Season 59 · Episode 1

BBC Proms: First Night of the Proms Part One

BBC1 kicks off this centrepiece of the classical calendar for the first time, as Promenaders don their finery for the start of the 111th season of Henry Wood concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Tonight's music is performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Roger Norrington, and begins on a maritime theme with Berlioz's exuberant The Corsair overture. Janine Jansen is the soloist in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, while Elgar's Overture: Cockaigne (in London Town), a colourful tour of the old capital, prefaces Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time, which airs on BBC2 from 8pm.