大象传媒 Proms 2008
Proms Plus
Update 鈥 17 July 2008: this page has been updated to reflect changes to the details of some of the events.
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This year pre-Prom events have expanded into a daily feature and for the first time they take place in a single location, the Royal College of Music's Britten Theatre.
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Proms Plus offers concert ticket-holders the opportunity to further enhance their experience of attending the Proms. The series presents a rich and broad variety of content around the concert with the new Proms Literary Festival series, talks, films, Composer Portraits, Proms Music Intro, Proms Family Orchestra and Proms Family Music Intro.
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Many are recorded and edited for broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 3 during the interval of the concert that follows, and others will be streamed online at bbc.co.uk/Proms after the events 鈥 the first time pre-concert events have been offered to audiences in this way.
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Proms Intro
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Proms Intro provides 31 pre-concert talks and events offering a better insight into the music in the concert hall that evening, including discussions with composers, musicians and leading experts drawing on strands seen and heard throughout the season, providing an insight and better understanding of the music. Highlights include talks with Pierre Boulez, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Sir Roger Norrington.
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Proms Literary Festival
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The Proms launches a new Literary Festival in 2008 as part of Proms Plus. Literary events are not new to the Proms but never before have so many literary events been programmed alongside the concerts, or been presented at a single venue 鈥 the Royal College of Music's Britten Theatre.
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Through 17 pre-concert events throughout the season, the Proms Literary Festival explores themes of the Proms season, and the relationship between writers and composers. Music and literature have always been close bedfellows 鈥 whether you think of composers working with writers or drawing inspiration from literature, or writers finding a theme and
a form in music.
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The Proms Literary Festival explores this relationship, also looking more widely at the literary and cultural world of which music is a part.
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Participants include poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan; Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, Stephen Poliakoff, and 大象传媒 Diplomatic Correspondent Bridget Kendall on Russian writers; Claire Tomalin on Thomas Hardy; Christopher Ricks on AE Housman; children's authors Michael Morpurgo and Julia Donaldson; and a look back to the literary scene in 1958 with Matthew Sweet.
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Composer Portraits
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The Composer Portraits feature chamber music by four leading composers, each of whom will have a work premiered in the same day's Prom at the Royal Albert Hall. This year's composers are Simon Holt, Anders Hillborg, Steven Stucky and Mark-Anthony Turnage.
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Alongside performances of their chamber music by students from some of the UK's leading conservatoires and other young musicians, the composers will appear in conversation with a Radio 3 presenter. All are recorded for broadcast on Radio 3 later that evening. Admission is free to all.
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Proms Family Music Intro
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Proms Family Music Intro is designed to introduce children and their families to live classical music for the first time. Seven concerts are preceded by a workshop where families get a preview of what's going to be played, learn the stories behind the music, and get the chance to play the themes themselves (see 大象传媒 Proms events for families for listings).
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Proms Family Orchestra
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The idea of the Proms Family Orchestra is simple 鈥 family members, whether mums, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles or grandparents, sitting alongside each other with professional musicians, making music.
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Whatever instrument is played, and at whatever level, the whole family can join in the fun. Sessions this year will explore the themes of folk, jazz and Doctor Who (see 大象传媒 Proms events for families for listings).
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Films
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This season's five Proms Films include celebrations of three of the most important composer anniversaries of 2008 鈥 Vaughan Williams, Messiaen and Stockhausen 鈥 as well as the 大象传媒-commissioned animation of Jan谩膷ek's opera The Cunning Little Vixen. All are introduced by a guest speaker connected with the film or its subject and will be shown at the Royal College of Music. Admission is free to all.
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Jan谩膷ek's opera, The Cunning Little Vixen, inspired by the Twenties cartoon-strip Vixen Sharpears, returns to its roots in the hands of innovative animator Geoff Dunbar, whose award-winning films include The Tale Of Peter Rabbit And Benjamin Bunny, The Tale Of Mr Tod and Paul McCartney's Rupert And The Frog Song.
