BBC Proms
1947
📺 79 Seasons
🎬 1160 Episodes
📅 Returning Series
🌐 EN
⏱️ 180 min/ep
Documentary
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.
Seasons
Season 1
(Prom 49)
Viewers are taken to the Royal Albert Hall for the first television visit to the 'Proms'.
On this last night, the BBC Symphony Orchestra is conducted by each of the conductors taking part in this series.
Sung by Trefor Jones
Conductor, Stanford Robinson
8.0 The Prom Season reviewed by a Music Critic
(From the Studio)
Pianist, Natasha Litvin
Conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Season 2
(Prom 49) Viewers are taken to the Royal Albert Hall for the second part of the last Promenade Concert of the winter season.
Margherita Grandi (soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor, Sir Adrian Boult
Royal Hunt and Storm (The Trojans) - Berlioz
Aria: Vissi d'arte (Tosca) - Puccini
Spanish Caprice - Rimsky-Korsakov
Season 7
(Prom 1) Television cameras at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Season 8
(Prom 1) Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for part of the opening concert in the Diamond Jubilee season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Eileen Joyce (piano)
Introduced by Alvar Lidell.
Season 9
(Prom 1) Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London,
for part of the first of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
MOISEIWITSCH
(piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conductor
Sir Malcolm Sargent
Piano Concerto No. 5, in E flat
(The Emperor)......Beethoven
Introduced by
ALVAR LIDELL
Television presentation by
ANTONY CRAXTON
at 8.15
Season 10
(Prom 1) Television cameras are at the ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON for part of the opening concert
BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Denis Matthews (piano)
Overture: Cockaigne by Elgar
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A (K.488) by Mozart
Introduced by Alvar Lidell Television presentation at 7.30 by Antony Craxton
Season 11
(Prom 1) The second part of the opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Soloist, Eileen Joyce
Overture: The Mastersingers......... Wagner
Piano Concerto No. 2, in G minor Saint-Saens
Variations and Fugue on a theme of Purcell (The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra) Benjamin Britten
Introduced by Alvar Lidell.
Season 12
(Prom 1) Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London for the first part of the opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Soloists Gloria Lane (mezzo-soprano), Moiseiwitsch (piano)
Overture: The Mastersingers...Wagner
Aria: Softly Awakes my Heart (Samson and Delilah)...Saint-Saens
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, for piano and orchestra...Rachmaninov
Introduced by Alvar Lidell
Season 13
(Prom 1) Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for the first part of the opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
Introduced by Alvar Lidell
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Norma Procter (contralto)
A London Overture - John Ireland
In Haven: Sabbath Morning at Sea; Where Corals Lie (Sea Pictures) - Elgar
Scherzo: L'Apprenti Sorcier - Dukas
Season 14
(Prom 1) Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
First Night
Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for the first part of the opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard)
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Soloists, Clifford Curzon (piano), Amy Shuard (soprano)
Prelude: The Mastersingers...Wagner
Aria: In questa reggia (Turandot)...Puccini
Piano Concerto No.4, in G...Beethoven
Introduced by Alvar Lidell
(Amy Shuard appears by permission of the General Administrator, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Ltd.)
Season 15
(Prom 1) First Night of the Proms
Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, for the first part of the opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
BBC Symphony Orchestra, leader, Paul Beard
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Introduced by Alvar Lidell
Rossini Overture: The Journey to Rheims
Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102 - John Ogdon, Piano
Season 16
(Prom 1) Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for the first part of the opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leader, Paul Beard
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Patricia Carroll, piano
Introduced by Kenneth Kendall.
Season 17
(Prom 1) BBC Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for the first part of the opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leader, Hugh Maguire
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Jose Luis Garcia (violin), Roy Malan (violin), Kenneth Sillito (violin), Ronald Thomas (violin), Moura Lympany (piano)
Introduced by Robert Hudson.
Season 18
(Prom 1) Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for part of the opening concert of the 70th Season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leader, Hugh Maguire
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Derek Collyer (violin)
Introduced by Richard Baker.
Season 19
Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall, London, for the first half of the opening concert of the 71st Season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leader, Hugh Maguire
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Gillian Weir (organ)
Introduced by Richard Baker.
