Bach – St John Passion

From the pastoral landscapes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 to the vibrant folk scenes of Strauss’s tone-poem and Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, tonight’s Prom takes a vivid journey across Central Europe. Celebrated Straussian David Zinman appears in his final concert as Chief Conductor of Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, stepping down after almost 20 years. Strauss appears at his playful, joyous best in the exploits of folk-hero/prankster Till Eulenspiegel, while Julia Fischer makes a welcome return to the Proms in the last of the great Romantic violin concertos – an inventive and idiosyncratic work previously too often neglected in favour of Mendelssohn or Bruch.