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With its new soundtrack recorded by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and singers from the European Opera Centre, the story of Sharpears unfolds a tale of love, death and rebirth which will appeal to audiences of all ages (Friday 15 August, 1.00鈥2.45pm, RCM).
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La liturgie de cristal recreates the universe in which Messiaen evolved. Numerous archival clips, filmed between 1964 and 1987 鈥 predominantly of Messiaen discussing his methods and creative processes 鈥 have been brought together to create a self-portrait, illustrated with numerous excerpts from his works (Sunday 17 August, 1.00鈥3.00pm, RCM).
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O Thou Transcendent is the first full-length film biography of Vaughan Williams, made by the multi-award-winning director Tony Palmer.
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It features contributions from those who knew and worked with Vaughan Williams; archive performances by Boult and Barbirolli; newly discovered interviews with the composer himself; specially recorded extracts from the symphonies, Job, The Lark Ascending and the Tallis Fantasia; and unexpected contributions from Sir Harrison Birtwistle, John Adams, Richard Thompson, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Barbara Dickson, Michael Tippett and Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys (Sunday 24 August, 1.00鈥3.30pm RCM).
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Vaughan Williams wrote the film score to Scott Of The Antarctic, which sees Sir John Mills as Captain Scott in a thrilling account of the dangerous 1912 expedition to conquer the South Pole.
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Scott's intrepid team was beaten by Norway in the antarctic race and the heroic journey ended in catastrophe. But the bravery of the ill-fated explorers as they battled blizzards on the treacherous glaciers captured the hearts of the British public and became a legend. (Monday 25 August, 1.00鈥3.00pm RCM).
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Beyond The Score 鈥 Discover Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4. Introduced by Martha Gilmer, Vice President for Artistic and Audience Development, Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
(Tuesday 9 September, 5.15pm, RCM)
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Proms Plus Listings
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Proms Intro
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- 21 July, 5.45pm, RCM
Organist Olivier Latry, who performs Messiaen in the evening Prom, talks to Tom Service about the great French composer.
22 July, 5.15pm, RCM
Conductor Sir Roger Norrington talks to Martin Handley about the challenge of working with different orchestras.
24 July, 5.45pm, RCM
Managing and Artistic Director of the English Music Festival, Em Marshall, and pianist Ashley Wass discuss Bax, Vaughan Williams and English Music with Petroc Trelawny.
26 July, 5.15pm, RCM
Tom Service discusses Thomas Ad猫s's Tevot, alongside live performances of commissions by the winners of the 2007 Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition.
27 July, 5.15pm, RCM
A Romantic Modernist 鈥 Messiaen's music from the vantage point of La Transfiguration, with Christopher Dingle and musicians from the RCM, presented by Tom Service.
28 July, 5.45pm, RCM
Writer and critic Paul Griffiths joins conductor David Robertson and oboist Nicholas Daniel, with presenter Andrew McGregor, to discuss the music of Elliott Carter.
30 July, 5.15pm, RCM
Lucy Duran introduces the Radio 3 Awards for World Music winners in conversation with Rita Ray; plus a tribute to Andy Palacio, Americas Award-winner 2008, who died earlier this year.
31 July, 5.00pm, RCM
Conductor Emmanuelle Ha茂m discusses Monteverdi's The Coronation Of Poppaea with Suzy Klein, followed by a presentation of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's and Glyndebourne's Poppaea film project.
1 August, 6.15pm, RCM
Martin Handley in discussion with RLPO Executive Director Andrew Cornall, Composer-in-the-House Kenneth Hesketh and conductor Vasily Petrenko. With musicians from the RCM.
2 August, 4.15pm, RCM
Ivan Hewett talks to Paul Hillier, Morag Grant, Robin Rimbaud and Robert Worby about Stockhausen.
4 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Margaret Reynolds talks to Roz Tr眉berger and violinist Tasmin Little about the music of Dame Ethel Smyth, in the composer's 150th anniversary year.
6 August, 5.30pm, RCM
The Aurora Orchestra performs the winning entries of this year's 大象传媒 Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition.
