BBC Proms 2007

Alternative title: Prom 61
Synopsis: This live transmission from the 2007 Proms, presented by Verity Sharp, features Oliver Knussen’s 7-minute sequence Ophelia Dances which evokes Ophelia’s perturbation at her rejection by Hamlet, her subsequent descent into madness and her suicide by drowning. The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group is conducted by Oliver Knussen.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Transmission details: 29 Aug 2007 at 22:00 (Channel: BBC Radio 3)
Duration: 90 mins

Notes: Relayed live from the Royal Albert Hall in London.
General: Ophelia Dances, Book 1 premiered in Alice Tully Hall, New York, in May 1975. In 1979 Knussen revised the score for a BBC performance in January 1980.
History: Broadcast as part of the 2007 Proms season theme ‘Shakespeare and Music’.
Reviews: Bayan Northcott, ‘Proms by Composer’ programme note, http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/aboutmusic/p61_knussen_ophelia.shtml (accessed 23/10/2007).

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