Proms 2015 rumours

[Flosshilde]

What? Not all simultaneously, surely? Although that might be the best way to do such a thing, not least in that it would be over sooner...

Is it the dance & digital art & animation you object to, or the fact that it will be by children?

[ahinton]

Is it the dance & digital art & animation you object to, or the fact that it will be by children?

Neither on its own, of course - just the whole idea, especially in the Royal Albert Hell - but I was in any case joking, as I'd rather hoped might be reasonably apparent...

[BBMmk2]

I fear that you may have misheard; it was Robert Saxton and Bartók, not Robert Simpson and Bantock. I did overhear someone censoriously referring to the question of whether to ban Toch from the Proms permanently, but when it was realised that his work's hardly ever had a look in there in the first place, the subject was discreetly dropped...

I was having a joke!!!

[Alison]

I am confidently expecting Mahler 1, DSCH 10 and the Rite of Spring.

A fair shout that John Wilson will get a look in or three.

[ahinton]

I was having a joke!!!

I know. As indeed was I (well, at least insofar as it gave me a chance to play on ban Toch, for what that wasn't worth)...

[Ferretfancy]

[QUOTE=Alison;473511]I am confidently expecting Mahler 1, DSCH 10 and the Rite of Spring.

A fair shout that John Wilson will get a look in or three.[/QUOTE0

I hope so! Guys and Dolls would be nice.

[BBMmk2]

I know. As indeed was I (well, at least insofar as it gave me a chance to play on ban Toch, for what that wasn't worth)...

[MrGongGong]

I hope so! Guys and Dolls would be nice.

How about a Kylie special as well?

I doubt OXOboy will get his long awaited "OAE play Combichrist" Prom

[Beef Oven!]

How about a Kylie special as well?

I doubt OXOboy will get his long awaited "OAE play Combichrist" Prom

They were going to do that prom, but were a bit concerned about people getting on stage, dancing and taking selfies during 'What The Devil's Wrong With You'

[teamsaint]

They were going to do that prom, but were a bit concerned about people getting on stage, dancing and taking selfies during 'What The Devil's Wrong With You'

No worries there,thats all very last week.....

Though a metal prom introduced by KD or whoever might be fun.

Dream metal prom.

Mercygiver.( specially reformed for the night.
Apocalyptica
slipknot
machine Head.

Actually, any of them that use piano so we could have a "heave ho" ?

i'm sure goingers will know a metal band with keyboards going on....

[MrGongGong]

No worries there,thats all very last week.....

Though a metal prom introduced by KD or whoever might be fun.

Dream metal prom.

Mercygiver.( specially reformed for the night.
Apocalyptica
slipknot
machine Head.

Actually, any of them that use piano so we could have a "heave ho" ?

i'm sure goingers will know a metal band with keyboards going on....

[Barbirollians]

The Insomnia Society have asked for a late night Eric Whiteacre Prom - and the Justice Secretary has proposed an all Lachenmann Prom with compulsory attendance for those from young offenders institutions .

The High Court has however issued an injunction to prevent the latter on the grounds that it infringed the prohibitions in the Bill of Rights 1689 against cruel and unusual punishments .

[Beef Oven!]

[Serial_Apologist]

The Insomnia Society have asked for a late night Eric Whiteacre Prom - and the Justice Secretary has proposed an all Lachenmann Prom with compulsory attendance for those from young offenders institutions .

The High Court has however issued an injunction to prevent the latter on the grounds that it infringed the prohibitions in the Bill of Rights 1689 against cruel and unusual punishments .

Given that classical music is played continuously in the entrance to Brixton Underground station, by way of variety Transport for London could one supposes organise continuous Proms relay there to prevent the youth gangs congregating.

[bluestateprommer]

bluestateprommer is the man. We may hear from him soon, if he's had any luck.

Well, since you sort of asked , but in all honesty, there seems to be a much tighter seal on release of advance information for this summer's Proms, so this post promises to be a mild disappointment, with some recycling of long-buried info that I put in last year. Having said that, here's what I can compile now:

(1) Amplifying on mrbouffant's post (#24) about the "Ten Pieces" Proms on the opening weekend, the Beeb has an official article here. What makes this of interest is that the BBC NOW's principal conductor, Thomas Søndergård, will be on the podium. One might expect for a 'lighter' or perhaps more "family-oriented" concert that an assistant conductor with the orchestra, or a less famous name, would conduct. But it says something that TS is willing to take this on.

(2) SimonB's post, #28:

(i) yes, there was a public statement about the Minnesota Orchestra and a planned Sibelius cycle for the 2015 Proms, from Roger Wright in his RPS lecture in 2013. However, his statement about it was as follows:

"At our summer festival, the BBC Proms, we usually only announce events that are taking place. Sadly, however, I can let you know that the first ever residency by an orchestra from the US will not now be happening at the Proms in 2015. We had planned for some years a Sibelius symphony cycle by Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra and had held on to the plan through this last difficult year, only having to accept in the last fortnight, with Osmo’s tragic but understandable resignation, that it won’t happen."