8 August, 5.15pm, RCM
Composer Chen Yi and conductor Leonard Slatkin discuss the evening programme and wider Chinese cultural issues with Sara Mohr-Pietsch.
10 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Edward Gardner talks to composers Michael Berkeley and Stuart MacRae, whose new works he conducts in the evening concert; hosted by Ivan Hewett.
11 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Suzy Klein discusses Puccini's Il Tabarro with musicologists Roger Parker and Alexandra Wilson.
14 August, 5.15pm, RCM
Members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra talk to the Controller of Radio 3 and Director, 大象传媒 Proms, Roger Wright.
15 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Pierre Boulez discusses the music of Jan谩膷ek with Director, 大象传媒 Proms Roger Wright.
16 August, 4.45pm, RCM
Catherine Bott talks to critic, writer and broadcaster Roderick Swanston and theatre historian Sarah Lenton to explore Handel's Belshazzar.
18 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Cellist Alban Gerhardt and musicologist David Nice in conversation with Martin Handley.
19 August, 5.15pm, RCM
The electronic music revolution 鈥 Jonathan Harvey talks to Andrew McGregor about how technology has introduced a radically new creative environment for today's composers.
20 August, 5.15pm, RCM
Christopher Cook talks to Director of the Royal Ballet, Monica Mason, about the company, its history, conductors and dancers.
22 August, 5.15pm, RCM
Andrew McGregor introduces the G眉rzenich Orchestra's evening recreation of the 1904 Cologne concert which featured the premiere of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 with oboist Tom Owen, Marketing Manager Lilly Schwerdtfeger and composer Colin Matthews.
24 August, 5.15pm, RCM
Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Mark Padmore discuss Bach's St John Passion with Christopher Cook.
26 August, 5.45pm, RCM
RCM Chief and Deputy Librarians Pam Thompson and Peter Horton join Anthony Payne and Stephen Johnson to discuss Ralph Vaughan Williams on the 50th anniversary of his death.
29 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Zarin Mehta, New York Philharmonic President and Executive Director, and musicians from the Orchestra, in an exploration of the Philharmonic's musical and educational activities. Stephen Johnson is the host.
31 August, 6.15pm, RCM
Suzy Klein, Roger Parker and Susan Rutherford introduce one of the best-known choral works in the repertory 鈥 Verdi's Requiem.
2 September, 5.45pm, RCM
Martin Handley talks to Tristan Murail about the ondes martenot, and this intriguing electronic instrument's role in Messiaen's Turangal卯la Symphony.
7 September, 2.15pm, RCM
Tom Service and Messiaen scholars Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone discuss Messiaen's Saint Francis Of Assisi. Artistic director of The Netherlands Opera, Pierre Audi, also participates.
11 September, 5.45pm, RCM
Suzy Klein, Keith James and guests discuss the influence of architecture in the music of Gustav Mahler.
12 September, 5.45pm, RCM
Petroc Trelawny looks back on the 2008 season with Proms Director Roger Wright and Royal Albert Hall Chief Executive David Elliott.
- 13 September, 5.30pm, RCM
Start your last night by joining others to sing favourite folk songs from the British Isles.
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New Proms Literary Festival
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- Saturday 19 July, 4.45pm, RCM
Hermione Lee discusses English Romanticism from William Wordsworth to Thomas Hardy with Hardy's biographer Claire Tomalin, Duncan Wu and Kate Kennedy.
- Sunday 20 July, 5.45pm, RCM
Ian McMillan presents a cabaret of words and music, showcasing the connections between folk music, poetry and storytelling.
- Wednesday 23 July, 5.15pm, RCM
Matthew Sweet profiles the cultural events of 1958, with writers Alan Sillitoe, Diana Athill, Anthony Thwaite and historian Dominic Sandbrook.
- Tuesday 29 July, 5.45pm, RCM
Ian McMillan is joined by Christopher Ricks and other guests, to take a new look at the poetry, life and times of AE Housman.
