Episode 1 BBC Proms

In the shadow of the Royal Albert Hall, welcome back to Proms Extra.

The I'm Katie Derham, I'm back with Proms Extra to cast a beady eye

across everything in this year's BBC Proms 120th season. We might not

have the Commonwealth Games inside our own Proms stadium, the Royal

College of Music, for our first show we are going global. Let the

classical games begin! Hello and welcome to Proms Extra. We

are back for our second series. As usual, we will look over the

highlights from the last seven days of the Proms. Chord of the Week make

as comeback with our own MC, that is Master of Chords, David Owen Norris.

We will preview the week ahead. We might drop in a few misscle

surprises too. I couldn't do it without nigh studio guests. Before

we meet them, let us look at week one of the Proms.

APPLAUSE That was the first week. Who are our

guests on Proms Extra tonight? Is first up we have world renowned

pianist, celebrated for her interpretations of Schubert and

Mozart who has performed on numerous occasions at the Proms. It's Imogen

Cooper. Next on the sofa, we have Grammy-award-winning choral composer

and conductor, fresh from taking part in the opening of the

Commonwealth Games, it's Eric Whitacre. Our next sofa guest is a

conductor in demand around the world, when he is not being the

Musical Director of the Halle Orchestra in Manchester. He is the

Elder statesman of the of Proms, Sir Mark Elder. To bring the show to a

close, our final guest is a young man who made his Proms debut this

week, with the China Philharmonic Orchestra. Prizing superstar,

Haochen Zhang performs exclusively for us on Proms Extra this evening.

Welcome to you all of you, Imogen, the Proms, it's the classical

musical festival that keeps growing and growing? It's completely

extraordinary. I don't know of any other festival like it in the world.

For a performer to walk on to that huge stage to be joined

audience who completely quiet and have an incredible concentration for

listening. It brings a feeling of intimacy that you would never

imagine that the hall, being that size, could bring. It's a very, very

special feeling indeed. Eric, you have settled in the UK. You had your

own Prom a couple of years ago. Are you a convert? Completely. I

remember the night of my Prom concert. It was a Late Night Prom.

Beginning at 10.00pm we came in the doors and thousands of attendees

were coming out. It felt, there was this energy, in the space around the

hall, it felt like we were in the centre of the universe of classical

music. Pretty thrilling. The Proms began with a work that isn't heard

very often. This year Elgar's The Kingdom had centre stage for the

First Night of the Proms. Mark, you have won an award for your recording

of The Kingdom with the Halle, is it the right work to kick off the

season, in your opinion? Well, it's a great work. I think it's one of

his greatest pieces. It's not as celebratory. It's not as full of

fanfares and huge climaxes, as the First Night of the Proms is normally

associated it. It 's a mediative work. It needs to be in touch with

its spirtality. Let us see a clip of The Kingdom as con ducked by Sir

Andrew Davis -- conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Corus and the BBC BBC National Chorus of

Wales. Eric, it's an epic work, 400 performers were on the stage at

Royal Albert Hall, does it fill the hall for you? We talked about it

being the perfect piece for the Royal Albert Hall. The if I may say,

as an American it seems quintessentially British. The size

and scope of it seems to fit the hall perfectly. Also, there is a

tenderness and intimacy to it that, for forces that size is unusual, and

compelling, see ductive. The Kingdom is part of a planned trilogy which

including the apostles. Would it be wrong to call this Elgar's Ring

Cycle? Yes, it would. I won't then? The Ring is a heroic story over so

many different layers of the earth and the heavens and underneath the

earth. The whole conception of the apoll else -- apostles. It was

deeply personnel. It involves him in questioning his faith as well. And

all that one finds in his music, all the insecurity, as well as the great

broad sweeping melodies, of which there are many in The Kingdom. By

the time he got To The K Kingdom he was struggling with his own a

soldism. To give birth to this work must have been difficult. Very hard

indeed much he put off writing it as long as he Co my experience is, one

should not think too much about what a composer went through to produce a

work. Not worry, as you turn to the work, knowing about the pain that it

needed to bring it to life. Just to read the score and to enjoy the

music. And, to try and syc yourself into the spiritualality, it's deeply

spiritual. Imogen, is it your cup of tea? The Ied yum is difficult for

me. My formative musical years were outside this country. So really a

lot of Elgar's musical language is not a particularly natural one for

me. The are amongic world, the orchestration, it's very

distinctive. If you turn on the radio and there's a piece of music

you know instantly if it's Elgar. I also was brought up as a Catholic.

