Prom 35: Sibelius, Walton, Peter Maxwell Davies

Afternoon on 3 with Penny Gore
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Thomas Søndergård live at the BBC Proms with music by Sibelius, Peter Maxwell Davies and James Ehnes plays the Walton Violin Concerto.

Presented by Christopher Cook at the Royal Albert Hall, London

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: Caroline Mathilde - suite from Act 2
Walton: Violin Concerto

Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E flat major

Mary Bevan (soprano)
Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano) (Proms debut artist & New Generation Artist)
James Ehnes (violin)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Thomas Søndergård (conductor)

Commissioned by Jascha Heifetz, Walton's concerto extended the possibilities of what could be achieved on the violin, while at the same time maintaining a striking intimacy and emotional directness. Thomas Søndergård and BBC NOW open with a suite from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's ballet Caroline Mathilde, in which the English princess is sent to an unhappy marriage in Denmark. Caroline Mathilde was written for The Danish Royal Ballet and premiered in 1991 in Copenhagen, with tonight's conductor playing percussion at the back of the orchestra in the pit. Sibelius had a painting of a flight of swans hung on the wall of his study, and these birds inspired the two great orchestral canvases in this concert - in the majestic 'swan theme' which appears at the culmination of his Fifth symphony, and in a more serene and mystical way in the Swan of Tuonela.

First broadcast 12th August 2014.