Today’s pick from the Richard Itter archive? A slice of horn-playing heaven. 📯 Dennis Brain — the legendary British horn player — in Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.2, recorded live in 1953 and captured at home by Richard Itter.

Ever wished you could hear iconic live BBC performances from the 1950s onwards? Thanks to Richard Itter — music lover, reel-to-reel tape enthusiast, and founder of Lyrita — now you can. From the early 1950s through to the 1990s, he privately recorded over 1,500 BBC broadcasts at home...

Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s 5th Symphony is often assumed to be a work deeply influenced by the horrors of the First World War in Europe, though Nielsen tentatively denied this.

It's rare that conductor & composer get to directly collaborate. But, in the case of conductor Jascha Horenstein & composer Carl Nielsen, the renowned artists knew each other well & worked together to bring Nielsen's compositions to life. Here, Horenstein recounts his memories of Nielsen's charm.

Two landmark symphonies. One conductor who knew them both. Shostakovich’s explosive First. Nielsen’s radical Fifth. Both conducted by Jascha Horenstein in live BBC broadcasts — out today on ICA Classics. Horenstein met Shostakovich in the 1930s and performed his music throughout his life.

What were you doing at 18? Shostakovich was writing a symphony that would launch his career. Conducted by the so-called "wandering minstrel" Jascha Horenstein, you can read Audiophile Audition's review of our new release, featuring works by Shostakovich & Nielsen - out 20th June.

Vintage Prom – Day 55: A Viennese farewell It’s the Last Night of our Vintage Proms – the final post in our series! We’re wrapping things up with a nod to tradition and celebration: Franz Lehár’s Gold und Silber, as performed at the BBC Proms in the 1970s.

Vintage Prom – Day 54: Solti rehearses Strauss We’re nearly at the end of our Vintage Proms series — and today, we’re going behind the scenes.

Vintage Prom – Day 53: Munch conducts Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 Brahms once described his Second Symphony as “all blue sky, babbling streams, sunshine and cool green shade.” It’s the centrepiece of an upcoming Prom with Ilan Volkov and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Vintage Prom – Day 52: Svetlanov conducts Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony This season’s Proms features one of the ultimate Romantic symphonies — Rachmaninov’s 2nd. Lush, sweeping, & emotionally unguarded, it closes a concert that includes Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 & music by Lili Boulanger.

Vintage Prom – Day 51: Munch conducts Mozart’s ‘Prague’ Symphony Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, the grand, spacious ‘Prague’, features in the Proms as part of the Vienna Philharmonic’s visit. A work full of operatic brilliance & bold invention, it was written for one of Mozart’s most devoted audiences.

Vintage Prom – Day 50: Steinberg conducts Bruckner’s Eighth As the Vienna Philharmonic prepares to perform Bruckner’s Ninth at the Proms — the composer’s soaring, unfinished farewell — we turn today to another towering late work: Symphony No. 8.

Vintage Prom – Day 49: Cziffra plays Grieg Grieg’s Piano Concerto has it all — sweeping romanticism, poetic melodies, and moments of thunder. It’s the perfect Proms debut for rising star Lukas Sternath. For today’s vintage post, we turn to a 1959 live performance from one of the most mercurial...

Vintage Prom – Day 47: Svetlanov conducts Stravinsky’s Firebird From shimmering stillness to a blaze of colour, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1945) remains one of the most thrilling concert closers. At the Proms this year, it rounds off a programme that spans cabaret, jazz, opera, & modernism...

Vintage Prom – Day 46: Sanderling conducts Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 This summer, the Chineke! Orchestra performs Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 under Sir Simon Rattle — a portrait of life, death, and survival under Stalin. Today’s vintage post features the same symphony in a historic 1973...

Vintage Prom – Day 45: Berglund conducts Sibelius’s Symphony No. 6 This summer’s Proms explore Sibelius’s vision of nature, myth, and music — with The Swan of Tuonela and The Tempest Suite conducted by Thomas Adès. Today’s vintage post turns to Sibelius’s Symphony No. 6, performed by the...

Vintage Prom – Day 44: Barshai conducts Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony This summer, Pekka Kuusisto and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra perform Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op. 110a — a powerful reflection on war, violence, and the role of the artist.

Vintage Prom – Day 43: Boult conducts Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 8 This summer, Sir Simon Rattle reunites with the London Symphony Orchestra’s wind, brass and percussion sections for a celebration of English folk music — from Vaughan Williams to Grainger.

Vintage Prom – Day 42: Géza Anda plays Tchaikovsky This summer, Khatia Buniatishvili takes on Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – a Proms debut packed with passion. Today’s vintage post features another firebrand at the keyboard...

Vintage Prom – Day 41: Giulini conducts Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro This year’s Figaro Prom arrives direct from Glyndebourne, with Riccardo Minasi, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and a top-tier cast including Louise Alder and Tommaso Barea.

Vintage Prom – Day 40: Berglund conducts Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony This year, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra returns to the Proms under Andris Nelsons, closing their programme with the sweeping drama of Sibelius’s Second Symphony – music that has become a symbol of Finnish identity and resistance.

Vintage Prom – Day 39: Pappano conducts Elgar’s In the South One of this year’s Proms Across the UK concerts closes with a blast of Mediterranean sunshine: Elgar’s In the South (Alassio) – a sweeping portrait of the Ligurian coast, full of warmth, rhythm, and unexpected drama.

Vintage Prom – Day 37: Tennstedt conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 This year’s Prom from @concertgborkest.bsky.social brings Mahler’s monumental 5th Symphony to the stage – a journey from darkness to blazing light, led by Klaus Mäkelä, making his 1st Proms appearance as Chief Conductor Designate.