- Sunday 3 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Susan Hitch discusses nature, wilderness and gardens with two poets for whom the pastoral is an important source of inspiration 鈥 Kathleen Jamie and Sarah Maguire.
- Tuesday 5 August, 5.15pm, RCM
Matthew Sweet discusses how Victorian entertainment is portrayed in novels, films and television 鈥 with writer and critic John Sutherland and TV dramatist Andrew Davies.
- Tuesday 12 August, 5.00pm, RCM
Ben Haggarty explores the extraordinary world of the 1,001 Nights in this family-friendly storytelling session.
- Tuesday 12 August, 9.15pm, RCM
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, joins Susan Hitch to talk about and introduce the work of one of his literary heroes 鈥 Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
- Sunday 17 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Matthew Sweet goes on an urban safari 鈥 exploring the inspiration of wildness and nature in the city 鈥 with Iain Sinclair and Robert Macfarlane, author of The Wild Places.
- Thursday 21 August, 5.45pm, RCM
How do writers portray classical music in their work? Ian McMillan is joined by Conrad Williams, whose novel The Concert Pianist is the story of a virtuoso musician in crisis.
- Monday 25 August, 5.15pm, RCM
A special Bank Holiday event for families 鈥 children's authors Michael Morpurgo and Julia Donaldson join Ian McMillan.
- Wednesday 27 August, 9.15pm, RCM
Ian McMillan explores literature inspired by birds, with poet Katrina Porteous and nature writer Mark Cocker.
- Saturday 30 August, 5.45pm, RCM
The 大象传媒's Diplomatic Correspondent Bridget Kendall discusses how Russian classic and contemporary literature relates to the issues and themes in that country's current affairs.
- Thursday 4 September, 5.15pm, RCM
Ian McMillan introduces writing about the sea with poets John Agard 鈥 who has recently been working with the National Maritime Museum 鈥 and Jean Sprackland.
- Friday 5 September, 5.45pm, RCM
Susan Hitch explores the world of Russian fairy tales with Moscow-born writer Zinovy Zinik and Robert Chandler, who is editing a new anthology.
- Saturday 6 September, 5.45pm, RCM
TV dramatist Stephen Poliakoff joins Susan Hitch to talk about his favourite Russian literature and its influence on his work.
- Wednesday 10 September, 4.45pm, RCM
Ian McMillan gazes at the stars and discusses planetary literature with poet Lavinia Greenlaw and others.
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Composer Portraits
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- 25 July, 5.45pm, RCM
Simon Holt in conversation with Sarah Walker to discuss his 大象传媒 commission, Troubled Light.
- 13 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Anders Hillborg in conversation with Fiona Talkington to discuss his clarinet concerto, Peacock Tales.
- 28 August, 5.45pm, RCM
Steven Stucky in conversation with Andrew McGregor to discuss his 大象传媒 commission, Rhapsodies.
- 8 September, 5.45pm, RCM
Mark-Anthony Turnage in conversation with Andrew McGregor to discuss his UK premiere, Chicago Remains.
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Proms Films
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- Friday 15 August, 1.00-2.45pm, RCM
Jan谩膷ek: The Cunning Little Vixen (animated Geoff Dunbar,
75 mins). Introduced by Geoffrey Chew.
- Sunday 17 August, 1.00-3.00pm, RCM
Messiaen: La liturgie de cristal (88 mins)
Introduced by Peter Hill.
- Sunday 24 August, 1.00-3.00pm, RCM
Vaughan Williams: O Thou Transcendent (148 mins). Introduced by Tony Palmer
The first full-length film biography of the composer, made by multi-award-winning director Tony Palmer.
- Monday 25 August, 1.00-3.00pm, RCM
Scott Of The Antarctic (106 mins 鈥 music by Vaughan Williams)
Introduced by Anthony Payne.
- Tuesday 9 September, 5.15pm, RCM
Beyond The Score
Discover Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4, introduced by Martha Gilmer, Vice President for Artistic and Audience Development, Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
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