Season 20
Television cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall for the first half of the opening concert in the 72nd Season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
Moura Lympany (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leader, Hugh Maguire
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
The National Anthem
Overture: Roman Carnival.. Berlioz
Piano Concerto in A minor. Schumann
Before the concert begins Richard Baker talks to Sir Malcolm Sargent who is conducting his 500th Promenade Concert.
Season 21
Television cameras were at the Royal Albert Hall earlier this evening to record the first half of the opening concert in the 73rd Season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
Fou Ts'ong (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leader, Trevor Williams
Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Introduced by Richard Baker.
Season 22
Part of the First Night of the 74th Season of Proms, recorded in the Royal Albert Hall earlier this evening.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Led by Hugh Maguire
Conductor, Colin Davis
Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music
with sixteen soloists
William Walton's Viola Concerto
with Peter Schidlof as soloist
Season 23
In this year of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the Proms, Sir Henry Wood, BBC cameras are at the Royal Albert Hall to bring you part of the first Saturday Night Concert
Schubert: Symphony No. 5, in B flat major
Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
with Malcolm Binns, piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leader, Hugh Bean
Conducted by Meredith Davies
Introduced by Richard Baker
Season 24
The first Proms to be broadcast in colour
Season 25
The first in a series of six programmes from the 1971 season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts from the Royal Albert Hall.
Radu Lupu, the Romanian pianist who won the 1969 Leeds Piano Competition, is the soloist in Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor. The programme ends with the Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma) by Elgar.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
leader Clifford Knowles
conductor Charles Groves
Introduced by Richard Baker
Season 26
The first of five visits to the Royal Albert Hall for the 1972 season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
Michael Tilson Thomas conducts
Gabrieli Canzon septimi toni
Canzon noni toni
Sonata pian' e forte
with the London Symphony Orchestra Brass Ensemble
and Liszt and Others Hexameron: variations for six grand pianos and orchestra on a march from Bellini's I Puritani for which five other composers joined Liszt in writing this work - Thalberg, Pixis, Herz, Czerny and Chopin.
with pianists John Bingham, Martin Hughes, Ronald Lumsden, Howard Shelley, Thomas Walsh, David Wilde and the London Symphony Orchestra leader John Georgiadis
Introduced by Richard Baker
(Part of last Thursday's concert)
(Next week: Music by Brahms)
(Colour)
Season 27
The first of six visits to the Royal Albert Hall for the 1973 Henry Wood Promenade Concerts.
Iona Brown plays Walton Violin Concerto in B minor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra leader Erich Gruenberg
Conducted by James Loughran
The programme begins with Elgar's Cockaigne Overture
Introduced by Richard Baker
(Part of the concert given on 21 July)
(Colour)
Season 28
The first of six visits to the Royal Albert Hall for the 1974 season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. RICHARD BAKER introduces: Debussy Images
Schoenberg Accompaniment to a film scene played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra leader ELI GOREN conductor Pierre Boulez
Director RODNEY GREENBERG
Season 29
Mahler: Symphony No 8 in E flat The 1975 season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts opens tonight with Mahler's' Symphony of a Thousand.' BBC2 joins with Radio 3 in stereo to relay this massive, triumphant work direct from the Royal Albert Hall.
EDDA MOSER (soprano)
LINDA ESTHER GRAY (soprano) WENDY EATHORNE (soprano)
ELIZABETH CONNELL (mezzO-SOp) BERNADETTE GREEVY (contralto) ALBERTO REMEDIOS (tenor)
SIEGMUND NIMSGERN (baritone) MARIUS RINTZLER (bass) BBC SINGERS
BBC CHORAL SOCIETY
SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
CHORUS, WANDSWORTH SCHOOL CHOIR
. BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA leader eli GOREN conductor PIERRE BOULEZ
Introduced by CORMAC RIGBY
Director RODNEY GREENBERG
Season 30
Beethoven
Mass in D major (Missa Solemnis)
One of the crowning achievements of Beethoven's last years, relayed live with Radio 3 in stereo from the opening concert of the 1976 Henry Wood Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall
Ursula Koszut (soprano)
Anna Reynolds (mezzo-soprano) Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor) John Shirley-Quirk (baritone) BBC Singers
BBC Choral Society A section of the London Symphony Chorus BBC Symphony Orchestra leader BFIA I)EKANY conducted by Colin Davis
Introduced by CORMAC RIGBY Sound GRAHAM HAINES
GEOFFREY KLINTON-PARKER
Lighting MIBERT CARTWRIGHT Director RODNEY CREENBERG ,
Season 31
Music by British composers launches this Silver Jubilee 83rd Henry Wood Promenade Concerts season, in the presence of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Kent.
