Julius Eastman composing c1969 [Donald W Burkhardt]

JULIUS Eastman (1940-1990) was a composer destined for outlier status. Gay, black, drug-dependent, troubled, he met an early death and almost vanished into obscurity. But genius will out. He had it in abundance. And a mark of growing recognition is that his 2nd Symphony plays at the Proms on August 24.

It’s a piece that no one knew about until quite recently because he gave the manuscript to an ex-lover who, it seems, found the subject matter too personal for public airing. As the symphony describes how their relationship disintegrated, you can maybe understand why it got buried on a back shelf.

By accident or design, the concert also features Mahler’s Ruckert-Lieder sung by the exuberantly out-and-proud mezzo Jamie Barton, famous for unfurling a rainbow flag at the last night of the Proms in 2019. With a voice as big as her personality, you won’t have trouble hearing her.

• The Prom on August 23 has the Israeli Lahav Shani not only conducting his own Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra but playing the piano at the same time in Prokofiev’s 3rd Concerto: a circus feat I’ve never before witnessed. August 28 brings the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Jakub Hrusa, the conductor soon to take charge at the Royal Opera House, with Janacek’s spectacular Glagolitic Mass. And given that this year is a major anniversary for Gustav Holst, the inevitable happens on August 25 with a performance of his Planets Suite – done here by students from the Royal College of Music in London and Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Never say that classical music doesn’t draw the world closer together.

But the most ambitious event of the Proms week is a semi-staging, August 29, of the new Carmen premiered this summer at Glyndebourne. That the conductor is a woman, Anja Bihlmaier, may give a certain edge to this opera about female empowerment (depending on how you read it). And the Canadian/Tunisian mezzo Rihab Chaieb will be exhilarating in the title role.

All Proms are at the Royal Albert Hall, but also broadcast live on Radio 3 and summonable at whim through the genie-lamp of BBC Sounds. bbc.co.uk/proms

• I never know quite what to say about the Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival, a lucky dip of brand new operatic miniatures that isn’t always lucky. But the risks embraced are admirable. There are often jewel-like finds among the dross. And that apart, it serves a purpose in reminding you that opera flourishes without champagne and chandeliers: it can be knockabout, performed with planks and bedsheets, and be totally engaging. So if you’ve an open mind, know that the 2024 Tete-a-Tete season runs August 24-September 29, mostly at the Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone, and (as ever) boldly going beyond the standard operatic frontiers. Highlights include shows about queer neurodivergent ghosts (Sept 28), video-gaming (Sept 28), and a piece called 12 Hours that apparently lives up to its name (Sept 20) – though the festival has decided to cut things short after six hours, the price of electricity being what it is.
Talking of money, a feature of Tete-a-Tete is that you pay what you feel like – though you have to make the decision before the show starts. That’s the catch. Details: tete-a-tete.org.uk