What's On / Proms by Day

One of the few genuine classical superstars, as popular in the West as in his native China, Lang Lang attracts loyal audiences around the world with his high-octane pianism.

This family-friendly recital for the bank holiday weekend features some of the composers he has especially favoured during his career so far - and a duet performance with the 9-year-old pianist he has dubbed 'little Mozart', Marc Yu.

In May 1875 London experienced the first British performance of Verdi's Requiem - in the Royal Albert Hall, with Verdi conducting. The reception was tumultuous and the press reviews spoke of the work in the same breath as of Mozart's hallowed Requiem.

Written in memory of the great Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni, Verdi's Mass for the dead - a work controversially composed by an atheist - has become as popular as his operas. The composer regarded it is as one of his greatest achievements: 'I feel as if I have become a serious citizen, and am no longer the public's clown.'

A stellar international line-up of soloists and massed choirs join the BBC Symphony Orchestra and its Chief Conductor Jiří Bělohlávek for a work vividly coloured by Verdi's dramatic instinct.