National Anthem (arr Britten)
Tippett Concerto for double string orchestra
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music, for 16 solo voices and orchestra
Britten and Berkeley Mont Juic: suite of Catalan dances
Soloists Wendy Eathorne, Margaret Marshall, Linda Esther Gray, Jennifer Smith, Ann Murray,
Cynthia Buchan, Oriel Sutherland, Anne Collins, John Elwes, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Keith Erwen, Neil Mackie, Peter Knapp, David Thomas, Brian Rayner Cook, Paul Hudson
BBC Choral Society, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, leader Eli Goren, conducted by Andrew Davis
BBC2 joins Radio 3 in stereo and quadraphony to relay Part 1 of tonight's concert, live from the Royal Albert Hall.
Introduced by PATRICIA HUGHES
Producer RODNEY GREENBERG
Season 32
Verdi: Requiem
The 84th season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts opens with Verdi's vivid setting of the Reauiem. Written at the height of his powers, it expresses the ancient Latin text through glorious melodies for the four soloists, and superb choral climaxes. BBC2 joins with Radio 3 to relay tonight's concert live in stereo direct from the Royal Albert Hall.
Sylvia Sass (soprano) Alfreda Hodgson (mezzo-soprano)
Stuart Burrows (tenor) Gwynne Howetl (bass) BBC Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Chorus BBC Symphony Orchestra leader BELA DEKANY conducted by Andrew Davis
Introduced by PATRICIA HUGHES
Lighting TOMMY THOMAS Sound vie GODRICH and GEOFFREY PARKER KLINTON PARKER
Producer RODNEY GREENBERG
Season 33
The 85th season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts opens with the mammoth Third Symphony by Mahler. Contralto soloist, women's and boys' choruses, and a huge orchestra give glorious expression to Mahler's vision of the whole chain of life and nature. Tonight's concert is relayed live in stereo direct from the Royal Albert Hall.
Season 34
Strike action resulted in cancellation of 1980 Prom broadcasts.
Season 35
First of five Sunday night programmes, recorded at this year's Promenade concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. The BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Act 2 of Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Nutcracker. Presented by Richard Baker
Season 36
Tonight BBC Television makes its first visit to the 1982 Henry Wood Promenade concerts.
The BBC Northern
Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Giinther Herbig in a performance of Schubert's Ninth Symphony known as the ' Great' C major
Introduced by RICHARD BAKER
Season 37
Introduced by Richard Baker
BBC2 joins Radio 3 in stereo at the Royal Albert Hall for a live relay of the first half of tonight's Henry Wood Promenade Concert, the opening of the 89th season. Beethoven Mass in c major Ileana Cotrubas (soprano)
Kathleen Kuhlmann (mezzo-sop) Robert Tear (tenor)
Gwynne Howell (baritone) BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Chorus conductor BRIAN WRIGHT
London Philharmonic Choir conductor RICHARD COOKE
BBC Symphony Orchestra leader BELA DEKANY conductor Sir John Pritchard
Season 38
Outside broadcast cameras join in the opening of the 90th season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts live from the Royal Albert Hall, London, with two major works by British composers.
In part 1 Elgar's song-cycle 'Sea Pictures' is his setting of five poems about the sea first performed in 1899. Soloist Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)
Season 39
In the presence of Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Kent Handel 's Messiah (arr Mozart) conducted by Sir John Pritchard
Handel's masterpiece has been re-arranged many times and even recorded in a pop version.
By contrast Mozart's arrangement, commissioned 200 years ago for a performance in German in Vienna, is restrained and elegant, using a baroque orchestra and redistributing high trumpet parts among the classical wind band.
