About This Event
Mahler’s setting of the end of the second part of Goethe’s Faust in his Eighth Symphony is perhaps the most grandiloquent and cosmos-storming attempt to turn the metaphysical drama of Faust’s story into music. The Faust legend has held a vice-like grip over the imaginations of composers and musicians ever since the early 19th century. From Beethoven to Lili Boulanger, from Schumann to Schnittke, from Berlioz to the blues of Robert Johnson, versions of the tale of the genius who sells their soul to the devil have inspired some of the most diabolically entrancing music ever written. The Listening Service goes in search of the Mefistofeles inside every great musician at the Proms. Beware of the brimstone!
Edited version broadcast on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3 later this evening
Tickets available from Â鶹ԼÅÄ Studio Audiences: bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows
Doors open from 30 minutes before the event begins; capacity is limited.