This year’s @bristolbeacon.bsky.social  Prom ends with Mozart’s radiant Symphony No. 39 – the first in his glorious final trilogy. Today’s vintage post takes us back to 1985 and a masterful live performance from Sir Georg Solti and the @chicagosymphony.bsky.social Orchestra.

Sir András Schiff returns to the Proms this year with The Art of Fugue – a vast, unfinished cycle by the composer he calls "the greatest who ever lived." Today’s vintage post joins him in Bach territory, with a master interpreter of another kind.

Respighi’s brightly coloured reimagining of a Bach chorale opens tonight’s featured Prom, in a programme that journeys from Baroque organ loft to cinematic sorrow, via Joshua Bell’s performance of de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto. Tonight’s Vintage Prom picks up the Respighi thread & runs with it...

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony ends with music that’s instantly recognisable — the Ode to Joy. But the path to that final chorus is long, complex, and full of feeling. In 1953, conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler planned a performance in January — but he fell ill and had to stop part-way through.

Mussorgsky’s Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks — a brief burst of nerves and energy — was inspired by costume sketches for a children’s ballet. All oversized eggshells, flapping wings, and tiny feet.

This summer’s Proms explores Richard Strauss through Die Frau ohne Schatten — an opera of symbols, shadows, and human longing. Today’s Vintage Prom finds Strauss in sharper focus: Don Juan, recorded live by Sir Georg Solti and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at Covent Garden.

As A Mass of Life fills the Royal Albert Hall this summer, we turn to another side of Delius — quiet, observant, and deeply tied to nature. Today’s Vintage Prom features The March of Spring from North Country Sketches, recorded in the 1950s by Sir Thomas Beecham & the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

And now, a brief interlude in our Proms proceedings… Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1, movement II, performed live by Jascha Horenstein and the @royalphilorchestra.bsky.socialin 1970, is out now. It’s short. It’s sharp. It’s full of bite.

This summer, the @auroraorchestra.bsky.social performs Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony from memory — a bold approach to one of the 20th century’s most politically charged works. Today’s Vintage Prom takes us to Leopold Stokowski, conducting the @londonsymphony.bsky.social...

This summer, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 comes to the Proms — a defiant, devastating work that confronts silence, violence, and memory. Today’s Vintage Prom features a closely related piece: Symphony No. 14, recorded in 1971 by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Rudolf Barshai...

In 1968, Nadia Boulanger conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in her sister Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 130: Du fond de l’abîme. Written in the shadow of war and illness, it’s a vast, urgent cry — scored for full orchestra, chorus, soloists, organ, and brass.

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In 1966, Leonard Bernstein conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. The BBC filmed the performance at Fairfield Halls in Croydon for their Symphonic Twilight series — a groundbreaking project that brought full-length symphonic works into living rooms across the UK.

In 1960, Dimitri Mitropoulos conducted the Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, featuring Lucretia West as soloist. It was the final complete performance of his career — and the only known recording of him conducting this monumental work.

Wishing for a day at the beach? This one comes with a whole orchestra. In 1958, Charles Munch conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a luminous performance of La mer — full of shifting textures and natural flow.

The jolliest planet. The clearest baton. This is Jupiter, the most exuberant movement from Holst’s Planets, from a 1973 Proms performance by Sir Adrian Boult & BBC Symphony Orchestra. Boult gave the 1st performance of The Planets in 1918 under Holst’s guidance & returned to it throughout his life.

Not many recordings capture Cherkassky playing this. Fewer still sound this good. In 1970, Shura Cherkassky joined the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra & Zdeněk Mácal for a broadcast performance of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini — spontaneous, sparkling, and full of unexpected turns.

Two Proms. Two continents. One unforgettable symphony. This summer, Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal @liverpoolphil.bsky.social Orchestra bring Dvořák’s New World Symphony to the Proms — alongside music by Hailstork, Márquez and Higdon, in a celebration of American voices.

No score. No ego. Just pure Beethoven. This summer, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra take on Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony at the Proms — a piece Wagner once called “the apotheosis of the dance.” Our Vintage Prom picks up that same pulse with a legendary performance from 1970...

Elgar’s hidden theme 🔍 This summer, Nil Venditti and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales bring Elgar’s Enigma Variations to the Proms — the final chapter in a concert shaped by Britain’s landscapes and musical voices. Today’s Vintage Prom takes us back to 20 October 1979...

Mahler’s first masterpiece. Then and now, a Prom like no other. Das klagende Lied returns to the Proms in its rarely heard original three-part version — performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, Constanza Chorus, and BBC Singers...

Need a little sparkle this Saturday night? We’re heading back to the Proms of the 1970s for one of the most iconic soprano showpieces ever written — the Laughing Song from Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. Sung here by Sheila Armstrong, this live Proms performance features the Hallé Orchestra...

A tribute to tradition 🇬🇧 Later this summer, Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra perform Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia — a thrilling, layered work dedicated to Leonard Bernstein. Today’s Vintage Prom takes us back to April 1982...

Two breathtaking works. Two genius composers. This summer, Joshua Weilerstein and the BBC Philharmonic perform Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances at the Proms — bold, rhythmically charged, and full of haunted nostalgia. Today’s Vintage Prom pairs it with Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring...

This summer, Vadym Kholodenko brings Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 to the Proms — a Romantic masterwork of power and lyricism. Back in 1971, Proms audiences heard another iconic “Concerto No. 2” in a live performance by John Ogdon...

This 1957 live Eroica wasn't heard outside of Spain until 2012!  Later this summer, Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra bring Beethoven’s Eroica to the Proms — the symphony that shattered expectations and rewrote the rulebook.

Did you know Bruckner wrote his Seventh Symphony in memory of Wagner? The slow movement was composed between January and April 1883. Bruckner began it in anticipation of Wagner’s death, as the composer’s health declined.