Category: Proms;
Radio
3; Factual
& Arts TV
Date: 05.07.2004
Printable version
The
Nation's Favourite Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 17 July 2004
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Broadcast live on Radio 3 and Â鶹Éç ONE on 18 July
at 10.15pm
Rossini's William Tell Overture has today been chosen as the nation's
favourite overture by thousands of voters.
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The poll, hosted by the Â鶹Éç Proms in conjunction with
Radio Times, was devised to give the public the chance to decide which
two works are to be performed at the Nation's Favourite Prom in the
Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 17 July.
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The runner-up in the poll was Mozart's The Marriage
of Figaro and both works are performed by the Hallé Orchestra,
under its Music Director Mark Elder.
The William Tell Overture is one of the nation's most recognised pieces
of classical music and is frequently used in film and TV, most notably
as the theme from the Sixties TV classic, The Lone Ranger.
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Premiering in Paris in 1829 and based on a work by Schiller,
Rossini's opera William Tell was the last opera written by the Italian
composer.
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It recounts the popular 14th-century legend of the Swiss
peasant Wihelm Tell who, according to folklore, bravely helped his country's
fight for political freedom and independence.
Mark Elder, Musical Director of the Hallé Orchestra, explains:
"Rossini's style is so original and direct.
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"William Tell is so much more than a traditional
operatic overture. The opening evokes the peace of the mountains just
before a dramatic thunderstorm.
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"The calm after the storm features a famous pastoral
melody on the English Horn, and the final 'gallop' demands great virtuosity
from the whole orchestra.
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"No wonder it is the nation's favourite!"
Nicholas Kenyon, Controller, Â鶹Éç Proms, says: "The Nation's Favourite
Prom was created to give our audiences the chance to hear the works
that have proved most popular in the classical repertory, and to give
them the opportunity to choose for themselves an item to be played.
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"This is a wonderful way of increasing our interaction
with the audience, using our website as well as phone and text messages,
and it's great that this Prom concert is broadcast to the widest possible
audience on Â鶹Éç ONE."
The Nation's Favourite Prom is the second event of the 2004 Proms season
which opens on 16 July.
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For tickets please contact:
Telephone booking: 0870 899 8001 (24 hours national rate, £2 transaction
fee applicable) and from the Royal Albert Hall on 020 7589 8212 (9.00am–9.00pm,
£2 transaction fee applicable) or online via bbc.co.uk/proms.
All concerts are broadcast live on Â鶹Éç Radio 3 and streamed live online
via bbc.co.uk/proms.
