The BBC has announced the full concert lineup for the 2023 BBC Proms, featuring eight weeks of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, a new weekend festival at Sage Gateshead and Proms in all four nations.
A total of 84 Proms will feature over 3,000 musicians from Friday 14 July to Saturday 9 September.
This year's Proms feature an impressively eclectic range of programming, from Berlioz to Bollywood, and from large-scale symphonic and choral works to intimate chamber concerts and Proms debuts.
The first ever weekend-long Proms festival rooted in the North-East launches at Sage Gateshead, in a collaboration with the Sage's resident ensemble, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and conductor Robert Ames. Family, orchestral and chamber concerts feature in a programme that opens with the Proms debut of 2022 Mercury Award nominee, Self Esteem.
In addition to the weekend of Proms at Sage Gateshead, the Proms will take place across all four nations of the UK. Guildhall Londonderry, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Dewsbury Town Hall, Hall for Cornwall in Truro, Perth Concert Hall and the Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth will all host Proms this year.
Every Prom at the Royal Albert Hall and ‘Proms at’ chamber concert across the UK will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. For the first time, the majority of concerts will be available on BBC Sounds for 12 months. BBC television and BBC iPlayer will broadcast 24 programmes, including the First Night and Last Night of the Proms, and these will be available to watch on iPlayer for 12 months.
Across the season there is a wealth of opera and oratorio, with a complete performance of Berlioz’s five act grand opera Les Troyens (The Trojans) and the highly anticipated UK premiere of György Kurtág’s first opera, Endgame. Large-scale choral repertoire features throughout the season, from Rachmaninov’s The Bells to Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.
The season also features a compelling lineup of international orchestras, including the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich.
Among this year's themes, the Proms will be marking the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninov’s birth with 11 of his works performed during the season. Other composer anniversaries include Dora Pejačević, György Ligeti, Thomas Weelkes and William Byrd. Meanwhile, 15 new commissions and co-commissions will showcase the extraordinary range of today’s orchestral composers.
Sir Simon Rattle will conduct two concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra: Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 and Poulenc’s Figure humaine (with the BBC Singers), and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri.
The Proms also continues its exploration of orchestral collaborations with non- classical artists, including Rufus Wainwright and Jon Hopkins. Acclaimed Indian singer Palak Muchhal joins the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra led by Michael Seal for a Bollywood Prom; writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie curates the first Northern Soul Prom; and Portuguese fado music comes to the Proms for the first time with Portuguese singer Mariza.
The BBC Orchestras and Choirs perform in 32 Proms, including 14 premieres. The BBC Singers will perform at five Proms, including the First and Last Nights and a Late Night Prom, showcasing their broad range of repertoire.
Conductor and 2023 BBC Music Magazine Personality of the Year Dalia Stasevska conducts the First Night, featuring pianist Paul Lewis and a world premiere from Ukrainian composer Bohdana Frolyak. And the Last Night of the Proms will be conducted by Marin Alsop, featuring cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and soprano Lise Davidsen with a world premiere by James B. Wilson.
The ever-innovative Aurora Orchestra returns to the Proms for its greatest challenge to date: a dramatisation of the origins of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, followed by a performance of the piece, entirely from memory.
The Proms continues its commitment to accessible ticket prices with seats from £9 and half-price tickets for under-18s (plus booking fees) and Promming day standing tickets at £8 (inclusive of booking fees).
David Pickard, BBC Proms director, says: 'There is no other classical music festival in the world to match the range and breadth of the BBC Proms. It is the place where so many discover orchestral music for the first time – whether through a cornerstone of the classical repertoire, ground-breaking new work or collaborations with some of today’s most exciting artists.
'Our musical range in 2023 extends from Bach to Bollywood and geographically from Gateshead to Great Yarmouth as we continue to build on Henry Wood’s vision of ‘the best of classical music for the widest possible audience.'
General booking for the 2023 BBC Proms opens at 9am on Saturday 13 May. Tickets can be booked at www.bbc.co.uk/proms
Pic: Mark Allan/BBC