The 10 Proms you must see this year
The Proms is a musical world all to itself. Wander among the 86 concerts and you could encounter anything from Beethoven symphonies to little-known masterpieces of Renaissance church music to video games scores. And wandering is exactly what you should do. Try a big international orchestra playing a Mahler symphony, and for contrast a lone pianist playing Bach.
Catch the big-name artists, look out for rising stars, give some of the almost two dozen brand-new pieces a try. And don't miss the Last Night, which has two brand-new pieces and an all-female cast of star soloists. It's an adventure waiting to be enjoyed – and if you queue for on-the-day standing tickets in the arena, you can enjoy the Proms at a knock-down price.
Ten must-see Proms:
French Night with the Orchestre National de France, July 23
Who could resist an evening of French orchestral sumptuousness? There are copper-bottomed masterpieces including Ravel's La valse and Rapsodie espagnole, and some intriguing little-known works including a mystical dance by First World War era composer Charlotte Sohy, and a violin concerto by the black fencer, dancer and friend of Mozart, Joseph Bologne.
Sean Shibe and Friends, July 27
Spell-binding Scottish-Japanese guitarist Sean Shibe leads one of five Proms at the Glasshouse Centre in Gateshead. It celebrates the centenary of firebrand modernist Pierre Boulez with the piece that defined his glittery sound-world, Le Marteau sans maître, alongside a brand-new, BBC-commissioned piece from Tyshawn Sorey.
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Yunchan Lim, Aug 1
The Proms is a showcase for rising stars, and they don't come more starry than Korean pianist Yunchan Lim, winner of the Van Cliburn Competition aged just 18. Here he plays Rachmaninov's Fourth Piano Concerto in between the CBSO's performance of two irresistible orchestral showpieces by Luciano Berio and John Adams.
From Dark Till Dawn, Aug 8
Unwind to a range of intimate, generically loose music in the Albert Hall's dimly-lit space from 11pm to 7am in the company of the wonderful Norwegian Baroque orchestra Barokksolistene, Russian cellist Anastasia Kobekina, pianist Hayato Sumino, organist and TikTok star Anna Lapwood and the choir she leads from Pembroke College Cambridge.
Le Concert Spirituel, Aug 17
It's not just the huge blockbusters of symphonic music that show off to advantage in the Albert Hall's echoing spaces. Renaissance music can shine too – particularly big-scale pieces like the immense 40-part Mass by Alessandro Striggio. The excellent French choir Le Concert Spirituel performs it alongside music by Palestrina, Benevolo and Corteggia.
András Schiff, Aug 23
The great Hungarian-born pianist plays Bach's 90-minute Art of Fugue, a piece that can seem just too lofty, pure and intellectual for human ears. But not the way the Schiff plays it. He reveals the music's energy, wit and grace. And the struggle needed to master it.
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Aug 24
In-demand Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä already leads orchestras in Paris and Oslo, and will soon be adding the Chicago Symphony – and this one. In their second Prom they'll be playing Mozart's blazing Paris Symphony, Bartók's nostalgic Concerto for Orchestra, and Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto, with Janine Jansen as soloist.
Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth, Sept 1
The Proms shines a spotlight on Shostakovich's little-known and still-shocking 1934 opera, described by critics as 'pornographic' and banned in the Soviet Union. It's performed by the BBC Philharmonic and a fine cast including Amanda Majeski as the oppressed wife of a provincial mill owner who eventually resorts to murder.
Chineke!, Sept 5
Europe's first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra achieves another first by teaming up with one of the conducting world's superstars, Sir Simon Rattle. He'll be conducting the Fifth symphony by George Walker, a black American composer he's come to revere, alongside music by Coleridge-Taylor and Shostakovich's 10 th Symphony.
