Tickets are now on sale for the 2013 BBC Proms, a two-month festival in London featuring 92 concerts and many musical firsts including Daniel Barenboim first time conducting Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
For those who want to attend the 119th BBC Proms season this summer, opening at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday, July 12. now is the time to book a London hotel.
In a series of firsts, this will be Barenboim’s first time conducting Wagner and it’s the first time the complete Wagner Ring Cycle will have been played at the Proms in one summer, with four concerts performed in the week beginning Monday 22nd July. Barenboim’s concerts are not the only Proms events marking the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth, and there are also significant anniversaries for bicentenarian Giuseppe Verdi, and the centenary of Benjamin Britten.
The 2013 festival will be the first in Proms history to have the last night conducted by a woman. Marin Alsop, a New Yorker who has spent time in the UK including a stint as chief conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, is joined by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, violinist Nigel Kennedy and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for the rousing Last Night of the Proms on Saturday, September 7, 2013.
It was also be the first Proms to include an ‘Urban Classic Prom’, to be broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, which will combine music by the German modernist Hans Werner Henze and the Soviet futurist Alexander Mosolov with performances by singers Faser, Laura Mvula and Maverick Sabre. The first BBC Radio 6 Music Prom, on Monday 12th August, will also appeal to a younger audience with Cerys Matthews, Laura Marling and The Stranglers all performing live at the Royal Albert Hall.
The 2013 season brings the first ever free main evening Prom with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and youth choirs from the UK and Ireland performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, also known as the ‘Choral’ Symphony, on Sunday, August 11, 2013.
Many well-loved Proms favourites return to the festival in 2013 including the Doctor Who Proms which makes a third visit to the Proms in the year that the BBC television celebrates 50 years on our screens. Nigel Kennedy returns and not only plays on the Last Night of the Proms for the first time but also plays at the Proms in the Park on the same night as well as playing in a Late Night performance of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons on Thursday August 8.
Leading concert pianist Stephen Hough performs on the First Night of the Proms, on Friday, July 12, when the festival opens with a 450-strong choir, and the premiere of Julian Anderson’s Harmony performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Every Prom is broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 but with tickets starting from GBP5, and with such a huge variety of music to choose from, the best way to enjoy the events is by going in person to experience the unique atmosphere of the Royal Albert Hall.
Tickets are now on sale and the season opens on Friday July, 12 2013.
To find out the best events in London this summer go to LondonTown.com where a host of useful information is given including the latest listings for opera, classical music, dance and ballet. With over 18 years of experience, the website is the place to go to for informative and unbiased reviews on everything you need to know about the UK’s capital city.
LondonTown.com is the number one Internet site for London. With over 18 years of experience assisting visitors to the capital, they pride themselves on their customer service and editorial independence – no advertising or paid for content is allowed. The LondonTown.com team assist in finding cheap London hotels, sightseeing tours, ticket information and events.
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