Suddenly it's that time of year and the BBC Proms programme has been launched again. This year there are 72 concerts at the Royal Albert Hall from 17 July to 12 September 2026, with further events across the UK - Bristol, Gateshead, Mold, Middlesbrough, Sunderland.
Visitors include the Los Angeles Philharmonic (at the Proms for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century), the Berlin Philarmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, the Mahler Academy Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and The Met Orchestra making its first visit. There are nearly 20 premieres (world or UK). The festival is marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with music by Barber, Copland, Feldman, Gershwin, Jessie Montgomery and Steve Reich, and the 50th anniversary of Britten's death with the Cello Symphony, Simply Symphony, Violin Concerto, Les Illuminations and more. There is also a focus on Richard Strauss centred around Glyndebourne's visit with its new production of Ariadne auf Naxos, along with four major tone poems, the final scene of Salome (with Elza van den Heever) and the Four Last Songs with Natalya Romaniw.
It is a year for pianists. Yunchan Lim plays Ravel at the First Night, Yuja Wang plays Barber's fiendish Piano Concerto (the first version of which was declared unplayable by Horowitz!) at the Last Night. In between Alexandra Dariescu makes her Proms debut in Nadia Boulanger, as do siblings Lucas and Arthur Jussen in Poulenc. Martha Argerich plays Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Kirill Gerstein plays Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini.
The operatic highlight must be a rare chance to hear Weber's Oberon complete with Nicky Spence in the title role, and Jennifer Davis and Charles Castronovo as the lovers. Sir Mark Elder conducts the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique for the first time. And the performance celebrates the 200th anniversary of the work's premiere. No word yet on what they plan to do about the spoken dialogue, after all the Royal Albert Hall hardly seems suitable for Planché 's verbose libretto. The other operatic notable is Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos from Glyndebourne Opera with Rachel Willis-Sørensen in the title role, plus David Butt Philip as Bacchus and Alina Wunderlin as Zerbinetta. Robin Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
New music includes Josephine Stephenson's new work for the First Night. Cellist Abel Selaocoe is the soloist in the UK premiere of Jessie Montgomery's These Righteous Paths with Gianandrea Noseda conducting the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Paavo Jarvi and the BBC Symphony Orchestra premiere Dani Howard's Concerto for Brass, SIGNAL. James Gaffigan conducts the BBC SO in the UK premiere of Wynton Marsalis's Concerto for Orchestra. Gabriel Ortiz's Revolucion diamantina receives its UK premiere from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel. The Swedish Chamber Orchestra gives the premiere of Jacob Muhlrad's Helix in a programme directed by clarinettist Martin Fröst which also includes music by Hans Ek. Edith Canat de Chizy's intriguing Skyline (Concerto for three percussionists, timpani and orchestra) receives its UK premiere with Christian Macelaru conducting the BBC SO. Thea Musgrave's Bassoon Concerto 'Out of the Darkness' is premiered by Amy Harman with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields directed by Benjamin Marquise Gilmore. Andrew Manze and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic premiere Carmel Smickersgill's A Brick Thrown with Love in a programme that includes Britten's Violin Concerto and RVW's Symphony No. 9. The premiere of Gwilym Simcock's Triple Concerto features Jess Gillam (saxophone), Ben Goldscheider (horn), Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) who were all finalists in the 2016 BBC Young Musician.
Sakari Oramo and the BBC SO perform Kurtag's Stele. Thomas Ades conducts the National Youth Orchestra in Dante - Part 2: Purgatorio, his prize-winning ballet, then Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil play Dante - Part 1: Inferno. Anja Bihlmaier conducts the BBC Phil in Bushra El-Turk's Mosaic.
Ryan Bancroft, in what will be his last Proms season at the head of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducts Szymanowski's Stabat Mater. Another choral spectacular, Rossini's Stabat Mater is performed by Epiphoni Consort, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC SO, conductor Nil Venditti. And the Royal Albert Hall seems the perfect setting for Berlioz's mammoth Grande Messe des morts with Sir Antonio Pappano conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus and BBC Symphony Chorus. There is more Berlioz with Jakob Lehmann conducting period instrument orchestra Les Siècles in The Damnation of Faust with John Osborn, Veronique Gens and Gerald Finley.
At the other end of the spectrum, Peter Whelan conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Choir of the Enlightenment in Haydn's Nelson Mass, and Jonathan Cohen conducts Arcangelo in Bach's Mass in B Minor.
A relative rarity: Jonathan Aasgaard is the soloist in Walton's Cello Concerto with the Sinfonia of London, conductor John Wilson. Even rarer perhaps: Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos is played by siblings Lucas and Athrus Jussen with Kazuki Yamada conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Not rare, but welcome: Korngold's Violin Concerto is played by Alena Baeva with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Delyana Lazarova.
Alexandra Dariescu makes her Proms debut as the soloist in Nadia Boulanger's Fantasy for piano and orchestra with the Hallé, conductor Kahchun Wong. Alain Altinoglu conducts the BBC SO in Varèse's Amériques, celebrating its 100th anniversary, then Ryan Wigglesworth and BBC SSO play Varèse's Density 21.5 with flute soloist Matthew Higham; the work's title refers to the density of the platinum from which the flute is made. Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic throw themselves into Scriabin's Symphony No. 3 'The Divine Poem'.
Other visitors include Black Dyke Band, conductor Nicholas Childs in a programme that includes Holst's A Moorside Suite, and music by Judith Bingham and Edward Gregson; Ladysmith Black Mambazo making its Proms debut. Curious Proms include Robert Ames directing the BBC Concert Orchestra in an evening of Prog Rock. Less curious but still notable, Miha Hazama and the BBC CO celebrate Miles Davis's centenary. The Dutch-Turkish band Altın Gün joins forces with the BBC CO and Jules Buckley
Full details from the BBC Proms website.
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Elsewhere on this blog
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- The piece that made me fall in love with song: mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston on Schumann's Dichterliebe - interview
- MOURN: A vividly theatrical mix of Eastern folk traditions & 17th century Italian music from Alkanna Graeca & Figure - music theatre review
- Beautifully wrought & intensely serious: Kitty Whately & Julius Drake explore the songs of Madeleine Dring - record review
- Cross-cultural cross currents: Jasdeep Singh Degun with Fantasia Orchestra in Terry Riley's iconic In C performed by string orchestra, piano, sitar and tabla at Smith Square Hall - concert review
- Bridging worlds: premiere of Eleanor Alberga's Symphony No. 2 by Academy of St Martin in the Fields plus Bacewicz, Price, Carolyn Shaw - review
- Elaborate vocal lines, aching beauty & expressive pain: The Portrait Players & Dame Emma Kirkby in I Voci Segreti - concert review
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