It was extremely important to me. That was quite a few years ago. The

whole language to me now is a little bit difficult to understand. A

little bit... It's probably my failing. It's a little bit alien. As

Mark Wrightly says, one shouldn't look at the institutionalised side

but see more the spirtality behind it. That is no doubt the pull for

many people of of this work. Is those who watched that piece of

music going out there was a great response. Lots of tweets, which were

positive. One which I think you might agree with a little, Imogen.

One said, "I don't get the BBC Proms, the songs have no rhythming

in them. The bloke is basically singing the Bible." Make of that

what you will? Is that terribly disrespectful? Well, there's more

than that in the experience, if you dig a little deeper. I think it's

moving music. I think it's thrilling. It's influenced by

Wagner. You could say, it's English Wagner, music after The Ring was

contigencied by having that are -- tinged by Wagner. The full

performance of Elgar's The Kingdom along with other pieces being

reviewed tonight can be found in the Proms Extra Collection on the BBC

iPlayer. Now it's time for David Owen Norris and his Chord of the

Week. His chord this week is from The Kingdom.

Well there is our Chord of the Week. It's an unexpectedly jazzy one, for

a sacred work. You would think it would be more at home, oh... But

there it is. The how has Elgar come up with that chord? Back in Tudor

times, they liked to follow this note that falls, with this note that

rises. They sound a bit odd one after another. They call them "false

relations." An ending that used those false relations, was so

popular in England that it was called the "English cadence." It

comes out of those old music scales that we call the "church modes."

What Elgar has done, instead of putting his false relations politely

in two is separate chords. He stuck them both at once in one and the

same chord. So he's created a sort of moody blues chord that drags the

English cadence kicking and screaming into the 20th Century.

It's an extension of an ancient musical language everyone can

understand. Elgar has choosen to do it at the very moment in his

oratorio where the Holy Spirit has given the apollels a gift of

tongues. An extension of human language that everyone can

understand. You can imagine Elgar in a jazz club, cigar and a cocktail.

Then our Chord of the Week would finish that off very nicely. Yeah!

Absolutely brilliant. David Owen Norris is back next week with

another chord. We have lots more still to come on Proms Extra

including a performance by pianist, Haochen Zhang who played with the

China Philharmonic Orchestra. We will have an interview with Jessye

Norman too. The now to an orchestra and their departing principal

conductor who bought the house down. After 19 years with the Tonhalle

orchestra Zurich the American conductor, David Zinman, brought

this very successful partnership to a rousing close last week at the

Albert Hall. Beethoven and the country side, it doesn't get much

better? It doesn't Better. It's premier was one of the most famous

classical concerts in the history of classical music. Four hour long

concert. Not only was the sixth premier done the fifth was premiered

just following. The entire choral fantasy. The musicians were under

rehearsed. The audience was freezing. Beethoven soldiered on.

Which in my mind I will always think of Beethoven in that moment. Sort of

- he has so much to say, isn't that concerned with whether or not

everyone is comfortable hearing all of that. It takes you on a long walk

with him. I feel, by the end, you feel like you have spent some time

with the man himself. Let us hear just a bit of the pastoral symphony.

Conducted by David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

First performed in the Proms in 1895, that was Beethoven's Pastoral.

The countryside never sounded so good.

We'll talk more about David and the orchestra shortly,

but first the music. The challenge is that everyone knows

the Pastoral sympathy so well. How do you approach that? -- the

Pastoral Symphony. You have to imagine how it sounded at its first

performance. How extraordinary it would have seemed. The depiction of

birds and all of that would have been a huge surprise. And there is

such transparency of orchestration and such originality and tenderness

and love about it. You just have a smile on your face all the time. You

have to look again at the score and ask why he wrote this phrase rather

than that phrase. And then untrammelled, you just have to push

it out there from the depths of your heart. That is the only way. Trust

your instinct and have faith in your own musical response. Do not for a

moment think it has ever been heard before. I often say to my orchestra,

played this is if you have never heard it before. It does make a

difference if you can make everyone think afresh and have fresh energy

and concentration. The instincts come through and this is a wonderful

example. And you also approach it with a smile on your face? When it

is good! But the decision is the sound that you want from the music.