And if it has to be just one Prom:
Vienna Philharmonic, Sept 8
The music of late Viennese romanticism requires a special rich sound. For the real, seductive thing, accept no substitutes: it has to be the Vienna Philharmonic. Here they play the final, unfinished Symphony no. 9 by Anton Bruckner, and the deliciously corrupt Lulu Suite of Alban Berg, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Out
41 minutes ago
- Time Out
How Bangkok taught Lounys rhythm and contrast
555. No, not the number – though it might as well be the punchline. It's how we laugh in Thai: ha ha ha. It's also how Lounys, a French-Algerian artist now living in Bangkok, occasionally sneaks humour into his work – a wink to the absurd, a code-switch between languages, cultures and emotions. Born in Paris with Algerian and Berber roots, Lounys is what happens when you fold a handful of cities into one mind: New York, Los Angeles, Miami, a few stops across Europe and now Thailand. His art has appeared across Bangkok, cropping up in galleries and pop-up shows like visual outbursts – provocative, dense, unfiltered. Drawing on satirical cartoons and caricatures, Lounys sketches out modern survival as a warped spectacle. Political figures are stretched, social archetypes distorted, but always with a knowing eye. There's something dreamlike in his method – automatic, compulsive, channelling the spirit of 1920s surrealism while humming with the colour-fuelled energy of pop art. We asked him a few questions, naturally – about the move, the city, the sprawl of it all. He tells us he's adapting to Bangkok, slowly. The food, the pace, the people. Bangkok: too hot to hold, too alive to ignore – just like his work. Looking back, how would you describe the different chapters of your artistic journey so far? What felt like turning points along the way? 'My journey's been instinctive – no map, no mentor, just motion. One chapter was solitude, another dialogue. The shift came when I stopped chasing the art world and started building my own. That's when it all began to find me.' You've spent years creating in Bangkok – how has the city shaped the way you think, see and make art? ' Bangkok taught me rhythm and contrast. It's chaotic, spiritual, neon and decaying all at once. That tension fed into my work. I learned to follow instinct and embrace imperfection, like the city does.' 'In Bangkok, sacred and pop blend so easily it never feels like a clash.' Are there moments, corners or textures in Bangkok that you keep returning to in your work? 'Yes – torn posters, rusted gates, soi dogs asleep in shrines, temples wrapped in scaffolding. I'm drawn to what's overlooked. It speaks to time, to resilience. I don't copy it exactly, but the texture, the spirit, slips into my work.' How has your relationship with the city's art scene changed since you first started out? ' When I arrived, I felt outside of everything – an observer. But by constantly creating and showing up, I found my rhythm. Now I feel part of a parallel current – not fully in the 'mainstream', but visible and supported by local creatives and international eyes.' What shifts have you noticed within the local creative community – whether in spirit, structure or support? ' There's more boldness now. Young artists aren't waiting for permission – they're experimenting, self-organising, making space without asking. Things feel more open, more horizontal. But there's also a hunger for meaning, not just noise.' 'The future belongs to those who create it themselves, on their own terms, with integrity and courage.' From my understanding, your work often weaves tradition into the contemporary – how do you navigate that mix in a place like Bangkok, where the past and present constantly collide? ' Tradition isn't fixed – it moves. I let that mix happen on its own, sometimes as a gesture, a texture or a symbol that slips in.' Do you sense a move towards newer, more experimental forms in Bangkok's art spaces? If so, where do you see your work in that mix? 'Definitely. There's a real openness now to cross-genre and multi-sensory, even anti-art gestures. My work isn't experimental in form but in spirit. It's grounded in painting yet takes in collage, street energy, memory and sometimes scent or sound. I don't chase trends, I stay honest.' Bangkok sits at the edge of so many influences – how do you bring both Thai and global elements into your visual language without losing either? ' By staying present. I'm a guest here but live deeply in Thailand. My work absorbs everything – streets, galleries, talks, rituals – mixed with my North African roots. The key is letting it flow naturally, not forcing it.' Is art a space for you to reflect or respond to what's happening socially or politically in Thailand, or is it something more inward? ' For me, art is deeply personal but always connected. I don't illustrate politics, I process feeling. When a moment stirs me – joy or injustice – it finds its way into the work. Art lets me respond poetically, never didactically.' 'I hope the next generation holds on to the freedom and generosity that make the Thai scene so unique – the absence of ego, the spirit of play.' You can now step inside his world – not just as a spectator, but as a collaborator. In his workshops, held regularly with little fanfare, you're handed a curious task: paint within the lines he's taped onto canvas, lines that carry the unmistakable rhythm of his hand. Participants – kids, adults, anyone with a brush and a bit of curiosity – paint within the lines. Once the tape peels away, what's left is a quiet collision – your colour, his form. An unspoken conversation made visible. It's an invitation to loosen control and co-create, with no need for prior skill or pretension. For those intrigued, he's reachable via Line (@lounys) or Instagram DM (@lounys). And if you're more voyeur than participant, catch him live-painting at Bardo Social Bistro and Bar on June 28 – a glimpse into the process, raw and unscripted, unfolding in real time.
