The BBC has announced the extension of its Culture in Quarantine programming.
A new documentary celebrating cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his family will be included as part of Alan Yentob’s imagine… series on BBC One. It will be the first ‘remote access’ film in the series, with a camera and lighting rig installed remotely in the Kanneh-Masons’ home and video messaging used to record interviews. The programme will explore the family’s music-making during lockdown.
A new documentary about conductor Bernard Haitink will be broadcast on BBC Four, created by renowned documentary maker John Bridcut.
Another musical legend will be captured in a documentary this summer, with British composer Benjamin Britten the subject of a new documentary created in collaboration with the Aldeburgh Festival. The programme includes contributions from David Attenborough and Humphrey Burton, among others.
In June, the Royal Opera House will launch ‘Live from Covent Garden’, a series of three concerts, the first of which will be broadcast in full on BBC Radio 3. Highlights from all three concerts will be shown on BBC TV.
The first concert will take place at 7.30pm on 13 June and will feature works by Britten, Handel, Butterworth and Mark-Anthony Turnage, with guest artists including soprano Louise Alder and tenors Toby Spence and Gerald Finley.
A series of operas will be made available on BBC iPlayer from opera houses which have had to cancel their summer seasons due to lockdown and social distancing restrictions. Performances will include Glyndebourne’s The Barber of Seville, Garsington’s TheTurn of the Screw and The Marriage of Figaro and Opera North’s La traviata.
In light of the fact that this year’s Edinburgh International Festival cancellation, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast a summer of archive concerts from Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall.
Beethoven continues to play a central role in the BBC’s 2020 programming, with a four-part series on BBC Four and an audio-drama featuring Peter Capaldi playing Beethoven himself. As will be the case for the rest of the great composer’s 250th anniversary year, every second week of Composer of the Week will be dedicated to Beethoven.