BBC Proms 99

Synopsis

From London's Royal Albert Hall, Stephanie Hughes introduces music from this year's live Proms, with Bernard Haitink, music director of London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, taking the baton in front of the European Union Youth Orchestra. The evening involves a rendition of a single work, Mahler's challenging Symphony No 7, described as a poetic idea of nocturnal nature explored through various shades of darkness. Composed soon after the turn of the last century and scored for a massive orchestra, it is widely considered to be one of Mahler's masterpieces.