Tonight's concert celebrates the 300th anniversary of Handel's birth.
Season 40
The 92nd season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts opens with Mahler's Symphony No 8 in E flat. Mahler himself conducted the triumphant premiere of his vast Eighth Symphony in Munich in 1910, little more than eight months before his death. The massive choral work was nicknamed
(without Mahler's approval) 'Symphony of a Thousand', because of the number of performers at the premiere.
Season 41
Live from the Royal Albert Hall , London Part 1: Janacek Sinfonietta Sir John Pritchard , chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, launches the 93rd season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts with one of this century's most festive works. Janacek's last and greatest orchestral work grew from a commission for a fanfare into a massive celebration of the newly-independent Czech nation.
Season 42
Tomorrow night, at 7.30pm, BBC2 visits the Royal Albert Hall for the opening night of the 94th season of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. Michael Berkeley previews the ten concerts which will be shown this summer for BBC viewers and introduces the theme that runs through all of this year's Proms - the relationship between music and the written word.
Season 43
The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts return tonight live in stereo from the Royal Albert Hall. The opening concert features a popular Beethoven Symphony and a powerful Stravinsky work written in collaboration with Jean Cocteau. With the BBC Symphony Orchestra, led by Bela Dekany, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Part 1
Beethoven Symphony No 4 in B flat major
8.05* Interval feature: Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)
Jean Cocteau, one of the most eclectic and colourful of French artists, was born 100 years ago this month. Roger Nichols looks at his often bizarre relationship with his contemporaries and traces his collaboration with Stravinsky.
8.25* Part 2
Stravinsky Oedipus Rex
(sung in Latin with English subtitles)
BBC Singers (men's voices)
Chorus master Malcolm Hicks
Introduced by Richard Baker
Season 44
The 96th season of Promenade Concerts opens with a performance which serves as a memorial and tribute to a distinguished and well loved musician, Sir John Pritchard. His appearance at the 1989 Last Night proved to be his farewell concert in this country.
Tonight's performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra (led by Bela Dekany) is conducted by Sir John's successor as the orchestra's chief conductor, Andrew Davis. Mahler's massive work - a late Romantic landmark - was a particular favourite of Sir John's.
Introduced by Richard Baker.
With Margaret Price (soprano), Anne-Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano), the BBC Symphony Chorus and the London Philharmonic Choir.
Season 45
'This is the best of me.' So wrote Elgar at the end of his score and, despite a disastrous first performance in 1900, his setting of Newman's poem is now regarded as one of the composer's finest works. In the interval, James Hamilton Paterson, author of the novel Gerontius talks about his fascination with this enigmatic composer. Tonight's concert from the Royal Albert Hall, London, launching the 97th season of Promenade Concerts, is given in the presence of HRH the Prince of Wales.
With Florence Quivar (mezzo-soprano), Keith Lewis (tenor), Willard White (bass), BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Philharmonic Choir, BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Andrew Davis.
Introduced by Richard Baker.
Season 46
Live from London's Royal Albert Hall, the opening concert in the 98th season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. Almost 400 singers and players throng the stage to perform this mighty work. The line-up of international soloists - all of them making their Proms debut - is headed by the young American soprano Susan Dunn, already a leading Verdi exponent. The performance takes place in the presence of the Princess of Wales.
Season 47
Elektra
The BBC Promenade
Concerts season opens with a performance of Richard Strauss 's dramatic one-act opera live from the Royal Albert Hall in London. Andrew Davis , Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducts this horrific story of obsession, murder and revenge in ancient Greece.
Davis says: "The Proms always end with Land of Hope and Glory, but this year we begin by entering a land of despair and gore through Richard Strauss 's inimitable adaptation of Greek tragedy. One hundred continuous minutes of the composer at his most powerful - sung by an exceptionally strong cast - should ensure a chilling and thrilling start to this great festival."
Introduced by James Naughtie.
