Proms 2020: How to watch archive and live performances on the BBC

The 2020 BBC Proms are already underway, with a mix of archive and live performances delivered to audiences watching from home.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Proms, which is being celebrated with performances from some of the world’s greatest classical musicians.

Over eight weeks, the BBC are making complete archive concerts available live on BBC Radio3, and on demand on BBC Sounds. Archive concerts will also be available on BBC4 and BBC iPlayer.

In the final two weeks of the event (from Friday 28 August), the Royal Albert Hall will have a number of performances streamed live directly to iPlayer and on BBC4, Radio3 and BBC Sounds.

David Pickard, Director BBC Proms, said: “These are extraordinary times for our nation and the rest of the world, but they show that we need music and the creative industries more than ever.

“This year it is not going to be the Proms as we know them, but the Proms as we need them. We will provide a stimulating and enriching musical summer for both loyal Proms audiences and people discovering the riches we have to offer for the first time.”

The Proms launched with a unique opening weekend performed by all of the BBC orchestras and singers, comprising more than 350 musicians.

The Grand Virtual Orchestra marked the 250th anniversary year of Beethoven’s birth with a new mashup of his 9 Symphonies, which was created by Iain Farrington.

The TV schedule

Sunday 16 August

7pm, BBC Four: Martha Argerich with the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim (2016). Jörg Widmann: Con brio; Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1; Wagner: Tannhäuser & The Mastersingers – Overtures; Wagner: Götterdämmerung – Excerpts

Friday 21 August

11.55pm, BBC Four: Angélique Kidjo - late-night tribute to salsa legend Celia Cruz, hosted by Clara Amfo (2019)

Sunday 23 August

BBC Four: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela/Gustavo Dudamel (2017). Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10; Bernstein: West Side Story – Symphonic Dances; Moncayo: Huapango; Márquez: Danzón No. 2 (Proms premiere); Ginastera: Alma Llanera; Bernstein: West Side Story – Mambo; Ginastera: Estancia – Suite No. 4 Danza final: Malambo

Friday 28 August

BBC Two: Sakari Oramo & The BBC Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven: ”Eroica” Symphony; Hannah Kendall: Tuxedo: Vasco de Gama; Eric Whitacre: Sleep; Copland: Quiet City

Saturday 29 August

BBC iPlayer: Jonathan Scott: Organ arrangements of symphonic classics including works by Rossini, Mascagni and Dukas, plus Saint-Saen’s “Organ” Symphony

Sunday 30 August

BBC Four: Sir Simon Rattle conducts London Symphony Orchestra in programme which includes Vaughan William’s Symphony No5

Monday 31 August

BBC iPlayer: Tribute to Viennese operetta, marking the 150th anniversary of Franz Lehar’s birth

Tuesday 1 September

BBC iPlayer: Contemporary music from the London Sinfonietta

Wednesday 2 September

BBC iPlayer: Omer Meir Wellber & BBC Philharmonic: Haydn: philemon und Baucis – overture; Symphony No80; Aziza Sadikova: Marionettes; Britten: Nocturne

Thursday 3 September

BBC Four: Nicola Benedetti, Alina Ibragimova and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment: showcase of Baroque concertos with works by Vivaldi, Handel and Bach

Friday 4 September

BBC Four: Sitarist Anoushka Shankar and electronic music composer Gold Panda alongside the strings of the Britten Sinfonia

Saturday 5 September

BBC iPlayer: Stephen Hough with Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC SSO: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No2

Sunday 6 September

BBC Four: Laura Marling and the 12 Ensemble perform works from her own back catelogue

Monday 7 September

BBC iPlayer: Live performance from Royal Albert Hall on BBC Four

Tuesday 8 September

BBC iPlayer: Ryan Bancroft and BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Works by John Adams, Barber and Copland; Martinu: Jazz Suite; Gavin Higgins: new work

Wednesday 9 September

BBC iPlayer: Esa-Pekka Salonen the Philharmonia Orchestra, featuring pianist Benjamin Grosvenor: Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin; Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No1; Mozart: Symphony No45, “Jupiter”

Thursday 10 September

BBC Four: The Aurora Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Symphony No7 from memory. Also – Richard Ayres: No52; with introductions from Tom Service and Nicholas Colon

Friday 11 September

BBC Four: Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Isata Kanneh-Mason: works by Beethoven, Barber, Bridge and Rachmaninov

Stax Records – 50 years of Soul. Jools Holland tribute to pioneering record label

Saturday 12 September

BBC One: The Last Night of the Proms, with soprano Golda Schultz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductor Dalia Stasevska

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