Here's the lowdown on the fantastic BBC Proms concert taking place Friday, 23 August. Sibelius, Mahler, Jamie Barton... there's plenty to tempt classical music lovers to today's Prom.
Don't forget to keep checking back at www.classical-music.com for your daily Proms fix. We're previewing each day's Prom, including repertoire, performers and more. And, if you want more of an overview of this year's Proms, simply head to our full-to-bursting 2024 BBC Proms guide. That's where we've listed all the concerts taking place this year. These include the more than 70 Proms taking place at the Royal Albert Hall, plus chamber music concerts in Aberdeen, Newport and Belfast, and weekend festivals in Bristol, Nottingham and Gateshead.
What's on at the BBC Proms today?
Today's deliciously varied Prom includes a first-ever UK performance of the Second Symphony by American composer Julius Eastman. Subtitled ‘The Faithful Friend: The Lover Friend’s Love for the Beloved’ (UK premiere), Eastman's Second is his only large-scale orchestral work. And its concert life is still relatively young. The work got its premiere at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York in November 2018, to great acclaim.
We continue with Gustav Mahler's song cycle Rückert-Lieder. This cycle of five songs, or Lieder, for voice and orchestra (or piano) is based on poems written by the German poet Friedrich Rückert. Mahler wrote several sets of song cycles including Kindertotenlieder (also based on poems by Rückert) and Des Knaben Wunderhorn (based on German folk poems and songs). The Rückert-Lieder are on a smaller scale than the Wunderhorn settings, and have a more lyrical style. Indeed, they bear some similarities with Mahler's Fifth Symphony, composed at around the same time.
Tonight's Prom culminates in a performance of Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 5. One of the Finnish composer's most celebrated works, Sibelius's Fifth is known for its sweeping grandeur, powerful brass themes, and evocative connection to nature. Written in 1915 and revised in 1919, this symphony is often considered a turning point in Sibelius's compositional style, moving from the more traditional Romantic idiom of his earlier symphonies to a more modern, streamlined approach.
Who is performing at the BBC Proms today?
Today's Proms performers are the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dalia Stasevska. Born in Ukraine and raised in Finland, Stasevska is one of the most exciting and sought-after conductors working today. She's conducted both the First Night and Last Night of the Proms.
They are joined by American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton for Mahler's Rückert-Lieder. Jamie shot to fame when she won the Cardiff Singer of the World back in 2013. She won an arguably even more important award, the BBC Music Magazine Personality of the Year, in 2020. That award recognised a triumphant 2019 in which she appeared at the Last Night of the Proms and sang her first ‘trouser role’ as Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at the Metropolitan Opera.
What time does tonight's Prom start?
Prom 45 kicks off at 7.30pm.
How much are tickets to the BBC Proms today?
Tickets for Prom 45 are priced from £11 to £54.