Every conductor has a different view. That is what has changed in

the past 30 years. Because of the period instrument movement. And I

have found that useful. To hear swifter strings, it all sounds more

raw and more shocking. And even with a modern-day orchestra you can bring

that in and ring your knowledge to bear. It is completely different to

be more comfortable sounds we were brought up with. I think it leaps

off the page, the later at night it is. Like at midnight. When I open a

score of music especially as edgy as Beethoven is, as thrusting and

aspirational. When it is quite outside and dark, it leaps off the

page. There is something so greasy about it. And so contrary to the way

I was brought up to hear the music. but first the music.

From Beethoven to Dvorak ? the Violin Concerto in A minor,

from the same Prom. Let's take a look at it

as performed by Julia Fischer. Julia Fischer there. And she earned

some great press reviews. We can talk about her performance, one of

the many great sellers we are going to be discussing this season. What

is it like to be a soloist at the Proms. It is wonderful. As a

violinist you can look out at the audience. For me I look only at one

corner of the hall! Julia is also an extraordinary pianist. I think that

she has done concepts where she has played the violin concerto and then

a piano Concerto in the second half. How many people can do that? I do

not know. She is a phenomenal player. Very classical and cool. She

is just completely on top of everything she does. And not thrown

at all by the occasion. She is beautifully inspired by it. And

working with this wonderful orchestra with David Zinman. I know

you followed him with Rochester. A wonderful partnership. It has been

so successful. And he has been one of the music directors who has

stayed. That is a wonderful part of working with an orchestra,

developing that relationship that goes on over a number of years. They

are a marvellous performing orchestra. There is an energy. And

it is related to that remarkable haul. It is not large but large

enough for all the music they played fabulously well. And it has a

marvellous atmosphere between the public and the players. I enjoyed my

work with them enormously. Will it be a wrench for David? Is it hard to

leave an orchestra behind? Incredibly hard. If you have had

good music-making that rings with it a certain personal contact. There's

so much more than just conducting concerts. It is thinking about the

long view, about how an orchestra should develop. Thinking about the

relationship with the public and being part of the community. David

is brilliant at all that. If you go to the BBC iplayer you can

find this concerto and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony complete

in the Proms Extra Collection. It's like your Christmas

gifts have arrived early. Speaking of gifts,

just a few days ago Proms Extra met an operatic singer who has sung

for Royalty and for presidents. Her voice has been described

as ?opulent' and ?rich'. But that doesn't do her justice.

She is, simply put, a living legend. Jessye Norman has worked with all

of the classical greats, including Sir Mark Elder and

Imogen Cooper, and she was in London to promote her autobiography.

She dropped by the Royal Albert Hall to talk to us about her love

of the Proms and to explain what it really means to be a Diva.

In America we have roller skaters who are called diva. It is anyone

who excels at something and is a bit difficult in doing so. They are

meant to be called a diva. Then if someone wants to say a

person is a diva because they show up at rehearsals prepared or on

time, or they are interested in the rehearsal rather than a run-through,

that is meant to be the behaviour of a diva. Guilty!

The first time I ever sang in London was at the Royal Albert Hall. And

the last night of the Proms. I had no idea of course, I did not know it

was so special. And very different from the way that concerts normally

happen in London. I thought when I saw thousands of people standing and

everyone seemed to be in such a good mood, I said they really understand

how to do concerts in London! The rest of the world should take note!

It is an amazing space. Some of them are really quite mad, they held up

signs so that you can see. I am interested in many different

things. And within classical, many different composers. I'm just as

interested in Duke Ellington as Mozart. George Gershwin, I love his

music. To me these are all wonderful composers. So I choose to sing them.

I love to be able to see the audience and their reaction and the

joy that they show in being there. I have very often the feeling within

a performance that I would sometimes like to stop and say, do you realise

how much fun I am having? There have been many occasions when I wanted to

say, let us just do that again! What was she like to work with? She was

lovely. She knew just what she wanted. We were performing some

music by Strauss. I felt very privileged to be taking part. She

was courteous and warm. She knew exactly what she wanted and I tried

to comply as best I could. She can did not always keep to it exactly in

the Consett but that is entirely her prerogative. I hit a chord before a

high note and just wanted to sing into the ground, but afterwards she

was so gracious. And she's just so charismatic, to be near this

incredibly warm presence and this glorious voice. It is not something

I shall forget. And Mark, what was your experience? Daunting! We did

some things together at a memorial service. It is a pity that the word

diva has become so pejorative that we use it in assuming it is someone

who behaves badly. Because it does mean goddess. And in that sound, you

get closer to a goddess than most people. There is something

extraordinary and for her I imagine it must be difficult to always know

the way that the phrase is going to come out. In performances I found I

had to be ready for anything. Not that it was wilful in any way. With

some diva said can be! -- it can be. But with her it was inspiration. She

was the conduit through which this incredible sound was running out.

