Â鶹Éç

Finnish violinist and conductor Pekka Kuusisto leads one of Europe’s top chamber orchestras, The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, in a Prom part-inspired by the natural world. A Â鶹Éç documentary was the starting point for Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi’s Birds of Paradise, whose iridescent colours and sharp textural contrasts capture the exotic birds. Closer to home, a cuckoo calls out in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, whose pastoral scenes are heard as never before here – interspersed with folk music improvisations by Kuusisto and citternist Ale Carr. Beethoven’s youthful First Symphony forms the beating heart of the programme.

Broadcast on Â鶹Éç Four on Sunday 16 July, 8pm.

Image: Pekka Kuusisto © Kaapo Kamu