A Perfect Contradiction of Styles in Paloma Faith’s Proms Debut

Friday's Late Night Prom was a bold venture into crossover. On the left and centre of the stage was a fully loaded symphony orchestra (the Britten Sinfonia); on the right, a jazz big band (the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra); in front of them, virtuoso jazz guitarist Martin Taylor and his Spirit of Django ensemble; on the podium, conducting the whole lot, was Barker himself.

An informative evening on the history of Swing Music celebrating the 80th anniversary of Swing. British presenter and vocalist Clare Teal led the evening opened by the Guy Barker Big Band and the Winston Rollins Big Band mirroring each other's set up on stage complete with two pianos and two drum kits. 

Friday's Late Night Prom was a bold venture into crossover. On the left and centre of the stage was a fully loaded symphony orchestra (the Britten Sinfonia); on the right, a jazz big band (the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra); in front of them, virtuoso jazz guitarist Martin Taylor and his Spirit of Django ensemble; on the podium, conducting the whole lot, was Barker himself.

Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin deliver a lean, razor-sharp exploration of captivity and survival, balancing Beethoven’s and Brahms’ structural clarity against the devastating, high-fidelity distortion of Henze’s Ninth Symphony.

French clarinettist Raphaël Sévère unearths beauty in Nielsen's concerto and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta impress in two settings of Pan's antics at the French May Festival.

Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber survey composers from Beethoven to Berg in a varied and deeply moving recital.