What's On / Proms by Day

Renowned Bach interpreter Simon Preston launches the Proms Bach Day, putting the Royal Albert Hall's recently restored Henry Willis organ through its paces.

John Eliot Gardiner, whose recordings of Bach have set new standards in interpretation, has said that 'if the St Matthew Passion begs comparison with some of Rembrandt's canvases, the St John is perhaps more like a Caravaggio: shafts of light in the gloom illuminating the key players in this most universal of stories'.

It's a work that focuses on Jesus the man, and his confrontation with Pontius Pilate, with a dramatic insight that makes one regret the absence of a Bach opera. Mark Padmore, a regular collaborator with Gardiner, sings the Evangelist and Peter Harvey takes the part of Jesus. And weaving together the story of the Passion is the magnificent Monteverdi Choir.

Chinese cellist Jian Wang takes the stage of the Royal Albert Hall for the first three of Bach's six solo suites, works of towering technical accomplishment as well as intellectual and spiritual nourishment.

Jiang Wang comments that 'Bach's music has a lot of qualities that appeal to the Chinese philosophy of life: to be humble, to wish but not desire, to love but not own. This is all in Chinese philosophy, and because I grew up with those values, these things are dear to me. When I listen to Bach's music, it confirms all of that.'