Suffrage celebrated at the Proms
Dame Ethyl Smyth Photo: George Grantham Bain Collection, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Ethyl Smyth, the composer responsible for The March of the Women which became the rallying cry of the suffragettes’ cause, features in this week’s Proms.
It is 100 years since the British Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act, which meant for the first time women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote.
Ethyl Smyth studied at the Leipzig Conservatory where she met Brahms, Clara Schumann and Grieg. Later she was championed by Thomas Beecham and Henry Wood.
Her suffrage campaigning saw her spend time in Holloway Prison – for throwing a rock through a window in the Houses of Parliament.
Monday night’s Proms concert includes a performance of the ‘Prelude’ from Act 2 of Smyth’s opera interestingly named The Wreckers.
Cleopatra Photo: CC0 Public Domain
Wednesday night’s Music Alive offers two Proms concerts back-to-back.
The first is music inspired by two great queens, Cleopatra and Dido, with Austrian soprano Anna Prohaska and the Italian ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, conducted by Giovanni Antonini.
That’s followed by a recital of organ music by Fauré, Franck & Widor featuring Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna in her Proms debut.
The Proms Schedule this Week:
Monday 20 August 2018
7.30 Music Alive
BBC Proms 2018: A Hero’s Life
Daniel Müller-Schott (cello), BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Otto Tausk
E SMYTH: The Wreckers - On the Cliffs of Cornwall (Prelude to Act 2);
DVORAK: Cello Concerto in B minor Op 104;
STRAUSS: Ein Heldenleben Op 40
Recorded Royal Albert Hall, London (BBC)
Tuesday 21 August 2018
12.00 Upbeat
Including 1.00: BBC Proms 2018: A London Symphony
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Manze
HAYDN: Symphony No 104 in D, London;
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Symphony No 2, A London Symphony
Recorded Royal Albert Hall, London (BBC)
7.30 Music Alive
BBC Proms 2018: Currentzis conducts Beethoven
MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No 2 in D Op 36;
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No 5 in C minor Op 67
Recorded Royal Albert Hall, London (BBC)
Wednesday 22 August 2018
7.30 Music Alive
BBC Proms 2018: Late Night Serpent and Fire
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Il Giardino Armonico/Giovanni Antonini
PURCELL: Dido & Aeneas (excerpts), The Fairy Queen - Chaconne: Dance for Chinese Man and Woman;
GRAUPNER: Dido, Queen of Carthage (excerpts);
SARTORIO: Julius Caesar in Egypt (excerpts);
LOCKE: The Tempest - Curtain Tune;
HANDEL: Julius Caesar in Egypt- 'Che sento? Oh Dio! ... Se pieta di me non senti';
CASTELLO: Sonata No 15 in D minor;
CAVALLI: Dido - Re de' Getuli altero ... Il mio marito';
HASSE: Morte col fiero aspetto;
HANDEL: Concerto Grosso in C minor Op 6/8;
Recorded Royal Albert Hall, London (BBC)
8:50 approx: BBC Proms 2018: Fauré, Franck & Widor’s Toccata
Iveta Apkalna (organ)
WIDOR: Organ Symphony No 5 in F minor Op 42/1;
FRANCK: Pièce héroïque, from Trois Pièces;
FAURE arr Apkalna: Pavane;
BACH: Fantasia in G BWV572;
THALBEN-BALL: Variations on a Theme by Paganini;
ESCAICH: Evocation I & II;
KALEJS: Toccata on Chorale 'Allein Gott'
Recorded Royal Albert Hall, London (BBC)
Saturday 25 August 2018
7.30 Music Alive
BBC Proms 2018: Minnesota Orchestra & Osmo Vänskä
Inon Barnatan (piano), Minnesota Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
BERNSTEIN: Candide Overture;
GERSHWIN: Piano Concerto in F;
IVES: Symphony No 2
Recorded Royal Albert Hall, London (BBC)
