Proms

So we now have the Proms programme for this year. A quick glance over it provides some tempting nuggetts. Antonio Pappano is bringing his other orchestra from Rome to do Rossini's Guillaume Tell on the opening weekend, surely an event to look forward to. Thankfully the performance will be in French and will use substantially the same cast as that in the live Rome performances which were recorded for CD. The following day will see performance of Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony, its gargantuan forces surely make the work entirely suitable for the Albert Hall.

The following weekend Semyon Bychkov is conducting Verdi's Requiem with a very fine quartet of soloists. One of the late night Proms celebrates Percy Grainger's anniversary year with a concert from the Northern Sinfonia. Later in August, Jiri Belohlavek and BBC forces will be giving Britten's Spring Symphony. And on 15th August Gergiev will be conducting Swan Lake, another unmissable event.

Glyndebourne will make their annual visit bringing their new production of Handel's Rinaldo. Paul McCreesh is conducting Mendelssohn's Elijah, with forces which include a number of youth choirs, though rather worryingly only 4 soloists are credited, which is rather worrying; we may be back to having the octet sung as a semi-chorus, I do hope not. Colin Davis will be in charge of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and John Eliot Gardiner will direct Weber's Der Freischutz in Berlioz's version with sung recitatives rather than spoken dialogue, originally made for the Paris Opera.