Pianists at the BBC Proms 2019

The BBC Proms is a world-famous celebration of classical and contemporary music. The new season starts on Friday 19th July 2019, ending with the enormously popular Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 14th September 2019. You can watch and listen across the BBC either on TV, iPlayer or BBC Radio 3.

This year’s line up includes some amazing performances of renowned classical pieces but I am particularly interested in the piano performances by famous and up-and-coming pianists.

The full list of events and concerts is available on the Proms website but I have picked out the ones that will be of interest to us pianists.

Tue 23 Jul 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 7: Schumann, Schoenberg & Mozart

South-Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son is the soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major.

Sun 28 Jul 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 13: ‘From the Canyons to the Stars …’

Nicolas Hodges joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Thu 1 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 18: Mahler & Britten

Leif Ove Andsnes plays Benjamin Britten’s Piano Concerto

Fri 2 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 19: Strauss, Schumann & MacMillan

Alexander Melnikov is the soloist in Schumann’s bravura Piano Concerto.

Mon 5 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 23: Swan Lake

Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini features Russian virtuoso Alexander Gavrylyuk.

Tue 6 Aug 2019 – 11:30 – Prom 24: Relaxed Prom

Another chance to hear Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini features Russian virtuoso Alexander Gavrylyuk.

Mon 12 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 34: West–Eastern Divan Orchestra

Daniel Barenboim and his West–Eastern Divan Orchestra are joined by the legendary Martha Argerich for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Martha Argerich is one of my favourite pianists.

Fri 16 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 40: Queen Victoria’s 200th Anniversary

The OAE celebrates the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth with music by her favourite composer Mendelssohn (including a piano concerto by Stephen Hough played on Victoria’s own piano, loaned by HM The Queen from the Royal Collection).

Sat 17 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 41: Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Lyadov & Glazunov
Alexander Ghindin plays Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto is the centerpiece of an all-Russian programme.

Sun 18 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 42: Youthful Beginnings
Mariam Batsashvili joins Belfast’s Ulster Orchestra and its dynamic music director Rafael Payare to present the Proms premiere of Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto.

Mon 19 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 43: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
It is paired with two world premieres, including a much-anticipated Piano Concerto by Dieter Ammann, with soloist Andreas Haefliger.

Sat 24 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 48: Rachmaninov, Prokofiev & Silvestri
Seong-Jin Cho plays Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Wed 28 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 52: Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky & Ryan Wigglesworth
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto in E flat major for two pianos and the world premier of Ryan Wigglesworth’s Piano Concerto. Pianists are Paul Lewis and Ryan Wigglesworth.

Sat 31 Aug 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 56: Henry Wood Tribute
Leon McCawley plays piano in this special concert which explores the rich musical legacy of Proms-founder Henry Wood.

Sun 1 Sep 2019 – 11:00 – Prom 57: Mozart, Rachmaninov & Qigang Chen 
Leeds Piano Competition winner Eric Lu joins them for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23.

Tue 3 Sep 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 60: Vienna Philharmonic and Bernard Haitink
Beethoven’s revolutionary Piano Concerto No. 4 with soloist Murray Perahia.

Thu 5 Sep 2019 – 19:30 – Prom 63: Yuja Wang plays Rachmaninov
Yuja Wang is the soloist in Rachmaninov’s emotionally expansive and technically demanding Third Piano Concerto.

Tue 10 Sep 2019 – 22:15 – Prom 70: Jonny Greenwood 
Pianist Katherine Tinker joins multi-talented guitarist and composer Jonny Greenwood curates a Late Night Prom featuring his new work for solo violin and strings, as well as a range of pieces broadly picking up on the themes of patterning and Minimalism.

Wow! What a summer of music to look forward to. I hope you manage to listen to as many of the above performances as possible and find some inspiration from these fantastic piano players.