My guess, and it's just that, a guess, is that there will still be a complete Sibelius cycle this summer at the RAH, even after the SSR/BPO Sibelius-fest this past winter. Of course, whoever plays probably won't have nearly the drawing power, even though the prices will be much more accessible to the average person willing to Prom or get the cheap seats in the RAH. A hint of who might be taking up the slack from the Minnesotans comes from this past announcement from the Lahti Symphony's website:

BBC Symphony Orchestra (London) to make guest appearance at the Lahti Symphony Orchestra's Sibelius Festival in 2015

....The BBC Symphony Orchestra will give two concerts, one conducted by Okko Kamu and the other by its principal conductor Sakari Oramo....

The Sibelius Festival page from Sinfonia Lahti's site has these concerts with the BBC SO:

a) Wednesday, September 2, 2015:

SYMPHONY CONCERT at 7 p.m. Sibelius Hall

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor
Johanna Rusanen, soprano
Waltteri Torikka, baritone
The Polytech Choir

En saga
Kullervo

b) Thursday, September 3, 2015:

SYMPHONY CONCERT at 7 p.m. Sibelius Hall

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Okko Kamu, conductor
Sergei Malov, violin

Violin Concerto
Symphony No. 2

So, at a wild guess, maybe the RAH will get the Oramo/BBC SO concert just before going to Finland, and then the Kamu/BBC SO concert just after returning from the Festival. Thus Kullervo @ The Proms this summer? Granted, Kullervo is far from heartwarming family entertainment, but.....

(ii) I also agree that a final CBSO/Nelsons Prom is extremely likely, in the spirit of a grand finale for his time with the CBSO. However, in another case of BSP recycling old posts, the Boston Symphony had this announcement about their first season with Nelsons as music director with this bit:

"ANDRIS NELSONS TO LEAD BSO IN AN 8-CITY 2015 SUMMER TOUR TO MAJOR EUROPEAN MUSIC CAPITALS INCLUDING BERLIN, COLOGNE, LONDON, LUCERNE, PARIS, AND SALZBURG

In late August/early September 2015, Andris Nelsons and the BSO will be featured in an 8-city tour to major European capitals, including Berlin, Cologne, London, and Paris, as well as the Lucerne and Salzburg festivals. Further details about the tour will be announced at a later date."

Since that release, the only newer hint from the BSO's website is from this announcement, with the bookend tour dates:

"Following its August 16 performance [at Tanglewood], the Boston Symphony Orchestra will return to Boston to prepare for its first tour with its new music director, Andris Nelsons; the 2015 BSO European tour, August 22-September 5, will include performances in London, Salzburg, Grafenegg, Lucerne, Milan, Paris, Cologne, and Berlin."

Given the timing of the tour, the only possible London venue at which the Boston SO and Nelsons can perform is the RAH, during The Proms. So there might be a double-shot of Andris Nelsons this summer at the Albert Hall, with his two orchestras.

(3) From Christian Elliott's schedule, there's this curious bit:

"28-30 JULY – HALLE ORCHESTRA, BBC PROMS with Mark Elder, conductor. Elgar Symphony No.2 in E-flat. Royal Albert Hall, London, UK."

Obviously the Halle will be playing only one of those calendar dates, not all 3, but at least you know the time window.

(4) Very minimal, but from the schedule of the Labeque sisters:

"LONDON (UK)
BBC Proms
When: 31 July 2015
Where: Royal Albert Hall"

Presumably, where the Labeques are, Semyon Bychkov can't be too far off, which may also mean the BBC SO that evening.

(5) The real catch, though, might be c/o this item from the Lucerne Festival schedule (and to give credit where credit is due, I didn't notice this first, but found it via Tom Service's blog at The Guardian):

"Sun, 13 September 2015 | 17.00 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall | 15353

Vienna Philharmonic
BBC Proms Youth Choir
Simon Rattle, conductor
Magdalena Kožená, mezzo-soprano
Toby Spence, tenor
Roderick Williams, baritone

Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38"

If you note the timing, this Lucerne concert is the day after The Last Night. Thus it's not too hard to guess that this same concert may well take place at the RAH quite possibly on the last Thursday night of The Proms, September 10. The VPO is scheduled to play at the KKL Lucerne with Bychkov on September 12, so presumably there should be a safety day buffer built in between London and Lucerne to allow the VPO to get to Lucerne reasonably intact.

BTW, speaking of composer anniversaries, it's also not hard to guess that the 3 Carl Nielsen concerti may well feature this summer @ the RAH. For one, CN's Flute Concerto has never been performed at The Proms. It seems long past time.

So not a whole lot new added from stuff I found last year, but so it goes. Maybe the BBC and RAH management are doing a better job at enforcing the embargo. But presumably more bits and pieces will start to trickle out as we get closer, until it all becomes moot later next month.