Prom 7: Shostakovich, Bartok and Tavener

Afternoon on 3 with Verity Sharp

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jirí Belohlávek at last night's BBC Proms. Shostakovich's 10th Symphony, Isabelle Faust in Bartok's 2nd Violin Concerto and a John Tavener premiere.

Presented by Penny Gore at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Tavener: Gnosis (BBC commission; world premiere)
Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)
Michael Cox (alto flute)
Isabelle Faust (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jirí Belohlávek (conductor)

Isabelle Faust's association with Bartók extends back to her very first recording. Now, fresh from an acclaimed disc of both the composer's violin concertos, she joins the BBC SO and Conductor Laureate Jirí Belohlávek for Bartók's Second Violin Concerto. Written under the threat of Fascism, it's a passionate national statement, lively with folk rhythms.

By the early 1950s and Shostakovich's 10th Symphony, threat had become reality. This violent, despairing work paints a vivid portrait of the horrors of Stalin's Russia. The evening opened with the first of two posthumous premieres this season from the late John Tavener - some of the last works from England's great musical mystic. Gnosis, written for mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly with solo alto flute, strings and percussion.

First broadcast 23rd July 2014.