“The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming”
Russian Revolution of 1917 Photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
This week at the BBC Proms take your pick of a number of all-Russian programmes marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution.
The most obvious choice is a performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No 12 - the Year 1917 by the Oslo Philharmonic under acclaimed Shostakovich interpreter Vasily Petrenko. The same concert also drafts in pianist Leif Ove Andsnes to play Rachmaninov - one composer who didn’t care much for Revolution. Rachmaninov left Russia in December 1917 for a concert in Sweden and never returned.
Rachmaninov’s “Vespers” hailed as ‘the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church’ kicks off the Russian-themed week on Sunday with a performance by the Latvian Radio Choir.
For those suffering Revolution exhaustion, there is respite in the form of soprano Renée Fleming who joins her regular collaborator Sakari Oramo to perform Samuel Barber’s nostalgic Knoxville Summer of 1915 as well as music by Richard Strauss.
Hailed by critics as ‘fresh’ and ‘brilliant’, Chineke! – Britain’s first BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) orchestra makes its Proms debut this week. Founded by the double-bass player Chi-Chi Nwanoku, Chineke! is an orchestra that aims to create opportunities for mainly black and minority ethnic professional musicians. As part of their programme, young cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, makes his Proms debut as soloist in music by Dvořák and David Popper. Listen to Upbeat's interview with Chi-chi Nwanoku.
Monday 11 September
7.00 Music Alive
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), Oslo Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird, Suite; RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No 4 in G minor Op 40; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No 12 in D minor Op 112, The Year 1917
Renée Fleming Photo: Public Domain
Tuesday 12 September
7.00 Music Alive
Renée Fleming (soprano), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/Sakari Oramo
TARRODI: Liguria; BARBER: Knoxville: Summer of 1915; STRAUSS: Transformation Scene, from Daphne; NIELSEN: Symphony No 2 Op 16, The Four Temperaments
Wednesday 13 September
7.00 Music Alive
Denis Matsuev (piano), Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra/Valery Gergiev
PROKOFIEV: October Op 74; TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No 3 in Eb Op 75; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No 5 in D minor Op 47
Thursday 14 September
10.00 Weekday Classics with Clarissa Dunn
Isabelle Faust (violin), Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/Pablo Heras-Casado
MENDELSSOHN: Songs without Words; MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor Op 64; MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No 5 in D Op 107, Reformation
Friday 15 September
7.00 Music Alive
Jeremy Denk (piano), BBC SO/Karina Canellakis
MAZZOLI: Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres); BARTOK: Piano Concerto No 2 Sz95; DVORAK: Symphony No 8 in G Op 88
Chineke! Chamber Ensemble at Villa Wolkonsky Photo: Steve Bisgrove
Sunday 17 September
10.00 BBC Proms 2017
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), Chineke!/Kevin John Edusei
KENDALL: The Spark Catchers (BBC commission, world première); DVORAK: Rondo in G minor Op 94; POPPER orch M. Schlegel: Hungarian Rhapsody Op 68; G WALKER: Lyric for Strings; HANDEL: Tempest from Giulio Cesare; Lascia ch'io pianga from Rinaldo; Rejoice
6.00 Opera on Sunday
Richard Croft (Titus), Alice Coote (Vitellia), Joélle Harvey (Servilia), Anna Stéphany (Sextus), Michèle Losier (Annius), Clive Bayley (Publio), Glyndebourne Festival Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Robin Ticciati
MOZART: La Clemenza di Tito
(recorded by the BBC, Royal Albert Hall, London)
