Proms 2011

"The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival" is just that . . . and more for 2011 as, for the best part of two months spanning July and September, fans of seriously fabulous music are treated to a sonic cornucopia, from choral and chamber music to screen-inspired pieces and symphonic tours de force. Here, we get you in the mood with the globally prestigious event's signature pieces, "Jerusalem" and "Rule Britannia", before teeing up a series of 2011 last-night highlights, including the "Immolation Scene" from Wagner's Götterdämmerung, the last of the four operas in The Ring cycle, and the "Second Seduction Game" from Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin.

Liszt draws the Proms 2011 spotlight in Next Steps.

It's elbow-room only among the big-name composers here in our Proms 2011 Next Steps but, seeing as it's the 200th anniversary of the birth of Franz Liszt, we're obliged to point out a couple of highlights from the Hungarian virtuoso's first two piano concertos — the second movement of Piano Concerto No.1 in E Flat Major (which was composed over a 26-year period during the first half of the 19th Century, and was described by Bartok as "the first perfect realization of the cyclic sonata form"); and the gorgeous third section from No.2. Adding a contemporary touch to our mix is DJ Yoda, interpreting Gabriel Prokofiev on turntables.

A modern minimalist and a jazz legend supply several highlights among our Deep Cuts.

To capture the sheer variety of the 2011 Proms here in our Deep Cuts section is a tall order, sure enough, but we can hopefully offer a sense of the event's breadth, starting with Steve Reich's minimalist masterpiece, Music for 18 Musicians, which is based around a cycle of 11 chords, with each section aptly called a "pulse" — written in the mid-'70s, the work has lost none of its mesmerizing power. There's also something hypnotizing about jazz legend Stan Kenton's dark Elegy for Alto, which harnesses waves of sombre brass to terrific effect; and if you like the sound of a Hungarian folk opera, look no further than Zoltan Kodaly's Háry János

Two months, countless legendary composers, one incredible last night . . . and one definitive Essentials playlist dedicated to the great, the good and the sonically spectacular among the Proms 2011 programme. From Beethoven's Eroica to Britten's Spring Symphony, we've tried to capture the full thematic spread of this year's event, which has broadened to take in excellent movie pieces in the Stage and Screen category — including the Spaghetti Western Orchestra's take on Ennio Morricone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" theme — as well as a first-time fusion of comedy and classical music based around the talents of Australian stand-up/pianist, Tim Minchin ("Grew on Me"). Anniversary celebrations for Steve Reich and Franz Liszt, Mahler's last years, Nigel Kennedy doing Bach . . . it's all here, in one diverse Proms package.