Season 48
The 100th season of the BBC Proms opens spectacularly with one of the largest scores ever written, Schoenberg's vast cantata Gurrelieder. Conductor Andrew Davis says: "What a superb start to the Proms. Huge orchestral forces are needed for Schoenberg's epic but although it's daunting to perform it's not at all daunting to listen to. This is a great classical masterpiece, the apotheosis of the late Romantic cantata and an incredible journey through misty Nordic mythology exploring the themes of love and death. It's perfect for the Royal Albert Hall and we have a magnificent line-up of soloists tonight." These include the great Wagnerian baritone Hans Hotter, making his Proms debut at the age of 85. On this First Night of the Proms' 100th year, Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers, the Philharmonia Chorus and the BBC Symphony Chorus.
Introduced by James Naughtie, live from the Royal Albert Hall.
Season 49
Live from the Albert Hall ,
James Naughtie introduces the centenary season of the BBC
Proms which opens with Mahler's
Eighth Symphony, the "Symphony of a Thousand". Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, three choruses - the BBC Symphony Chorus, Philharmonia Chorus and the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (CBSO) - and choristers of cathedral choirs from St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.
Season 50
The BBC Proms season opens at the Royal Albert Hall with a live transmission in simultaneous broadcast with Radio 3 of Haydn's The Creation, the first of ten concerts screened this summer.
Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with German soloists Juliane Banse (soprano), Hans Peter Blochwitz (tenor) and Wolfgang Schone (baritone).
In the interval, host James Naughtie examines how Haydn chose his particular theme, while Professor David Broomhead, Heather Couper, Dr Richard Dawkins, and Archbishop Richard Harries look at modern religious and scientific attitudes.
Season 51
The BBC Proms season opens at the Royal Albert Hall with a live transmission in simultaneous broadcast with Radio 3 of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, the first of ten concerts screened on BBC TV this summer. Guest conductor Bernard Haitink returns to the Proms to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and BBC Singers, with soloists Karita Mattila (soprano), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano), Herbert Lippert (tenor) and Anthony Michaels-Moore (baritone). Introduced by James Naughtie.
Season 52
James Naughtie introduces live coverage from London's Royal Albert Hall - in simultaneous broadcast with Radio 3 - of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust, the opening concert of this year's BBC Proms season.
The Damnation of Faust, with a dramatic score recounting the story of a man who uses his soul to strike a deal with the Devil, reflects one of the 1998 Proms season's major themes - the connection between magic, mystery and music.
Baritone Bryn Terfel takes the role of Mephistopheles while tenor Richard Margison and mezzo-soprano Ann Murray play, respectively, Faust and his lover, Marguerite, with baritone Donald Maxwell as Brander.
Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, BBC Singers, and New London Children's Choir.
Season 53
Composer Michael Berkeley introduces live coverage - broadcast simultaneously with Radio 3
-of Michael Tippett 's The Mask of Time. This visionary and final statement ofTippett's, drawing together through words and music his opinions of mankind and man's place in the universe, is the opening concert of the BBC Prom season, performed at London's Royal Albert Hall.
Season 54
James Naughtie introduces live coverage of a new-style, celebratory First Night. The BBC Singers, the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra are conducted by Andrew Davis, with pianist Evgeny Kissin, soprano Christine Brewer, mezzo Louise Winter, tenor David Kuebler, baritone Nicolai Putilin and organist Simon Preston.
The first half of the programme comprises Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Stokowski's orchestral arrangement of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor. The concert ends with Janacek's spectacular choral work, Glagolitic Mass. Also broadcast on Radio 3.
During the interval, Francine Stock hosts a special Proms edition of the music quiz Full House, with teams led by Simon Callow and John Sessions and guests Thomas Allen and Barbara Bonney.
Season 55
James Naughtie introduces live coverage of the First Night live from London's Royal Albert Hall in a special concert to welcome American-born Leonard Slatkin to his first Prom season as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Season 56
Stephanie Hughes introduces live coverage of the opening night of the 108th Proms season from London's Royal Albert Hall. This year's festival of classical music, comprising 73 concerts between tonight and 14 September, has a Spanish theme, reflected in tonight's programme by a first-night fiesta.
Season 57
It'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.
