15/08/2009

We’ve got two themes running through this Prom concert from the 2009 BBC Proms. As well as celebrating the delights of the piano - and not only one piano but two, we’ll be enjoying the music of a couple of France’s most eminent composers.

In Camille Saint-Saens’s zoological fantasy The Carnival of the Animals, he depicts a varied and unusual choice of animals. The cello is the elegant swan, the xylophone represents fossils, while the pianos become very convincing hens. But despite its popularity today, Saint-Saens never allowed a public performance of the whole piece during his lifetime.

We’ll also be hearing Gabriel Faure’s charming Dolly Suite which was originally written as a set of piano duets. This playful music is full of nostalgia for childhood and it’s therefore not surprising that it was inspired by a young girl – Helene Bardac, known as Dolly.

World Service broadcast programme

Faure, orch Rabaud: Dolly (suite)

Saint-Saens: The Carnival of the Animals

Performers

Lidija and Sanja Bizjak, pianos

Britten Sinfonia

Ludovic Morlot, conductor