Summer Festivals

Penny Gore presents great BBC Prom concerts from recent years by BBC orchestras and choirs - today the BBC Philharmonic with music by Pärt, Rachmaninov and Gliere, from a 2007 Prom. The climax of their concert with conductor Vassily Sinaisky is the Proms premiere of the monumental Third Symphony by Russian composer Reinhold Gliere, inspired by legendary folk hero Ilya Muromets. Plus ecstatic music by Welsh composer Grace Williams from a 2015 Prom given by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

2.00pm
Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
with Nelson Goerner (piano)
2.30pm
Gliere: Symphony No 3 in B minor, Op 42 (Ilya Muromets) (Proms premiere)
BBC Philharmonic
Conductor Vassily Sinaisky

3.55pm
Grace Williams: Fairest of Stars
Ailish Tynan (soprano)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Conductor Tadaaki Otaka

Throughout the 2020 Proms season Afternoon Concert celebrates top music-making at Summer Festivals, with four weeks of concerts from 2019 summer festivals across Europe and four weeks of great Proms performances from recent years by the BBC orchestras and choirs. This week features all six BBC-associated orchestras including the Ulster Orchestra, plus the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC National Chorus of Wales. The series also celebrates the 60th birthdays in 2020 of two great British composers, George Benjamin and Mark-Anthony Turnage (on Thursday this week), and highlights some of the best Proms premieres from James MacMillan's The Confession of Isobel Gowdie in 1990 to the present day.