REVIEW: BBC Proms: Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique

REVIEW: BBC Proms: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique

Rating: 4 out of 5. “Symphonie fantastique always strikes me with its hyper-theatrical rawness and recklessness” The night’s BBC Proms (22 July 2025) opened with Richard Strauss’s Death and Transfiguration (1889), one of his most recognised and frequently performed tone poems. Unlike other orchestral genres, the tone poems, developed by Liszt and later perfected by Strauss, are deeply entangled with the Romantic period and emphasises philosophic…

French Night at the Proms!

PROMS: French Night with the Orchestre National de France Randall Goosby (violin); Orchestre National de France / Cristian Măcelaru (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 23.07.2025 Ravel  Rapsodie espagnole (1895, 1907/08) Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Violin Concerto in G, Op. 8 (1776/7) Charlotte Sohy Danse mystique, Op 26 (1922) Chausson Poème, Op. 25 (1896) Ravel  La valse (1919/20)  A ravishing, early-start Prom here (no enco…