BBC Proms 2017

The 2017 season of the BBC Proms has been announced. There's a pattern here, in which I initially think there's not all that much of interest, and then I find I have a long stream of browser tabs open.

So here are some highlights for me:

• Prom 5 - Sibelius, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich


• Prom 6 - more Sibelius and Shostakovich


• Prom 8 - John Williams


• Prom 29 - Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina (and this time, properly)


• Prom 33 - Sibelius and Grieg


• Prom 37 / Prom 38 - Rachmaninov


• Prom 41 - Shankar/Glass Passages


• Prom 42 / Prom 43 - Saint-Saëns and others


• Prom 45 - Mahler 2


• Prom 54 - Orchestra of La Scala


• Prom 60 - Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich


• Prom 63 - Taneyev, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich


• Prom 67 - an all-Mendelssohn programme


• Prom 68 - Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

It's noticeable that quite a few of these are repeats for me; I regard that as an indication that the repertoire isn't as broad as I'd like more than that I am just set in my ways.

And here are some others that are worth pointing out, though probably not my cup of tea, or just for snippets to catch on the radio or iPlayer: probably giving Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique a miss again, due to its proximity to other concerts, and the dreaded words "BBC co-commission"; also by Berlioz, The Damnation of Faust; Monteverdi's Vespers; Handel's Israel in Egypt; showtune time - two performances of Oklahoma!; Schoenberg's Gurrelieder with Simon Rattle; Bach's St John Passion; Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito; Proms in Hull, Southwark Cathedral, Peckham Car Park, and Wilton's Music Hall; and Stravinsky's take on the Song of the Volga Boatmen.