Season 58
Promenaders donning their finery can only mean one thing - it's that time of year once more. The highlight of the classical music season is about to get under way. Stephanie Hughes introduces the opening concert live from the Royal Albert Hall , where chief conductor Leonard Slatkin will be leading the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra with acclaimed American mezzo Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in tonight's programme.
Season 59
BBC1 kicks off this centrepiece of the classical calendar for the first time, as Promenaders don their finery for the start of the 111th season of Henry Wood concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Tonight's music is performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Roger Norrington, and begins on a maritime theme with Berlioz's exuberant The Corsair overture. Janine Jansen is the soloist in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, while Elgar's Overture: Cockaigne (in London Town), a colourful tour of the old capital, prefaces Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time, which airs on BBC2 from 8pm.
Season 60
Czech maestro Jiri Belohlavek lifts the baton for the first time in his new role as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in order to launch the eight-week long 112th season of the world's greatest classical music festival. The concert begins the Proms' celebration of Mozart's 250th birthday and Shostakovich's centenary, and includes music from Belohlavek's homeland with works by Smetana and Dvorak. Featuring an overture and arias from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni sung by soprano Barbara Frittoli and bass John Tomlinson, plus Shostakovich's Symphony No 5, Dvorak's festive Te Deum and Smetana's Vltava from Ma Vlast. Presented by Charles Hazlewood.
Season 61
Jiri Belohlavek conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, performing Walton's Overture 'Portsmouth Point', Elgar's Cello Concerto and Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
Season 62
The world's greatest music festival gets under way with Charles Hazlewood and Suzy Klein presenting from the Royal Albert Hall.
A host of international soloists join the BBC Symphony Orchestra and their chief conductor Jiri Belohlávek. Soprano Christine Brewer sings Strauss's Four Last Songs, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard plays Beethoven's Rondo in B flat major, Nicholas Daniel performs Mozart's Oboe Concerto, and organist Wayne Marshall launches proceedings on the Royal Albert Hall's historic organ in Strauss's Festliches Präludium.
The concert ends with Scriabin's powerful Poem of Ecstasy.
Season 63
Coverage of the first night of the 115th season, which begins on a grand scale with five soloists, chorus and orchestra. Jiri Belohlavek conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with soprano Ailish Tynan and mezzo Alice Coote, pianists Stephen Hough and Katia and Marielle Labeque. Tonight's programme includes Stravinsky's Fireworks, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 3 in E flat, Poulenc's Concerto for two pianos, Elgar's In the South (Alassio) and Brahms's Alto Rhapsody. During the interval, presenters Clive Anderson and Suzy Klein talk to the artists and special guests.
Season 64
Katie Derham introduces a Prom concert from the Royal Albert Hall in London, featuring Mahler's Symphony No 8 - Symphony of a Thousand. The choral symphony for orchestra, massed choirs and eight soloists, launches the 150th-anniversary celebrations of Mahler's birth. Jiri Belohlavek, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra leads on the podium.
Season 65
The 117th season of the Proms gets under way at the Royal Albert Hall with music by Brahms, Liszt, Janácek and a world premiere curtain-raiser by British composer Judith Weir.
Nineteen-year-old pianist Benjamin Grosvenor makes his Proms debut as the soloist in Liszt's dramatic 2nd Piano Concerto and there is an international line-up of soloists for a performance of Janácek's extraordinary choral work, the Glagolitic Mass. They are joined by the forces of the BBC Singers, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek. Katie Derham is in the presenter box and during the course of the evening meets Jirí Belohlávek, Benjamin Grosvenor and organist, David Goode.
Season 66
The 118th season of BBC Proms gets underway at the Royal Albert Hall with a spectacular concert of all-English music. In the year of the London Olympics there is something of a relay race around the podium with no less than four conductors passing the baton in the course of the evening - Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner and Martyn Brabbins. Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is the soloist in Delius' evocative Sea Drift, and a quartet of Proms favourite singers feature in Elgar's Coronation Ode - Susan Gritton, Sarah Connolly, Robert Murray and Gerald Finley. Elgar's effervescent Cockaigne Overture, Tippett's Suite for the Birthday of Prince Charles and a brand new virtuosic curtain-raiser by Mark-Anthony Turnage complete the programme. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus take their traditional place on stage for a special First Night.
