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Home , Alexander Briger, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Martyn Brabbins, Richard Hickox, Sarah Connolly

PROMS THEMES

• Spanish/Latin American music • Old Testament

A Flavour of Spain The BBC Proms takes on a Spanish flavour in 2002, exploring the vibrant sounds of Hispanic music from across the ages. Spain’s musical heritage unites a wealth of compositions, enabling to present a huge range of works both familiar and unknown. The Spanish/Latin theme gives rise to the performance of more than 60 works, many of which are new to the Proms, and features music by Spanish, North and South American and European , performed by a range of soloists and , including Spain’s own Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona.

At the heart of the Spanish theme lies the music of Manuel de Falla, the BBC Proms 2002 Featured . The BBC Proms surveys the legacy of this composer in an exploration of his major works, including his celebrated ballet scores The Three-Cornered Hat and El Amor brujo, his only full-scale concerto Nights in the Gardens of Spain, and his flamenco-influenced opera La vida breve. Falla is widely regarded as the central figure of 20th-century Spanish music, and his works make nine separate appearances during the season.

Among the other Spanish composers featured are Granados, Rodrigo, Victoria and Peñalosa. The first performance at the Proms of Granados’s opera Goyescas is a major highlight of the season; it is performed in a special double bill with Ravel’s L’Heure espagnole. As a complete contrast to these works there are two concerts, a Chamber Prom and a Late Night Prom, devoted to Spanish Renaissance music. For the first time at the Proms, there is also a flamenco evening. José Mercé, a leading flamenco artist, makes his BBC Proms debut in a late-night concert. Paco Peña, also making his Proms debut, stars in the Spanish-inspired Prom, ‘Fiesta!’.

The Spanish theme stretches beyond the Iberian Peninsula to South America. The haunting music of Astor Piazzolla, firmly rooted in the tango dance of his native Argentina, is showcased in Prom 64, which marks the Proms debuts of Piazzolla’s compatriot Horacio Romo as the soloist in Piazzolla’s Bandoneon Concerto, and the young Peruvian Associate Conductor of the , Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Silvestre Revueltas, the leading Mexican composer of the early 20th century, is represented by three works new to the BBC Proms, including his wild celebration of ancient South American culture, La noche de los mayas.

Not confined to their native regions, the sounds of Spain and Latin America have attracted composers from all over Europe and beyond. The BBC Proms presents works by French, Russian, British, German, Italian and American composers, in which they conjure up their own aural impressions of Spain. This range of works includes familiar favourites such as Ravel’s Boléro and excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen, while another concert features a number of extracts from operas set in Spain, including Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville. ’s Alhambra Fantasy makes its first appearance at the BBC Proms, as does ’s Fandango and George Crumb’s , Drones and Refrains of Death (setting a text by Lorca). Other highlights include Copland’s Latin American Sketches, Debussy’s Ibéria, Gershwin’s Cuban and Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite. Old Testament The BBC Proms 2002 journeys through the inspirational stories of the Old Testament, from the Creation to the story of Belshazzar’s feast, passing on the way a vibrant cast of characters. The Old Testament has long been a source of inspiration to composers, from the familial tale of Abraham and Isaac to the seduction and betrayal of Samson. With universal appeal, these heroic characters experience the gamut of human emotions, from the triumph of King David to the plight of .

The season opens with Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, which appears towards the end of the Old Testament, and leaps back to the beginning in the second concert with Haydn’s The Creation. The story of Abraham and Isaac is presented in two contrasting works performed on the same day, Monday 2 September: Stravinsky’s stark setting for baritone and chamber (at the Late Night Prom) and Britten’s intimate version for tenor, counter-tenor and piano (at the lunchtime Proms concert). Other highlights include Vaughan Williams’s Job: A Masque for Dancing, orchestral excerpts from Nielsen’s and David, and the first Proms performance of Handel’s Samson. Spanish/Latin American Music at the Proms

Prom 1, Friday 19 July, 7.30pm Chabrier España; Fandangos (UK premiere); Lalo Symphonie espagnole* Maxim Vengerov ()*, BBC Symphony Orchestra, (conductor)

Prom 3 (The Nation’s Favourite Prom), Sunday 21 July, 7.00pm Bizet Carmen – extracts*; Ravel Boléro Denyce Graves (mezzo-soprano)*, BBC Philharmonic, (conductor)

