclusion of more than 60 pieces
written by Spanish and Latin American composers, or by composers
inspired by Spain.
At
the heart of this is the music of Featured Composer Manuel de Falla.
The Spanish theme gives rise to the performance of a vast array
of music by composers from many centuries and countries, and brings
to the Proms for the first time flamenco music and dance, as well
as two concerts, one Chamber and one Late Night, devoted to Spanish
Renaissance music.
The
season is also shaped by an Old Testament theme, which leads to
performances of major oratorios from Handels Samson and Israel
in Egypt, through Mendelssohns Elijah to Waltons Belshazzars
Feast.
The
Queens Golden Jubilee is celebrated with royal music old and
new. Robert King revives the music from the Coronation of George
II in 1727, and there is coronation music by Walton and Parry on
the Last Night.
The
centrepiece is a BBC co-commission with the Kings Singers
for a new work in honour of this years festivities. Seven
composers and seven poets have been invited to create a 21st-century
equivalent to The Triumphs of Oriana, a celebratory set of madrigals
assembled in 1601 in honour of Elizabeth I.
Among
the
other anniversaries marked during the 2002 season are the contrasting
centenaries of William Walton and Richard Rodgers.
To
mark the Rodgers centenary, the Proms features the Broadway show
Oklahama!, with Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller, as well as a 20-minute
medley on the Last Night with Broadway star Audra McDonald.
The
celebrations for Walton begin on the First Night with Belshazzars
Feast, and end on the Last Night with his film music for Henry V
and the Orb and Sceptre March written for the Coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II. Between are some rare treats, as well as many of his
best-loved works.
The
centenary of Maurice Duruflé's birth is marked by the first
performance at the BBC Proms of his best-known work, the Requiem.
Other celebrations include the 50th birthdays of Oliver Knussen,
Simon Bainbridge and Dominic Muldowney, and the 70th birthdays of
Per Nørgård and Rodion Shchedrin.
The
BBC Proms continues to attract the worlds leading orchestras
and conductors. Valery Gergiev brings the Chorus and Orchestra of
the Kirov Opera for a Russian weekend including Musorgskys
Boris Godunov, and the UK premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's Passion
and Resurrection of Jesus Christ According to St John. The Royal
Concertgebouw and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras make two appearances
each under their distinguished Music Directors, Riccardo Chailly
and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Claudio
Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Myung-Whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard
Haitink, Mariss Jansons and Osmo Vänskä all make welcome
returns. James Levine makes a belated Proms debut, and Simon Rattle
conducts Mahler's Eighth Symphony for the first time.
The
finest British orchestras and ensembles, including all the BBC orchestras,
make invaluable contributions to the season, bringing with them
many excellent conductors and soloists.
This
season we say farewell to Osmo Vänskä and Yan Pascal Tortelier
as Chief Conductors of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC
Philharmonic respectively, but welcome the debut of Gianandrea Noseda,
the BBC Philharmonics new Chief Conductor.
The
BBC Symphony Orchestra is, as ever, at the heart of the BBC Proms
season with 13 concerts. It gives the world premieres of three major
new BBC commissions from Anthony Payne, David Sawer and Mark-Anthony
Turnage, and introduces music by Marc-André Dalbavie and
Roberto Sierra to the Proms.
Two
multi-composer works, one for the Queen's Golden Jubilee and the
other for BBC Music Magazine's 10th birthday, have been written
especially for this years Proms.
Other
world premieres include a new chamber work by Joseph Phibbs, a saxophone
concerto by John Harle, and six further UK and London premieres.
There are also more than 100 works performed at the Proms for the
first time, ranging from major pieces like Handel's Samson, Dvorák's
Stabat mater and Duruflé's Requiem to motets by Victoria
and sinfonias by Vivaldi.
Among
the many distinguished international soloists appearing this season,
the Proms is pleased to welcome back Leif Ove Andsnes, Martha Argerich,
Joshua Bell, Alfred Brendel, Evgeny Kissin, Viktoria Mullova, András
Schiff, Maxim Vengerov, and many others.
There
is also an impressive line-up of singers. Bryn Terfel and Renée
Fleming join forces for a special matinée recital of opera
arias and show tunes, while acclaimed mezzos Frederica von Stade
(who was unable to make her debut last season following the events
of 11 September) and Jennifer Larmore appear for the first time.
Established
stars such as Paco Peña make their Proms debuts, as do bright
hopes for the future, including Chloë Hanslip, the youngest
soloist performing at this year's Proms.
In
line with expanding its repertory, John Williams brings African
music to the Proms, Wynton Marsalis brings the Lincoln Center Jazz
Orchestra for the first time, and José Mercé gives
a special Late Night flamenco Prom.
Full
details of the BBC Proms 2002 season can be found online
and in the BBC Proms Guide, which is published on Friday 26 April.
It gives concert-goers their first chance to apply for tickets for
the season before telephone booking opens on 17 June, as well as
being an invaluable companion to the season. Priced at £5.00,
it is available from all good bookshops.
Notes
to Editors
www.bbc.co.uk/proms
Further
information about The Proms is available below in pdf format. You
may require Adobe Acrobat Software to read PDF files which can be
obtained here.
Anniversary
Composers (379KB)
Broadcasting
the Proms (364KB)
Debut
Artists (370KB)
Events
for Children (372KB)
Extras
(365KB)
Factsheet
(365KB)
Golden
Jubilee (364KB)
The
Last Night (367KB)
New
Music (377KB)
Proms
in the Park (374KB)
Themes
(374KB)
Website
breaks new ground (426KB)
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