Oh, this is much more than Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (1725), “interspersed with folk music improvisations”. World-renowned Finnish violinist and conductor Pekka Kuusisto has joined forces with Swedish folk musician Ale Carr, who rocks out on the cittern like it’s a steel guitar at a powerpop concert, using a hardcore strumming technique to find new syncopations that Vivaldi could never have dreamed of. Kuusisto’s violin is wildly modern, in some cases using it to make literal jokes, like playing passages too slowly, or out of tune, for lols.

This is not the first time the Proms has taken such an irreverent approach to Vivaldi’s classic. At a late night Prom in 2013, Nigel Kennedy went a step even further, using it as a springboard into Arabic music and jazz. Later in 2023, Prom 68 will see Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons again; this time in Max Richter’s version (2012), which warps and loops the original using digital effects. Yes, 2023 is the year of the make-your-own Vivaldi Prom. Kuusisto’s Prom also sold out weeks in advance; six thousand people can’t be wrong, right?

In the first half, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen delight with a beautifully observed period playing of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 (1800). Until, suddenly, halfway through, they stop playing, and start singing; with Kuusisto turning around on his conductor’s plinth to lead us in some fun audience participation.

The Prom opened with Tarrodi’s captivating Birds of Paradise II (2013), where two high, oscillating chords eventually give way to a cacophony of bird effects; Vivaldi does the same thing in The Four Seasons. Though it’s another question how Vivaldi would feel if he were in the audience watching this Prom.

Tickets for all 71 Proms are available from just £8 on the BBC Proms 2023 website.