Prom 6 repeat: Nicola Benedetti plays Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No 1

At BBC Proms: BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Thomas Sondergard plus Nicola Benedetti. Shostakovich's tone poem October and 1st Violin Concerto with Sibelius's 2nd Symphony.

From the Royal Albert Hall, London
Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch

Shostakovich: October
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Nicola Benedetti, violin
Thomas Søndergård, conductor

Violinist Nicola Benedetti joins Thomas Søndergård and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as they continue their exploration of music by Shostakovich and Sibelius. Here they pair the latter's stirring Second Symphony - adopted as a potent symbol of nationalism and resistance by the people of Finland - with Shostakovich's symphonic poem October, a work whose subversive musical message sees the composer at his most pointedly political.

Shostakovich dedicated his First Violin Concerto to the celebrated violinist David Oistrakh, who praised its solo part as 'Shakespearean', and the concerto's demonic Scherzo gives its soloist plenty of opportunity for virtuosity.