BBC Philharmonic - Bernstein, Britten, Shostakovich

The BBC Philharmonic are conducted by John Storgards in music by Bernstein and Shostakovich. They are joined by Kathryn Stott for Britten's Piano Concerto.

Recorded at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Presented by Stuart Flinders

Bernstein: Overture, Candide
Britten: Piano Concerto

8.10
Interval:
BBC Young Musician 2016
Clemency Burton-Hill introduces the fifth of the finalists in this year's strings category
Violinist Stephanie Childress plays music by:
Ysaÿe, Sarasate, Fauré and Saint-Saëns

8.35
Shostakovich: Symphony No 5

Kathryn Stott (piano)
BBC Philharmonic
John Storgards (conductor)

In 1962 the BBC Philharmonic (then the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra) and Aaron Copland gave the British premiere of the Overture to Bernstein's Candide. This sparky, arresting and brilliant piece, far more popular than the operetta it was was written to precede, opens tonight's concert.

Kathryn Stott joins the BBC Philharmonic for Britten's Piano Concerto. It was written when he was twenty-five, to play himself in what would be his first appearance of many at the Proms. Britten was keen, like Bernstein, for it to have immediate impact and appeal and it grabs the listener from the very first bar with bravura piano writing and colourful instrumentation.

First performed just a few months before Britten's Piano Concerto, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony also needed to win approval but the stakes were much higher; written during the Great Terror, and after recent denunciation of his music, Shostakovich knew that even his life was in danger should Stalin disapprove of his new symphony. Received with great acclaim by critics and audiences - and meeting Stalin's approval - the Symphony continues to make waves.