And Eric, what is it that makes her stand out as a singer? To me that is

the quintessential American boys, free, bold and confident and warm.

-- voice. It is funny her being a diva, it is understandable

absolutely. For singers they have an experience like no one else has to

deal with. Their body is the instrument and they have to stand up

with perhaps 70 people on stage they are competing with. You're

surrounded by sycophants or horrendous critics. Maybe it is

armour, but to make your way through the world with grace, you probably

develop a tough shell. Return to the plethora of international orchestras

performing at the Royal Albert Hall this season.

Last week the China Philharmonic made its debut concert appearance,

which featured two soloists: Haochen Zhang who'll be performing

on Proms Extra later, and the British trumpeter Alison Balsom who

performed a new concerto specially composed for Alison by Qigang Chen.

Just before its world premiere in early July, Alison flew out to

Beijing to face the creative challenge that lay before her, and

Proms Extra gave Alison a camera. I felt a bit dizzy that time! I'm

not sure that the last note has to be that long. Here I am at Heathrow

about -- about to get on a plane to Beijing. I feel really up for it now

because I packed with so much this morning. Here we are in Beijing. As

everyone who gets off the play, -- the plane, I feel exhausted. The

thing that scares me most about brand-new pieces is physically you

do not know how demanding it is going to be until you're actually in

the performance. It has taken me a few months to realise really what it

is. It is not writing I had ever come across before for the trumpet.

It is written more like a flute concerto. I think he has done

something really stretching what we think about the trumpet, which is

wonderful. Yeah, I know. And here and here. Everywhere. The whole

piece! The thing that is most interesting

to me, it's well-known Chinese melodies within this western

concerto. It's a really wonderful meeting of West and East. There are

a lot of very long, sustained notes which are killers. All instruments

are difficult in their own way. The trumpet has to be the most

physically painful. I feel, kind of, overwhelmed. My head is full of the

things I have to go back to the hotel and practice. It feels so

different with the orchestra. I hope that he's happy. This is his dream,

to realise this piece. I've come back from dinner, the night before

the concert here. And, Qigang Chen... Let us do that again. And

Qigang Chen came to me with the score saying things he wanted to

change and cut. So now, 12.30, just after midnight, I'm getting the

trumpet out to practice the piece, just before the concert. I've just

woken up. I've had a text message from the composer's publisher saying

he has changed it again! It's fine for him to change it. Is

undermining. I'm feeling nervous that he's not happy. It's a worry.

It's about 10 minutes before I go on stage. I heard yesterday, through

the translator, that the composer wants to reinvent the trumpet also.

I was unnerved by that. Now I have to put everything out of my mind and

just play. So, wish me luck! APPLAUSE

Talk about suffering for your art. Alison Balsom there in China. I

mean, to all of you this question - was that an extreme example of

working on a new piece? Imogen, you have worked on new commissions

yourself? I have. My most unbelievable experience, I

co-commissioned a piece from Thomas Addis when I got the the score I

looked at it I thought, I'm done, I'm finished, done for. It was a 12

minute piece. It took me one month to read through it. It was

incredibly hard. I have a soloist, conductor and composer I don't want

any fight. Who is the most responsible for the delivery of that

work? The conductor. The soloist. The question is, who is responsible

for delivery? Once the composer has finished the work, and hands it over

to the recreators, as opposed to the creators. It's vital, I'm sure that

Eric understands this, he hands over a certain responsibility and

creativity in order that we may create it, recreate it for you. No

question. Without the fantasy of the performers, the piece will stay on

the page. Yes. To be allowed to run with the piece, and to (inaudible)

