Today’s the day the “The World’s Greatest Classical Music Festival” kicks off, namely the BBC Proms (in their own immodest, but accurate, description). Running through September 8, it encompasses a huge range of music and many performances (Boulez to Wallace and Gromit and Kronos Quartet to “My Fair Lady” just for starters.
For the opener, tradition rules with an all-English program: works by Mark-Anthony Turnage (of fame for, among other things, his opera on Anna Nicole Smith), as well as these mighty worthies in the heart of the heart of the British repertory: Elgar, Delius, and Tippet. Delius’ song cycle, “Sea Drift, a magical piece was sung by Bryn Terfel.
All the audio broadcasts are free on the BBCi player. There have been noises about making the video player available in the U.S. on a subscription basis, but I don’t think it ever happened, (if you know otherwise, please let me know).
But even just listening to the audio makes an afternoon of cubicle work pretty wonderful.
A Few Reasonable Words 