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MYSTERIOUS: Proms - What They Never Told You

Simply the best? Is the Berlin Philharmonic really better than all the rest?

The orchestra – at the Proms this week – is hailed as among the best in the world, if not the best. For my money, that’s quite possibly right, but why?

The Guardian - UK

‘You’ll be sorry you told me this!’: the 98-year-old composer who gets musicians – even bassoonists - on their feet

Scotland’s Thea Musgrave is still writing radical music with perambulatory soloists and a message of hopefulness. Her latest work, for bassoonist Amy Harman, comes to the Proms this weekend

The Guardian - UK

Liberated from its ludicrous libretto: how the magnificence of Oberon can be properly heard at last

Full of panache and originality, Weber’s grand opera is the work of a composer at the height of his powers – but its plot is a load of nonsense. The conductor of its Proms premiere celebrates its brilliance

The Guardian - UK

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BBC Proms - Elgar's First: Magnificent symphony re-examined in an insightful reading

4/5 Ryan Wigglesworth brings subtlety to the pomp at this night at the Proms

Evening Standard

Spanish National Orchestra/Afkham review – Proms debut sees orchestra’s celebrations kick off early

Outgoing chief conductor David Afkham brought Spanish repertoire, castanets and a certain team’s football scarf in a programme heavy with national treasures

The Guardian - UK

From a forest to an all-star trio and the fires of hell – my pick of new music coming to the Proms this year

The world’s biggest classical music festival begins on Friday. Over eight weeks of sonic excursions and orchestral revelations there’s a huge range of premieres and contemporary music: here’s the concerts I won’t be missing

The Guardian - UK

Magnificent minimalism, sizzling Strauss, bracing Berlioz: Guardian critics’ top picks for Proms 2026

As details of this year’s concert series are unveiled, here are some of the most exciting lineups – from a Bach recital by Notre-Dame’s organist to Thomas Adès conducting the National Youth Orchestra in his own ballet

The Guardian - UK

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TV tonight: Pomp and Circumstance galore as the Proms conclude in bombastic style

A feast of festive flag-waving at the Royal Albert Hall. Plus, more entertaining silliness as The Count of Monte Cristo continues. Here’s what to watch this evening

The Guardian - UK

Vienna Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall: big hitters bring sonic beauty

4/5 The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra take to the Proms and - eventually - show their masterly talents on Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony

Evening Standard

‘The cultural landscape is decimated’: Louise Alder on stage fright, arts funding and the Last Night of the Proms

The great soprano will be the first British singer to top the bill at the Last Night in over a decade. So why does she advise her younger colleagues to leave the country?

The Guardian - UK

BBCSO/Adès review – Adès held the orchestra as if under a spell

A Proms programme of the UK premiere of Gabriella Smith’s Breathing Forests, Sibelius, and Adès’s own music (Five Spells from The Tempest) was atmospheric and engaging

The Guardian - UK

Why doesn’t the BBC blaze the glories of its orchestras year round, not just at the Proms?

The orchestras and choirs of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation are at the centre of Denmark’s cultural life. As its Symphony Orchestra comes to the Proms, what the BBC can learn from its European counterpart?

The Guardian - UK

A Mass of Life review – magical and ecstatic Proms performance of Delius’s magnum opus

Mark Elder and the BBC Symphony Orchestra make such an outstanding case for Delius’s setting of Nietzsche that its 37-year absence from the Proms is baffling

The Guardian - UK

The British postwar pianist who played with one hand

Letter: Graham Mytton responds to an article by Nicholas McCarthy honouring the legacy of Paul Wittgenstein at the Proms

The Guardian - UK

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The Independent UK

BBC Proms 2025: Full line-up revealed, including first-time Traitors Prom

86 star-studded Proms will be held across the eight-week festival

Evening Standard

Claudia Winkleman to host Traitors Prom as BBC reveals line-up for 2025 season

US musician St Vincent and British conductor Sir Simon Rattle also feature in the series of Proms.

The Guardian - UK

James Joyce’s glorious lists and pop’s place at the Proms

Letters: Mary Adams says nobody compiled lists in literature quite like the Irish novelist. Plus a letter from Dr Richard Carter

The Guardian - UK

Last Night of the Proms review – pauses stretched patience but warmth and a Mexican wave won out

Pianist Stephen Hough was magical, soprano Angel Blue was on velvet-voiced form and a sporting theme brought inspired silliness

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The Guardian - UK

The week in classical: Yuja Wang x Hockney; Proms 61 & 62: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Rattle – review

Surrounded by giant projections of her friend David Hockney’s art show, star pianist Yuja Wang pushes the boundaries of what a concert can be

The Guardian - UK

Proms 53 and 54: BBCSO/Brabbins; Beethoven for Three

The Proms’ tribute to Andrew Davis was crowned by a joyous Steve Reich premiere, while the next day saw three outstanding musicians grapple with awkward acoustics

The Guardian - UK

The week in classical: Prom 37: Britten’s War Requiem; The Turn of the Screw – review

Britten’s explosive work is a rallying cry at the Proms, while a twilit production of his chamber opera feels properly ghostly

The Guardian - UK

TV tonight: an evening of belting pop hits at the Proms with Sam Smith

The pop-soul star performs orchestral versions of their hefty back catalogue. Plus, a sunny jaunt for Tory traveloguer Michael Portillo who visits Lisbon. Here’s what to watch this evening.

Evening Standard

War Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall review: sincere and theatrical in the hands of Antonio Pappano

This was one of those occasions to treasure that the Proms does so well

The Guardian - UK

Prom 31: West-Eastern Divan Orchestra/Barenboim review – an unforgettable and heroic return

Two years after he stepped back from performance, the conductor was back at the Proms – far frailer, but still able to conjure an instant response with a tiny flick of the baton

Evening Standard

Prom 23: Busoni's Piano Concerto at the Royal Albert Hall review – Benjamin Grosvenor's playing rippled and thundered

This was the first performance of the fiendishly difficult concerto at the Proms in 36 years

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