BBC Orchestras and Choirs

Three composers in three landscapes. Eva Ollikainen and the BBC Philharmonic join Kian Soltani in Elgar’s hugely popular Cello Concerto – alongside powerful Scandinavian soundscapes from Sibelius and Anna Thorvaldsottir.

Elgar’s First Symphony, Vaughan Williams’s Tuba Concerto and a swinging new showpiece from Mark-Anthony Turnage: music that could have been made for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and its Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo.

Nielsen’s ebullient Sinfonia espansiva, Ravel’s La valse and Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto – played by pianist Behzod Abduraimov at the heart of a supercharged Prom from Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

‘Music is life’: Sibelius and Nielsen take the 20th century head-on while Beethoven looks inward in his Fourth Piano Concerto. Francesco Piemontesi is the pianist, and Thomas Dausgaard conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

‘Thy harmony’s divine, great king’: Handel’s lavish 1749 oratorio Solomon, performed by The English Concert and the BBC Singers, starring Iestyn Davies as the music-loving King of Israel.

Ryan Wigglesworth brings a composer’s ear to Holst’s The Planets, and British baritone Roderick Williams premieres Matthew Kaner’s haunting new commission Pearl – in which an ancient lament unlocks emotions that transcend time.

The BBC Singers and Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin join violinist Laura Samuel for a mystical reimagining of Vaughan Williams' 'The Lark Ascending'. Listen live on BBC Radio 3 on Tue 9 Aug, 11am.

Ryan Bancroft unleashes the full power of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, and joins forces with the Tredegar Band for the world premiere of Gavin Higgins’s new Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra.

Our Conductor Emeritus Sir Donald Runnicles returns to launch the 2022 EIF with Carmina Burana.

Semyon Bychkov conducts the UK premiere of Julian Anderson’s keenly awaited Second Symphony – plus Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, and a Martinů concerto with the extraordinary Labèque sisters.