Proms 2026 Swedish Chamber Orchestra: Beethoven and Baroque

Maverick clarinet virtuoso Martin Fröst – praised for his ‘unsurpassed musicianship’ by The New York Times – explores the evolution of dance in a wide-ranging programme that contrasts the courtly with the rustic and climaxes in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7: dance unleashed as never before. The courtly dances of Rameau and Handel give way to Bach’s contrapuntal invention and folk music’s instinctive pulse, transformed into something provocative and dynamic in works by contemporary Swedish composers Hans Ek and Jacob Mühlrad.

Martin Fröst © Mats Bäcker