Graziadaily
14 hours ago
- Graziadaily
The $487 Million Film That Ended A Hollywood Marriage - And That $80 Million Divorcement Settlement
As of 10 June, it is 20 years since the film that divided Hollywood first hit cinemas. Before Mr & Mrs Smith , Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were the golden couple of the entertainment industry, with Pitt the pin up heartthrob and Aniston, 'Rachel from Friends', ever the girl next door. Angelina Jolie, meanwhile, was a maverick action film star who was covered in tattoos, married to Billy Bob Thornton who was 20 years her senior, and famously kissed her own brother on stage at the Oscars. It's almost impossible to cast your mind back to those days given how Mr & Mrs Smith reshaped the cultural landscape. Not because of its gripping action sequences or its plot – it's actually a distinctly average film with a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – but because it marked the end of Pitt and Aniston's marriage and the start of 'Brangelina'. Tabloid fodder at its finest, what was already an uncomfortable situation for the three actors was made worse by the frenzied rivalry whipped up by the media. 'Team Aniston' and 'Team Jolie' t-shirts swept the nation and were famously worn famous faces like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, tell-all interviews were offered and accepted on both sides, and an unrelenting stream of commentary followed – and in many ways still does. Despite rumours that Pitt and Jolie had an affair on the set of the film, they have always maintained that their relationship did not start until after Aniston filed for divorce in January 2005. They did, however, later admit that they developed feelings for each other while working together. 'It took until the end of the shoot for us, I think, to realise that it might mean something more than we'd earlier allowed ourselves to believe,' Jolie told The New York Post in 2006. 'And both knowing that the reality of that was a big thing, something that was going to take a lot of serious consideration.' When Aniston announced that she and Pitt were separating after five years of marriage, she cited irreconcilable differences and said, 'our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media' and that they remained 'committed and caring friends'. Of course, all that stood to change, at least in the court of public opinion, when Pitt and Jolie's romance was confirmed. First via viral pictures of them holidaying together in Kenya and then in July 2005 through their extensive W magazine spread titled, 'Domestic Bliss'. Something that, understandably, riled up Team Aniston. The following September, Aniston spoke out about her divorce for the first time, telling Vanity Fair : 'There are many stages of grief. It's sad, something coming to an end. It cracks you open.' Later adding, 'I would much rather everyone move on. I am not defined by this relationship. I am not defined by the part [the media is] making me play in the triangle.' In January 2006, Jolie and Pitt announced they were expecting a child together, six months after they adopted their daughter Zahara from Ethiopia. Four more children followed to form a total of six and all were present when the couple got married at their co-owned French Estate, Chateau Miraval, in 2014. Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and their children in 2011. (Photo: IMAGO) However, the legacy of this power couple has been tarnished for almost a decade. In 2016, two years after their wedding, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt citing irreconcilable differences after a fateful private plane journey from France to LA. In 2022, Jolie filed court papers accusing Pitt of drunkenly attacking her and their children during the aforementioned flight, prompting her to file for divorce. She alleges that he grabbed her by the head and verbally abused and poured alcohol on his family during the journey. Pitt has always denied the allegations and was cleared of wrongdoing following an FBI investigation at the time. Nevertheless, the separation marked the start of an eight-year divorce battle that saw Pitt and Jolie in disputes over both the custody of their minor children and their French winery. The latter is still ongoing. Pitt and Jolie are finally divorced, but they are set to meet each other in court next year. They will both be subjected to depositions that may reveal additional personal details about their marriage, including the alleged 'years of abuse' Jolie claims Pitt subjected her to. The trial will also settle the rightful ownership of Jolie's 50% shares of Chateau Miraval, which Jolie sold shortly after filing for divorce. Pitt claims the sale was carried out without permission while Jolie alleges that she attempted to sell her shares to Pitt in the first instance but refused after he asked her to sign a $8.5m NDA to cover up said 'years of abuse'. As for the state of their once picture-perfect family, it similarly hangs in the balance. All six of Pitt and Jolie's children seem to have taken a marked stance with their mother, with several of them dropping 'Pitt' from their surnames. In 2023, their son Pax took to Instagram on Father's Day to share his thoughts about the F1 actor. 'You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you are incapable of doing so,' he wrote. 'You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell. […] The truth will come to light someday.' Even so, anyone following the saga would assume Pitt and Jolie are at least somewhat relieved to no longer be legally married. However, in a recent interview with GQ to promote his upcoming film F1 , which is out on 27 June, Pitt seemed indifferent. 'No, I don't think it was that major of a thing,' he responded when asked if he was relieved that the divorce was behind him. 'Just something coming to fruition, legally.' The Jolie-Pitt clan's dirty laundry is set to air in court in 2026, but Jolie's lawyers have insisted she never wanted their case to go to trial. 'Angelina never wanted any of this,' her attorney Paul Murphy said after a judge ruled that Pitt must turn over documents and communications that Jolie claims will prove he covered up alleged domestic violence. 'She never pressed charges, she left all their properties, and she is the one who tried to sell him the business in the first place. […] She wants this to end, the children want this to end, and Mr. Pitt should focus on healing their family, not pursuing lawsuits.' The legacy of Mr & Mrs Smith has, in many ways, returned to its origins – a toxic, highly-publicised feud with real lives and relationships at the centre. Sadly, this is a story that has not ended well for anyone. As for the 'truth', all eyes will be on the courtroom next year. Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across entertainment, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things pop culture for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow with equal respect).
Cambrian News
16 hours ago
- Cambrian News
Amiri Harewood's inspiring piano recital captivates Dolgellau music fans
Dance was the inspiration for both Granados' Valses Poéticos and Bach's Partita No. 5 in G Major, BWV 829. Less well-known than his Goyescas of 1911, Granados' Valses Poéticos of the 1890s is a delightful set of eight short pieces with an Introduction and Coda, and the tempo markings indicate the variety of moods traversed – Melodioso, Tempo de Valse noble, Allegro umorístico, Allegretto elegante and so on. Amiri achieved all these contrasts beautifully, as he did the 'galanteries' (Bach's term) of the dances (such as allemande, sarabande, minuet and gigue) that make up the Partita. Positioned thus, Bach seemed as novel and exploratory as his historical successors, for example in writing a minuet in which 'two-time' seems to predominate. Amiri's accuracy and delicacy of touch in all this were remarkable (the double fugue of the Bach gigue has been described as 'finger-busting'), and set up great anticipation of the second half.
