Prom 64

The Early Opera Company and its founder-conductor
celebrate the anniversaries of three composers, all
born in 1710: J. S. Bach’s sadly wayward eldest son,
Wilhelm Friedemann (see also Proms Chamber Music 4);
the tragically short-lived Giovanni Battista Pergolesi,
whose touchingly lyrical meditation on the sufferings
of Christ’s mother at the foot of the Cross has been
winning new audiences; and the London-born
Thomas Arne, once the leading British composer
of his day, now known largely for writing Rule,
Britannia!