Proms 2020: How to watch archive and live performances on the BBC
Archive and live footage will be aired on the BBC from 17 July
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The 2020 BBC Proms are already underway, with a mix of archive and live performances delivered to audiences watching from home.
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Proms, which is being celebrated with performances from some of the world’s greatest classical musicians.
Over eight weeks, the BBC are making complete archive concerts available live on BBC Radio3, and on demand on BBC Sounds. Archive concerts will also be available on BBC4 and BBC iPlayer.
In the final two weeks of the event (from Friday 28 August), the Royal Albert Hall will have a number of performances streamed live directly to iPlayer and on BBC4, Radio3 and BBC Sounds.
David Pickard, Director BBC Proms, said: “These are extraordinary times for our nation and the rest of the world, but they show that we need music and the creative industries more than ever.
“This year it is not going to be the Proms as we know them, but the Proms as we need them. We will provide a stimulating and enriching musical summer for both loyal Proms audiences and people discovering the riches we have to offer for the first time.”
The Proms launched with a unique opening weekend performed by all of the BBC orchestras and singers, comprising more than 350 musicians.
The Grand Virtual Orchestra marked the 250th anniversary year of Beethoven’s birth with a new mashup of his 9 Symphonies, which was created by Iain Farrington.
The TV schedule
Sunday 16 August
7pm, BBC Four: Martha Argerich with the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim (2016). Jörg Widmann: Con brio; Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1; Wagner: Tannhäuser & The Mastersingers – Overtures; Wagner: Götterdämmerung – Excerpts
Friday 21 August
11.55pm, BBC Four: Angélique Kidjo - late-night tribute to salsa legend Celia Cruz, hosted by Clara Amfo (2019)
Sunday 23 August
BBC Four: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela/Gustavo Dudamel (2017). Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10; Bernstein: West Side Story – Symphonic Dances; Moncayo: Huapango; Márquez: Danzón No. 2 (Proms premiere); Ginastera: Alma Llanera; Bernstein: West Side Story – Mambo; Ginastera: Estancia – Suite No. 4 Danza final: Malambo
Friday 28 August
BBC Two: Sakari Oramo & The BBC Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven: ”Eroica” Symphony; Hannah Kendall: Tuxedo: Vasco de Gama; Eric Whitacre: Sleep; Copland: Quiet City
Saturday 29 August
BBC iPlayer: Jonathan Scott: Organ arrangements of symphonic classics including works by Rossini, Mascagni and Dukas, plus Saint-Saen’s “Organ” Symphony
Sunday 30 August
BBC Four: Sir Simon Rattle conducts London Symphony Orchestra in programme which includes Vaughan William’s Symphony No5
Monday 31 August
BBC iPlayer: Tribute to Viennese operetta, marking the 150th anniversary of Franz Lehar’s birth
Tuesday 1 September
BBC iPlayer: Contemporary music from the London Sinfonietta
Wednesday 2 September
BBC iPlayer: Omer Meir Wellber & BBC Philharmonic: Haydn: philemon und Baucis – overture; Symphony No80; Aziza Sadikova: Marionettes; Britten: Nocturne
Thursday 3 September
BBC Four: Nicola Benedetti, Alina Ibragimova and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment: showcase of Baroque concertos with works by Vivaldi, Handel and Bach
Friday 4 September
BBC Four: Sitarist Anoushka Shankar and electronic music composer Gold Panda alongside the strings of the Britten Sinfonia
Saturday 5 September
BBC iPlayer: Stephen Hough with Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC SSO: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No2
Sunday 6 September
BBC Four: Laura Marling and the 12 Ensemble perform works from her own back catelogue
Monday 7 September
BBC iPlayer: Live performance from Royal Albert Hall on BBC Four
Tuesday 8 September
BBC iPlayer: Ryan Bancroft and BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Works by John Adams, Barber and Copland; Martinu: Jazz Suite; Gavin Higgins: new work
Wednesday 9 September
BBC iPlayer: Esa-Pekka Salonen the Philharmonia Orchestra, featuring pianist Benjamin Grosvenor: Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin; Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No1; Mozart: Symphony No45, “Jupiter”
Thursday 10 September
BBC Four: The Aurora Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Symphony No7 from memory. Also – Richard Ayres: No52; with introductions from Tom Service and Nicholas Colon
Friday 11 September
BBC Four: Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason: works by Beethoven, Barber, Bridge and Rachmaninov
Stax Records – 50 years of Soul. Jools Holland tribute to pioneering record label
Saturday 12 September
BBC One: The Last Night of the Proms, with soprano Golda Schultz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductor Dalia Stasevska
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