the composer is one of the most thrilling things. What is not

thrilling is to feel every time you do a phrase the composer is going

"oh" behind you. How do you handle it when they do? Is Tell them not to

turn up. Do you? I say, let me do the first two or three rehearsals

and explain what it is to the players. When something is going,

please come and tell us how we are doing. We are all different. Some

temper meant get twitchy. They get nervous. It's not right. Of course I

know it's not right. It's the first rehearsal. I'm doing it slower. It's

hard. Go away. Come back after lunch. . The from personal

experience, as a composer, what it feels like is that you have written

the most intimate secrets about yourself. Things you don't tell

anybody. You are handing it to another person saying - please shout

this as much as you can to everybody. They talk about intimate

details much you go, that's nothing like... We are not the best judges

ever how to build a piece of music. We want to micro-manage from the

beginning. Tell me about it! Let us have a sneak preview of how Alison

got on. She performed that piece here at the Prom.

A tour deforce from Alison Balsom. Can you watch the whole concert

tomorrow on BBC Four. I'm delighted to welcome another star soloist from

that Prom, Haochen Zhang who with gave a monumental performance of

Liszt's piano concerto. How was it in the hall for you I've never been

to the Albert Hall before. It's like a legendary venue for all the

musicians. Having watched what the hall looked like both inside and

outside through media, DVD's, TV, YouTube I find it a really special

experience. Everyone says the Proms audience are a particularly good

audience. You have had experience of audiences all over the world. How do

they compare to your audiences in China. I know you get treated like a

rock star? The marketing in China has, for classical music, has been

growing incredibly fast. You see all kinds of concert halls. All kinds of

new fancy venues opening up. And, some of the actually the highest

paid orchestras in China are now in the smaller cities. It's really an

incredible pace for classical music in China. What do you think is going

on in China with classical music? Why is it becoming such a fashion,

if you like now, with the young people particularly? Well, I think

the first thing is, it's a new thing still in China, not like in the West

it's already a a tradition. In a way, it's, sort of, like a luxury

trend, same thing for how they follow with all these luxury brands

now in China. That's one thing. The second is the fact it's part of the

Chinese culture. East Asian culture in general

Chinese culture. East Asian culture knowledge. They really want to

learn, especially for young people. Also, for the parents, they also

wants their kids to get educated. They really value the future of

their children. So what's phenomenonal is that in the West you

see most people sitting in the audience or middle age or above, you

see after CD signing shows, a lot of them are old people. In China, you

see all these college students wearing glasses, waiting to sign and

to get signed. It's really phenomenonal. Did you study just in

China yourself? No, I was born and raised in Shanghai until 11. I went

to another city, which is a big city, for about four years. I went

to the States since I was 15 and stayed in Philadelphia until now. I

have been going back regularly to Mark, you China. Work a lot in

China. Is it an exciting place to perform? I do. I have been three

times. Once to conduct the China Philharmonic. I met Long Yu. The the

energy that man has to help classical music in China is

extraordinary, isn't it? Yeah. He has this incredible charisma. He has

done so much for music in your country, hasn't he? Yeah. He fights

for it, doesn't he? He has two orchestras Three. The China fo fo --

the China fo fo and two others. I enjoyed working with the players.

Fascinating to see how the generations were building up an

awareness in the qualities in the orchestra. Everyone was so It must

smiley. Be nice when you are standing on the podium in front of a

new band. It is, yeah. Thank you for talking to us before we hear you

perform. You need to get ready to play the show out. Here is a sneak

preview of the Liszt, which you will be able to see in tomorrow night's

concert. Haochen Zhang performing with the

China Philharmonic Orchestra, watch out for a couple of special encores

in that programme. Before we go, there is no end of Proms action this

week with something for everyone, including the teenies with the

CBeebies prom. If you are wondering how to experience the Proms

yourself, do remember that all the Proms are broadcast live on Radio 3.

You can watch concerts on BBC Four on Thursday, Friday and Sunday

evenings. You can find this episode and the featured works in the Proms

Extra Collection on the BBC iPlayer. Of course, there is the BBC Proms

website to satisfy all your classical needs that is

bbc.co.uk/proms. That is it for this evening. I will be back next week

with Proms Extra favourites Daniel Hope, Stephen Hough and a

performance by the Heath Quartet. Many thanks to o my guests tonight,

Imogen Cooper, Eric Whitacre, Sir Mark Elder and to the pianist

Haochen Zhang who will now close the show with the music by the

Argentinan composer, Ginastera. Goodbye.

MUSIC: "Changing" by Sigma feat. Paloma Faith