| Main Performers | Mahan Esfahani - harpsichord,
Rakhi Singh - violin, director |
| Set List | 'Harpsichord Concerto', Gorecki,
'The Centre is Everywhere', E Finnis,
'The Holy Presence of Joan dArc', Eastman,
'Suite in Old Style, The Court Jester Amareu', D Tabakova,
'Jazz Harpsichord Concerto', J Horovitz |
| Performance Notes | In 2021, the BBC Proms returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a summer of live music, as it has done every year since 1941. With 52 concerts over 44 days, featuring 30 orchestras and ensembles and more than 2,000 musicians, this ambitious season promises a celebration of live music on a scale not seen since before the pandemic. From the power of a symphony orchestra to the sheer joy of a single performer on the Halls magnificent organ, this summer we look forward to coming together through music. Every Prom will be live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
Fresh from the release of its debut recording, the dynamic Manchester Collective makes its first appearance at the Proms with a programme that draws on the musical past to help imagine a bold musical future. Award-winning harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani explodes stereotypes around his instrument in concertos by J Horovitz and Gorecki the former a witty fusion of jazz colours and textures with Classical forms, the latter a musical prank, motoric and defiantly playful. Also looking back to the 18th century is Dobrinka Tabakovas Suite in Old Style a musical homage to Rameau (alias Amareu) that blends folk and Baroque details in its five contrasting movements. The concert also includes music by the black American avant-garde post-Minimalist and gay activist Julius Eastman and Novello Award-nominated composer Edmund Finnis.
The season was shortened to six, rather than eight, weeks because of the financial risk to the BBC not knowing audience sizes due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| Related Archival Material | Prospectus (RAHE/1/2021/5),
Programme (RAHE/1/2021/25),
Digital photographs |