Prom 7, Wednesday 24 July, 7.30pm Gerhard Concerto for Orchestra; Xavier Montsalvatge Canciones negras*; Falla The Three-Cornered Hat Jennifer Larmore (mezzo-soprano)*, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, Lawrence Foster (conductor)

Prom 8, Thursday 25 July, 7.00pm Hans Werner Henze Fandango Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, (conductor)

Prom 11, Saturday 27 July, 7.00pm Walton Christopher Columbus – Suite (arr. Palmer) BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox (conductor)

PCM 2, Monday 29 July, 1.00pm (Lecture Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum) Mompou Música callada (selections); Paisajes Nos. 1 and 2; Chabrier Habanera; Ravel Miroirs – ‘Alborada del gracioso’ Alexandre Tharaud (piano)

Prom 16, Wednesday 31 July, 7.00pm Ravel Rapsodie espagnole BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Tadaaki Otaka (conductor)

Prom 18, Friday 2 August, 7.30pm Granados Goyescas; Ravel L’Heure espagnole* Angela Marambio (Rosario), (Pepa & Concepción*), Marius Brenciu (Fernando), Natale de Carolis (Paquiro & Ramiro*), Charles Castronovo* (Gonzalve), Jean-Paul Fouchécourt* (Torquemada), Peter Rose* (Don Inigo Gomez), BBC Singers, BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

Prom 19, Saturday 3 August, 7.00pm Albéniz Two Tangos (arr. Shchedrin) BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)

Prom 20, Saturday 3 August, 10.00pm Late-night Flamenco José Mercé and Company PCM 3, Monday 5 August, 1.00pm (Lecture Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum) Falla Harpsichord Concerto; La noche arrolladora (BBC commission: world premiere); Piazzolla Tango Seis English Chamber Orchestra Ensemble

Prom 24, Tuesday 6 August, 10.00pm Giménez La boda de Luis Alonso – Intermedio; Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez – Adagio (arr. Miles Davis & Gil Evans)†; Falla El Amor brujo – ‘Will-o’-the-Wisp’ (arr. Miles Davis & Gil Evans)†; Falla El Amor brujo* Ginesa Ortega (singer)*, John Harle (saxophone)†, Orchestra of St John’s, John Lubbock (conductor)

Prom 25, Wednesday 7 August, 7.30pm Strauss Don Juan BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ion Marin (conductor)

Prom 26, Thursday 8 August, 7.30pm Falla La vida breve; Revueltas La noche de los mayas Veronica Villarroel (Salud), Felicity Palmer (Grandmother), Jorge Antonio Pita (Paco), Edgaras Montvidas (Voice in the Forge), Leigh Melrose (Manuel), Neal Davies (Uncle Sarvaor), Pilar Rioja (flamenco dancer/castanets), Alfonso Cid (flamenco singer), José Luis Negrete, Antonio Muñoz (guitarists), Voices, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Enrique Diemecke (conductor)

Prom 27, Friday 9 August, 7.00pm Rimsky-Korsakov espagnol; Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain* Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano)*, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

Prom 29, Saturday 10 August, 7.30pm Rossini The Barber of Seville – Overture; ‘Largo al factotum’*; Mozart Arias from Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro*; Arriaga Los esclavos felices – Overture; Ravel Don Quichotte à Dulcinée* Sir Thomas Allen (baritone)*, English Chamber Orchestra, Ralf Gothóni (conductor)

PCM 4, Monday 12 August, 1.00pm (Lecture Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum) Peñalosa Missa ‘L’Homme armé’ and 15th-century Spanish pieces by La Torre, Pisador, Gombert and Cabezón, and anonymous composers Orchestra of the Renaissance, Richard Cheetham (conductor)

Prom 36, Friday 16 August, 7.30pm Strauss Don Quixote Trul Mørk (cello), Paul Silverthorne (viola), London Symphony Orchestra, Mariss Jansons (conductor)

Prom 39, Sunday 18 August, 8.00pm Rodion Shchedrin Carmen Suite – excerpts; Ravel Tzigane*; Sarasate Zigeunerweisen* (violin)*, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin (conductor)

PCM 5, Monday 19 August, 1.00pm (Lecture Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum) Wolf Spanisches Liederbuch – selection Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Julius Drake (piano) Prom 41, Tuesday 20 August, 7.00pm Gershwin Cuban Overture; Copland Latin American Sketches; El salón México; Turina Danzas fantásticas; Revueltas Sensemayá; plus zarzuela arias, Mexican popular songs and arias from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Bizet’s Carmen* Ramón Vargas (tenor)*, BBC Concert Orchestra, (conductor)

