John Adams conducts Nixon in China at BBC Proms

19 April 2012

Composer John Adams will conduct a semi-staged performance of his iconic masterpiece Nixon in China at this year's BBC Proms on 5 September. The opera also features soprano Kathleen Kim in the role of Madame Mao; Alan Oke, Gerald Finley and Robert Orth also star.

The high profile event is one of many featuring HarrisonParrott artists. On 13 August Susanna Mälkki conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra on in a programme of Prokofiev, Neuwirth and Bartók, also featuring viola player Lawrence Power. A week later, Osmo Vänskä makes a welcome return to the festival, conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a concert of Mozart, Delius and Nielsen on 20 August. Adams also appears earlier in the season, conducting the Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music in a programme including Respighi, Ravel and his own City Noir on 16 July.

Oliver Knussen also conducts the BBC Symphony in August, joining them for a typically inventive programme combining Goehr, Helen Grime and Debussy with Knussen's own Symphony No. 3. Recent RPS Award nominee Christian Tetzlaff appears with the St Louis Symphony and David Robertson to perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto on 4 September

The BBC Proms Chamber Concerts at Cadogan Hall sees both Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Igor Levit giving lunchtime recitals this year. Levit - a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist - performs Debussy's Violin and Cello Sonatas, and Ravel's Piano Trio with Jennifer Pike and Nicolas Altstaedt. A month later, Pierre-Laurent Aimard returns to the Proms for an all-Debussy recital on 3 September.

For full listings, click here to visit the BBC Proms website.