Prom 44 – Belshazzar’s Feast

Part of the BBC Proms.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts a concert of sonic spectacle, bringing one of the great English oratorios together with an American orchestral classic. Walton’s choral masterpiece Belshazzar’s Feast gets the Proms treatment with a 300-strong choir and Canadian baritone Gerald Finley as soloist. More than 10 percussionists are needed to bring Varese’s Ameriques – a celebration of the modern city in sound – to life, while Charles Koechlin’s Jungle Book inspired Les bandar-log transports listeners to the primeval forest, where all the noise comes from the monkeys.