Prom 45, Friday 23 August, 7.30pm Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte Orchestre National de Lyon, David Robertson (conductor)

PCM 6, Monday 26 August, 1.00pm (Lecture Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum) Villa-Lobos Assobio a jato Emily Beynon (flute), Gregor Horsch (cello)

Prom 51, Tuesday 27 August, 10.00pm Osvaldo Golijov Last Round; Canciones*; Falla Master Peter’s Puppet Show† Jean Rigby (mezzo-soprano)*, Yvette Bonner (soprano)†, Timothy Robinson (tenor)†, Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone)†, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, (conductor)

Prom 54, Friday 30 August, 7.30pm Debussy Ibéria Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)

Prom 58, Monday 2 September, 10.00pm Julian Anderson Alhambra Fantasy; Revueltas Homenaje a Federico García Lorca; George Crumb Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death* Sanford Sylvan (baritone)*, 21, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

Prom 64, Saturday 7 September, 7.30pm Moncayo Huapango; Galindo Dimas Sones de Mariachi; Falla Seven Popular Spanish Songs (arr. )*; Piazzolla Bandoneon Concerto†; Pieces for tango quartet†; Tangazo; Ginastera Estancia – Suite Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano)*, Horacio Romo (bandoneon)†, BBC Concert Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya (conductor)

Prom 65, Sunday 8 September, 3.00pm Blue Peter Prom – Fiesta! Bizet Carmen – orchestral excerpts; Trad. Mexican Hat Dance; A la rurro niño (arr. Michael Neaum); Sarasate Carmen Fantasy (excerpts); Flamenco Music and Dance; Falla The Three-Cornered Hat – final dance; Damien Harron Carnival of Rhythms (world premiere); Elmer Bernstein The Magnificent Seven Paco Peña and Friends, Chloë Hanslip (violin), BackBeat, Islington Children’s Music Group, BBC Philharmonic, (conductor)

Prom 68 (Late Night), Monday 9 September, 10.00pm The Genius of Renaissance Spain Victoria Missa pro victoria; Motets by Guerrero, Escribano, Morales, Padilla and others The Cardinall’s Musick Consort and Players, (conductor) Old Testament at the Proms

Prom 1, Friday 19 July, 7.30pm Walton Belshazzar’s Feast Willard W. White (bass-baritone), BBC Symphony Chorus, Choral Arts Society of Washington, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin (conductor)

Prom 2, Saturday 20 July, 7.30pm Haydn The Creation Christiane Oelze (soprano), Paul Groves (tenor), John Relyea (bass), Choir of the Enlightenment, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Sir (conductor)

Prom 3 (The Nation’s Favourite Prom), Sunday 21 July, 7.00pm Saint-Saëns Samson and Delilah – Bacchanale; ‘Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix’* Denyce Graves (mezzo-soprano)*, BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

Prom 6, Tuesday 23 July, 10.00pm Handel Israel in Egypt Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, Monteverdi Orchestra, Sir (conductor)

Prom 17, Thursday 1 August, 7.30pm Vaughan Williams Job: A Masque for Dancing BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir (conductor)

Prom 35, Thursday 15 August, 7.00pm Nielsen Saul and David – Preludes to Acts 2 and 4 BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Joseph Swensen (conductor)

Prom 56, Sunday 1 September, 7.00pm Mendelssohn Elijah Alastair Miles (Elijah), Janice Watson (soprano), Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Kim Begley (tenor), London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Philharmonia Chorus, (conductor)

PCM 7, Monday 2 September, 1.00pm (Lecture Theatre, Victoria & Albert Museum) Britten Canticle No. 2: Abraham and Isaac (counter-tenor), Mark Padmore (tenor), Roger Vignoles (piano)

Prom 58, Monday 2 September, 10.00pm Stravinsky Abraham and Isaac Sanford Sylvan (baritone), Sinfonia 21, Martyn Brabbins (conductor)

Prom 66, Sunday 8 September, 7.00pm Handel Samson Lisa Milne (Dalila), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Micha), Thomas Randle (Samson), Michael George (Manoah), John Tomlinson (Harapha), , Symphony of Harmony and Invention, (conductor)

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