Gustavo Dudamel leads the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in an encore performance of the finale from Alberto Ginastera's Four Dances from Estancia, Op. 8a, at the BBC Proms in 2007.
Estancia, (Argentine Spanish: “Ranch”) orchestralsuite and one-act ballet by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera that, through its references to gaucho literature, rural folk dances, and urban concert music, evokes images of the diverse landscape of the composer’s homeland. The work premiered in 1943 in its four-movement orchestral form and in 1952 as a ballet.
The Estancia ballet, somewhat more than half an hour in length, tells the story of a city boy in love with a rancher’s daughter. At first, the love affair is one-sided, as the girl finds the boy spineless, at least in comparison with the intrepidgauchos. By the final scene, however, the hero has won the girl’s heart by outdancing the gauchos in a traditional contest on their own terrain.
The ballet was commissioned in 1941 by American dance impresario Lincoln Kirstein for the troupe American Ballet Caravan. The work was to have been choreographed by George Balanchine, but the dance company disbanded in 1942, before it was able to perform the piece. Estancia did not premiere as a ballet until after World War II. In the interim, Ginastera extracted four dances from the score—“Los trabajadores agricolas” (“The Land Workers”), “Danza del trigo” (“Wheat Dance”), “Los peones de hacienda” (“The Cattlemen”), and “Danza final (Malambo)”—for use as a concert suite. Estancia is most often heard in its orchestral version, and the concluding movement, inspired by the flamboyantmalambo dance of the Argentine gauchos, has become one of Ginastera’s most popular works.
Camille Saint-Saëns - Samson and Delilah "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" (Delilah)
Jamie Barton with the New York Choral Society and Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch. Recorded at the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall (New York, USA), on October 30, 2016.
Rule, Britannia! (excerpt) with Jamie Barton and rainbow flag (BBC Proms 2019)
Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs Elgar's Cello Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla at the BBC Proms on 22/08/19.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs Weinberg's Prelude No. 18 as an encore at BBC Proms 2019.
Pianist Stephen Hough performs Chopin's "Nocturne in E flat major" on Queen Victoria's piano as an encore at the BBC Proms 2019. Queen Victoria’s ‘Erard’ piano, loaned from the Royal Collection by Her Majesty the Queen, is heard for the first time outside Buckingham Palace at the BBC Proms. Stephen Hough and Alessandro Fisher join the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and conductor, Adám Fischer at the Royal Albert Hall. The Prom is a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the births of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique joins Chineke! to perform 'Rejoice greatly' from Messiah by Handel. Chineke! Orchestra is a British orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority black and minority ethnic (BME) musicians. The orchestra was founded by musician Chi-chi Nwanoku and their debut concert was in 2015 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Sharon Van Etten performs 'New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down' with the Heritage Orchestra under Jules Buckley. (Prom 35, BBC Proms 2018)
Dame Judi Dench sings "Send in the Clowns" from 'A Little Night Music' at the BBC Proms 2010, Sondheim's 80th Birthday Celebration.
Isn’t it rich? Are we a pair? Me here, at last, on the ground You in mid-air Send in the clowns
Isn’t it bliss? Don’t you approve? One who keeps tearing around One who can’t move Where are the clowns? Send in the clowns
Just when I’d stopped opening doors Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours Making my entrance again with my usual flair Sure of my lines No one is there Don’t you love farce? My fault, I fear I thought that you’d want what I want Sorry, my dear But where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns Quick, send in the clowns
What a surprise! Who could foresee? I’d come to feel about you What you felt about me Why only now, when I see That you’ve drifted away? What a surprise What a cliche
Isn’t it rich? Isn’t it queer? Losing my timing this late in my career And where are the clowns? Quick, send in the clowns