Season 67
The 119th season of the BBC Proms, broadcast in 2013.
Season 68
The greatest classical music festival in the world gets underway from the Royal Albert Hall.
Katie Derham introduces a performance of Elgar's sublime biblical oratorio, The Kingdom, a powerful musical portrayal of the acts of the disciples after the ascension of Jesus.
Sir Andrew Davis returns to the Proms in his 70th birthday year to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC National Chorus of Wales. They are joined by soloists Erin Wall as the Blessed Virgin, Catherine Wyn-Rogers as Mary Magdalene, Andrew Staples as St John and Christopher Purves as St Peter.
Season 69
Sakari Oramo conducts this year’s opening concert, in a programme that includes Walton’s pithy choral masterpiece 'Belshazzar’s Feast' and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with soloist Lars Vogt.
Season 70
Katie Derham presents the launch of the world's greatest classical music festival from the Royal Albert Hall. The celebrations open with Tchaikovsky's ravishing Romeo and Juliet overture, the first in a series of musical works during the season marking 400 years since the death of Shakespeare. The 2016 BBC Proms also spotlights the cello, and tonight, the remarkable Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta makes her proms debut in Elgar's haunting Cello Concerto, the first of ten concertos for the instrument to be performed during the festival. Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Season 71
BBC Proms 2017 kicks off in style tonight at the Royal Albert Hall. Beethoven's dramatic Third Piano Concerto is performed by star soloist Igor Levit with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Edward Gardner.
This opening concert of the world's biggest music festival also includes a raucous new work by Tom Coult, St John's Dance, the first of 13 world premieres at Proms 2017. Presented by Katie Derham.
Season 72
An all-British concert launches the 2018 season. Vaughan Williams atmospheric Whitman settings and Holst’s ever-popular 1918 suite The Planets sit alongside a new collaboration by Anna Meredith and 59 Productions.
Season 73
The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karina Canellakis, perform Dvorak’s The Golden Spinning Wheel and a commission commemorating the 50th anniversary of the moon landings.
Season 74
Katie Derham presents the first night of the world’s greatest live classical music festival, with a feast of music including Beethoven’s Third Symphony, Aaron Copland’s Quiet City and a new work by young British composer Hannah Kendall, all brought to you by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers, with conductor Sakari Oramo.
Join Katie and special guest Stephen Fry as they celebrate the return of live music to the Royal Albert Hall.
Season 75
Conductor Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra kick off a six-week season with Vaughan Williams’s ravishing Serenade to Music and Poulenc’s dazzling Organ Concerto. They’re joined by the BBC Singers and a cast of soloists, including soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn, tenor Allan Clayton and organist Daniel Hyde, for a celebration of the power of music to comfort and lift your spirits. Katie Derham presents from the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Season 76
This summer the world’s largest classical music festival returns in its full glory to the Royal Albert Hall for an unforgettable eight-week season.
Running from 15 July to 10 September, the 2022 BBC Proms will showcase large-scale repertoire not heard at the festival since 2019.
Season 77
The 2023 Proms features a huge breadth of programming; from Berlioz to Bollywood, large scale symphonic and choral work to intimate chamber concerts and exciting Proms debuts. The 2023 BBC Proms will run from Friday 14 July to Saturday 9 September 2023 comprising 84 Proms: 72 Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, six at venues across the UK, and the first weekend-long festival of Proms at Sage Gateshead
Season 78
With works from Bach, Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Elgar and more, this Proms season is jam-packed full of classic composers and repertoire. Hear them performed by some of the greatest orchestras in the world in a season that guarantees the ultimate concert experience.
Season 79
The 2025 BBC Proms season brings together many of the world’s finest international artists and orchestras, featuring more than 40 outstanding ensembles from across the UK: a series of concerts that can only be experienced at the world’s greatest classical music festival. Running from Friday 18 July to Saturday 13 September 2025, the season features 86 Proms, with 72 at the Royal Albert Hall and 14 at venues across the UK
Network
BBC One, CBBC, BBC Four, CBeebies, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Television
Production
Livewire Pictures
Keywords
classical musicconcert film