2017 BBC Proms bow out in style
06 September 2017
It is hard to imagine an event more steeped in tradition than the BBC's Last Night of the Proms, which will be aired by EBU radio organizations next weekend. Sakari Oramo, who will be at the helm of his BBC Symphony Orchestra for the evening's music, says: "I never find it difficult to get sucked into the atmosphere!" BBC Proms' Director David Pickard adds: "The Last Night represents the culmination of eight weeks of fantastic music-making as well as a chance for everyone to let their hair down a bit!"
Blending tradition with innovation, the 2017 Proms, this year celebrating their 90th anniversary of being produced by the BBC, have embraced an ever-widening repertory, from programmes of Russian music to mark the centenary of the 1917 Revolution or Lutheran chorales for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, to the classical music of India and Pakistan.
The programme of the legendary Last Night of the Proms on Saturday, 9 September would, of course, not be complete without such very British fare as Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance", Parry's "Jerusalem" or "Rule, Britannia!", with exuberant Prommers singing along. But this year there is also the Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, arguably one of the world's greatest Wagnerians, performing the stunning Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, plus a celebration of the US composer John Adams' 70th birthday with the London première of his exhilarating Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance.
Virtually all of the 75 concerts in the 123rd edition of this famous London summer series, running from 14 July to 9 September, have been made available via MUS as part of the Euroradio Summer Festivals, a key component of the Euroradio Package.
The following 23 broadcasters will be airing Saturday night's concert in 20 countries:
ABC (Australia)
APM (US)
BBC (UK)
BNR (Bulgaria)
BR (Germany)
ERR (Estonia)
ERT (Greece)
NDR (Germany)
NRK (Norway)
ORF (Austria)
PR (Poland)
RAI (Italy)
RNZ (New Zealand)
ROR (Romania)
RSI (Switzerland)
RTBF (Belgium)
RTP (Portugal)
RTS (Switzerland)
RTVE (Spain)
RUV (Iceland)
SR (Sweden)
SRF (France)
SUM (Germany)
YLE (Finland)