{"id":45858,"date":"2024-08-06T07:06:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T05:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/983f1bf0-f80c-4cd1-beea-1913c2f9f866"},"modified":"2024-08-06T07:07:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T05:07:14","slug":"today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular\/","title":{"rendered":"Today at the BBC Proms: Purcell’s ‘Restoration Spectacular!’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 06 August 2024 at 05:06 AM<\/p>

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Presenting your handy guide to the BBC Proms<\/a><\/strong> concert at the Royal Albert Hall<\/a><\/strong> today, Tuesday 6 August. It’s a ‘Restoration Spectacular’ from Henry Purcell.<\/p>

Hungry for more Proms? Then visit the BBC Music Magazine 2024 BBC Proms guide<\/a><\/strong> for the complete lowdown on all this year’s Proms concerts: repertoire, orchestras, soloists, times, ticket prices and more. We’ve listed all the 2024 Proms taking place both at the Albert Hall and at other UK venues. Nottingham, Gateshead and Bristol each host weekend festivals this year, while chamber music<\/a><\/strong> concerts are coming to Aberdeen, Belfast and Newport. Happy Promming!<\/p>

What’s on at the BBC Proms today?<\/h2>
Today’s Prom, Prom 24, features a performance of The Fairy Queen<\/em> by the great 17th-century English composer Henry Purcell<\/a><\/strong> (1659-95). A ‘semi-opera’, meaning that it combines spoken word sections with\u00a0 masque<\/strong><\/a>-like episodes that feature singing and dancing characters, The Fairy Queen <\/em>is one of Purcell’s best-loved works. This Proms performance will be semi-staged, and sung and spoken in English, with English surtitles.<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><p>It’s also one of the works known as a ‘Restoration Spectacular’, a specific type of theatre show dating from, you guessed it, the\u00a0Restoration of the English Monarchy under King Charles II in the late 17th-century. Essentially, Restoration Spectaculars were ambitious shows that required a large cast of performers, elaborate sets and, as a result, plenty of time and money. These shows also often featured additional attractions such as dance, acrobatics, trapdoors,\u00a0fireworks and more. <\/p><p>By the way, Purcell scored highly in our poll to find the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/best-british-composers\">greatest British composers of all time<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-fairy-queen-by-purcell-about\">What is <em>The Fairy Queen<\/em> by Purcell about?<\/h2><p>The libretto, or text, of <em>The Fairy Queen<\/em> is an adaptation of <em>A Midsummer Night’s Dream<\/em> by\u00a0William Shakespeare – one of many uses of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/classical-music-inspired-shakespeare\">Shakespeare in classical music and opera<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Purcell composed the work in 1692, at the age of 32, and just three years before his death in 1695. After his death, the score of <em>The Fairy Queen<\/em> was lost: it was only in the early 1900s that this great work was rediscovered.<\/p><p>So, is The Fairy Queen basically <em>A Midsummer Night’s Dream<\/em> set to music? Not quite. Instead, Purcell composed music for a series of brief masques which relate to the play on a metaphorical, rather than a literal level. <\/p><p>The work became popular again from the 1970s onwards, thanks to the growing interest in the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/baroque-music-guide\">Baroque<\/a><\/strong> era and the increasing popularity of the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-a-countertenor\">countertenor<\/a><\/strong>. Now, some of <em>The Fairy Queen<\/em>‘s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-aria\">arias<\/a><\/strong>, such as ‘The Plaint’ (‘O let me weep’) are popular recital pieces in their own right.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/why-the-early-music-revolution-of-the-1970s-was-truly-a-moment-to-savour\">Why the early music revolution of the 1970s was truly a moment to savour<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Plaint: \u201cO let me weep!\u201d - The Fairy Queen (Purcell)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UKllI549Id0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-who-is-performing-at-tonight-s-prom\">Who is performing at tonight’s Prom?<\/h2><p>The performers for Prom 24: Purcell’s <em>The Fairy Queen<\/em> include <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-soprano\">soprano<\/a><\/strong> Paulina Francisco and mezzo-sopranos Georgia Burashko, Rebecca Leggett, and Juliette Mey (pictured top). They are joined by tenors Rodrigo Carreto and Ilja Aksionov, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/best-baritones\">baritone<\/a><\/strong> Hugo Herman-Wilson, and bass-baritone Benjamin Schilperoort. Accompaniment comes from two French ensembles: Compagnie K\u00e4fig, and the venerable Les Arts Florissants.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/20-greatest-tenors-all-time\">The 20 greatest tenors of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/lucia-lucas\">How one transgender baritone changed the story of opera in America<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-today-s-bbc-prom-on-tv\">Is today’s BBC Prom on TV?<\/h2><p>Today’s Prom is not on TV. However, you will be able to listen to it (as ever with the BBC Proms) on BBC Radio 3.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-time-does-tonight-s-prom-start\">What time does tonight’s Prom start? <\/h2><p>Prom 24 starts at 7pm. <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-and-how-much-are-tickets-for-the-bbc-proms-today\">And how much are tickets for the BBC Proms today?<\/h2><p>Tickets for Prom 24 range from \u00a310 to \u00a344. Or, you can do as the famous\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-prommer\">Prommers<\/a><\/strong> do, and queue for the chance of a ticket for just \u00a38!<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Tuesday, 06 August 2024 at 05:06 AM Presenting your handy guide to the BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall today, Tuesday 6 August. It’s a ‘Restoration Spectacular’ from Henry Purcell. Hungry for more Proms? Then visit the BBC Music Magazine 2024 BBC Proms guide for the complete lowdown on all this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":45859,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/08\/today-at-the-bbc-proms-purcells-restoration-spectacular.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Tuesday, 06 August 2024 at 05:06 AM Presenting your handy guide to the BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall today, Tuesday 6 August. It’s a ‘Restoration Spectacular’ from Henry Purcell. Hungry for more Proms? Then visit the BBC Music Magazine 2024 BBC Proms guide for the complete lowdown on all this…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/45858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}