The 2010 Proms season was unveiled earlier today, together with a new TV host, Katie Derham, pictured above awaiting urgent hair and makeup assistance.
Highlights are concentrated in the first three days. Pickings are slim later on in the season, though overall there are still plenty of must-sees, including a singing Simon Russell Beale.
Firsts this year are a free Prom on 5 September, and a repeated programme - a Dr Who Prom on both 24 and 25 September.
The 'two last nights' widely leaked turn out to be a bit of a misnomer. There's only one last night, the regular one, though the free Prom a week before on 5 September replicates the 1910 last night programme.
One of the biggest disappointments is, as ever, the limited amount of new and recent music. Although there are a fair number of new commissions, they're all relatively short, and peppered through the regular schedule like brussels sprouts in a fish-finger supper. A highlight for me will be a chance to hear again Luke Bedford's brilliant and unmissable Or voit tout en aventure on 6 August.
Mahler and Australians seem to be major themes - the former an obvious choice, the latter a little harder to understand.
Here are some of the most appealing morsels:
16 July - Jiri Bělohlávek and the BBCSO open the season with Mahler 8. The soloists to look out for are Stephanie Blythe, Nikolai Schukoff and Hanno Müller-Brachmann. Not sure where they're going to stick the five choirs, but my guess is that side stalls seats could be limited for this one.
17 July - Welsh National Opera's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Bryn Terfel is the centre of an 'opera day'. There's an opportunity to sing extracts from the opera with members of the WNO in the morning, too.
18 July - The ROH's Simon Boccanegra gets a RAH airing, with Domingo, Poplavskaya, Calleja and the fabulous Ferruccio Furlanetto all present and correct.
24 and 25 July - A special Dr Who Prom gets two outings on consecutive days. Murray Gold, The Planets, Ride of the Valkyries....you know the drill.
25 July - Nothing but Strauss waltzes for Sir Charles Mackerras and the BBC Philharmonic. Perhaps they can slip in a Mahler symphony for the encore.
28 July - Oliver Knussen conducts the BBCSO in Stockhausen, Birtwistle, Luke Bedford (yay!), Colin Matthews and, er, Schumann. In a season disappointingly short on contemporary music, this is one of the best of the bunch.
31 July - A Stephen Sondheim evening includes Bryn Terfel, Maria Friedman, and - a Proms debut? - Simon Russell Beale.
1 August - Wayne Marshall plays an hour of Wagner on the mighty-organ in the afternoon. Later on there's Act 2 of Tristan from Simon Rattle and the OAE, with Violeta Urmana and either Ben Heppner or, more likely given Heppner's recent health, some scanditenor fallback.
6 August - For the late-night Prom, George Benjamin conducts Claire Booth and the BCMG in a programme which includes his own work alongside Oliver Knussen, Hans Abrahamsen, and Luke Bedford's Or voit tout en aventure.
10 August - Ingo Metzmacher and the DSO Berlin with Schreker, Korngold and Mahler 7.
21 August - Simon Keenlyside sings Mahler's Rückert Lieder. (The reference to a concert performance of Fidelio on the BBC website is a hangover from last year - ignore it).
23 August - Nina Stemme sings Les nuits d'été with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
31 August - Hansel and Gretel from Glyndebourne, semi-staged. With Alice Coote.
1 September - The Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester with Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen featuring Christian Gerhaher.
3 September - Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic with Beethoven 4 and Mahler 1.
4 September - Rattle's back - this time with Karita Mattila. Wagner, Berg, Webern, Strauss and Schoenberg are on the menu.
5 September - A 3½ hour afternoon repeat of the 1910 Last Night programme, which includes works by Wagner, Beethoven and Dvorak, alongside rarities such Who Were The Yeomen of England? from Edward German's comic opera of 1902, Merrie England. Who indeed. This is a FREE Prom for which tickets will be available from 9 July.
11 September - Teh real Last Night includes Renee Fleming singing Strauss and Dvorak alongside the usual stuff.
The Cadogan Hall lunch time concerts include Mark Padmore, Toby Spence and Stile Antico amongst others.
*** UPDATE *** if you find the schedule on the BBC website as hard to read as I do, try this much more user-friendly listing on bachtrack.com.
Katie gets it together, and about time:
