The 2010 BBC Proms (the one hundred and sixteenth season, for those of you who are counting!) runs from Friday 16th July until Saturday 11th September. It is one of the most famous institutions in British musical life and, in the world of classical music, the greatest show on Earth. While other festivals have to pick and choose the Proms has it all, and the joyous extravagance of this year's season is once again second to none.
2010 promises to be yet another treat for pianophiles, and Paul Lewis' performance of Beethoven's complete piano concertos will surely be the highlight. His cycle of four concerts begins on July 21st (Prom 6), when he plays Concerto No. 1 in C (Op. 15) and Concerto No. 4 in G (Op. 58). Jiří Bělohlávek will conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with whom Lewis has recently recorded all five concertos.
On July 29th (Prom 16) he will perform Concerto No. 2 in B flat (Op. 19) with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andris Nelsons. Concerto No. 3 in C minor (Op. 37) follows on August 6th (Prom 27), and the cycle concludes on September 6th (Prom 69) with the mighty 'Emperor' Concerto No. 5 in E flat (Op. 73), when the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will be conducted by Stéphane Denève.
Many other top-flight pianists will be taking to the stage, including Simon Trpčeski on July 19th (Prom 4), performing Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2 in C minor (Op. 18) with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko. Alexander Toradze, meanwhile, will perform Prokofiev's Concerto No. 1 in D flat (Op. 10) on July 22nd (Prom 8) with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Thierry Fischer.
Christian Zacharias plays Schumann's Concerto in A minor (Op. 54) with the BBC Philharmonic and Sir Charles Mackerras on July 25th (Prom 12), and the BBC Philharmonic will also accompany Nelson Goerner's performance of Scriabin's Concerto in F sharp minor (Op. 20) on July 23rd (Prom 9). Richard Goode will perform Bartók's Concerto No. 3 (Sz. 119) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on August 22nd (Prom 50).
Nelson Freire plays Chopin's Concerto No. 2 in F minor (Op. 21) on August 12th (Prom 36), again with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and I'm looking forward to Maria João Pires' late-night performance of Chopin's Nocturnes on July 21st (Prom 7). The Royal Albert Hall's atmosphere is at its most potent during intimate performances, and it provides the ideal setting for her recital in the bicentenary year of the composer's birth.
Tickets can be purchased online, or by calling the RAH box office on 0845 401 5040.
UPDATE:
Over seven thousand concerts have taken place since Sir Henry Wood raised his baton on the first Proms concert, on August 10th 1895. The BBC has just launched an online archive containing a searchable database of every performance, composer, musician, work and ensemble to have featured in the festival's one hundred and fifteen year history.
Each Proms season provides something of a snapshot of the classical music world at that point in time. Wagner is by far the most frequently performed composer, with over four and a half thousand performances of his works. Beethoven is second with almost three thousand performances, and poor old Mozart has had less than two thousand.
Wagner's Tannhäuser is the most frequently played work; excerpts from the opera have been performed over seven hundred times. With almost one hundred and fifty outings, Beethoven's most popular work is his Fifth Symphony (which is some way behind Rossini's William Tell Overture and Elgar's first Pomp and Circumstance March!).
The BBC is seeking users' help in making sure the archive is as accurate as possible. If you spot any errors, you can send them to proms.archive@bbc.co.uk.
