The National Open Youth Orchestra and conductor Alice Farnham at the BBC Proms

Elizabeth Alker introduces an afternoon of great summer music making with concert performances from home and abroad, including highlights from the BBC Proms, plus exclusive recordings from the Verbier Music Festival and the Granada Music Festival.

To open, a BBC Proms performance of Liszt’s dazzling Mephisto Waltz No. 1 with the National Youth Orchestra under Thomas Adès. Later, the National Open Youth Orchestra joins players from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for a vibrant Proms Across the UK concert from Bristol Beacon, featuring music by Vivaldi, Florence Price, Oliver Cross, Michael Betteridge and Charlotte Harding. The Proms selections conclude with Alban Berg’s haunting Violin Concerto, performed by Vilde Frang with the Juilliard Orchestra, the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

From the Verbier Festival, Debussy’s elegant Violin Sonata, performed by violinist Marc Bouchkov and pianist Julien Quentin, and from the Granada Festival, Ensemble InAlto and director Lambert Colson perform Monteverdi’s poignant Lamento d’Arianna, a masterpiece of early Baroque expression.

BBC Proms:
Franz Liszt
Mephisto Waltz No. 1
National Youth Orchestra
Thomas Adès (conductor)

Granada Festival:
Claudio Monteverdi
O Teseo, Teseo mio (Lamento d’Arianna, SV 107 (Madrigales, Libro VI. 1614)
Ensemble InAlto
Lambert Colson (cornett/director)

Verbier Festival:
Claude Debussy
Violin Sonata
Marc Bouchkovn(violin)
Julien Quentin (piano)

BBC PROMS:
The complete BBC Prom from the Bristol Beacon introduced for Classical Live by Alex Humphreys
Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons - excerpts (arr. Rhian Davies and Ellen O'Brien)
Florence Price
Symphony No. 1 – Juba Dance (3rd mvt) (arr. Rhian Davies)
Oliver Cross
Barriers (arr. Liam Taylor-West)
Michael Betteridge
Soaring Through Sparks (Clarion Concerto) (arr. Julia Koelmans)
Charlotte Harding
The Orchestra: A Young Person’s Guide (arr. Liam Taylor-West)
BBC commission
Niamh Moriarty (narrator)
Alessandro Vazzana (clarion)
National Open Youth Orchestra
Players from BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Alice Farnham (conductor)

BBC PROMS:
Alban Berg
Violin Concerto
Vilde Frang (violin)
Juilliard Orchestra
Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra
Esa‐Pekka Salonen (conductor)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".