Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Prom 25: Shostakovich's Last Symphony and a Concerto for Theremin

BBC Proms 2022

Live at the BBC Proms: John Storgards and the BBC Philharmonic perform music by Shostakovich, Kalevi Aho and Kaija Saariaho.

Live at the BBC Proms: the BBC Philharmonic and John Storgards in music by Shostakovich, Kalevi Aho and Kaija Saariaho.

Presented by Tom McKinney, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Kalevi Aho: Eight Seasons (Concerto for Theremin and Chamber Orchestra)

8.05 Interval: Following the London premier of Kalevi Aho’s work The Eight Seasons, which is inspired by the way Finland’s native Sami people divide up the year, in the interval Tom McKinney will be joined by Kenneth Steven, a poet and nature writer who has immersed himself in the world of the Sami.

Kaija Saariaho: Vista
Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No.15

Carolina Eyck (theremin)
BBC Philharmonic
John Storgards (conductor)

Imagine pulling music out of thin air. Two living Finnish masters do just that today: Kaija Saariaho felt that ‘new music was flowing into my mind’ as she drove by night along the coast of California. Kalevi Aho, meanwhile, turned to the eight seasons of Lapland’s Sámi culture in his extraordinary concerto for the theremin. ‘The soloist is like a magician, a weaver of spells,’ he says – ‘producing music without touching the instrument at all.’ Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 inhabits a much darker world, but there’ll be mystery too, as well as humour, when John Storgårds conducts the enigmatic final symphony of one of the 20th century’s supreme musical chroniclers.

2 hours, 44 minutes

Last on

Thu 4 Aug 2022 19:30
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Prom 24: Ryan Bancroft conducts Mahler’s Fourth Symphony2022

Next

Prom 26: Semyon Bychkov and the Labèques2022

See all episodes from BBC Proms

Music Played

  • Kalevi Aho

    Eight Seasons - Concerto

    Performer: Carolina Eyck. Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Storgårds.

  • Kaija Saariaho

    Vista

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Storgårds.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No. 15 in A major

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Storgårds.

  • Manuel Infante

    Andalusian Dances

    Ensemble: Katia Labèque.
    • Espagna.
    • Philips.
    • 12.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Hungarian Dance No 5 in F sharp minor

    Performer: Katia Labèque. Performer: Marielle Labèque.
    • Brahms 21 Hungarian Dances - Katia & Marelle Labeque.
    • Phillips.
    • 5.

Broadcast

  • Thu 4 Aug 2022 19:30
    BBC Radio 3

The home of classical music and the Proms on the BBC

The home of classical music and the Proms on the BBC

Every Proms concert is broadcast live on Radio 3 - don't miss a single one.