The BBC Proms opens this time next week - July 30 - with a packed six-week schedule of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, as well as chamber concerts in Cadogan Hall and broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, online and on television. Editor Martin Cullingford met with the Proms' Director David Pickard to talk about some of the themes and highlights, and about the challenges of planning and staging a season in a time of Covid. 

Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall, where having streamed more than 300 concerts over the past year, the venue's doors are once again open. See concert listings beneath the player below, and find out more at Wigmore Hall's website.

You can listen to the Podcast below. To hear other Gramophone podcasts, or to subscribe for free to new editions, search for 'Gramophone' in your Podcast application of choice, or visit Gramophone's page on Apple Music podcasts.

Wigmore Hall concerts in the coming week - for full programme details visit Wigmore Hall's website

Saturday July 24, 1pm
Maria Włoszczowska violin; Katya Apekisheva piano
Franck, Janácek and Ysaÿe

Sunday July 25, 3pm
Ben Johnson tenor; Martin James Bartlett piano
Britten, Chopin, Fauré and more

Sunday July 25, 7.30pm
Leslie Howard piano
Liszt and Schubert

Monday July 26, 7.30pm
Daniel Pioro violin; Katherine Tinker piano
Bach, Biber, Cassandra Miller and more

Tuesday July 27, 7.30pm
Riot Ensemble
Carmen Ho, Caroline Shaw, Harvey and more

Wednesday July 28, 1pm (Online)
2021/22 Season Launch
Beethoven

Wednesday July 28, 7.30pm
James Newby baritone; Simon Lepper piano
Brahms, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Clarke and more

Thursday July 29, 1pm
Ronan O'Hora piano
Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert

Thursday July 29, 7.30pm
Wigmore Soloists
Bartók, Dohnányi and Reinecke

Friday July 30, 1pm
Samson Tsoy piano
Bach and Musorgsky

Friday July 30, 7.30pm
Alessandro Fisher tenor; Anna Tilbrook piano
A Gardener’s World