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Â鶹Éç PROMS 2011

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London

Presented by Martin Handley

Two works by Sibelius begin this concert with Sir Mark Elder and the ±á²¹±ô±ôé. Scènes Historiques Suite No 2 reveals the composer's lighter side, opening with The Chase, in which horns are heard through the mist, followed by a wild chase, with impelling rhythms. The great Seventh Symphony has long been admired for its intensity and concision; its conclusion has been called "the grandest celebration of C major there ever was".

Bartók's last completed concerto was written in conditions of great poverty and adversity during the composer's exile in New York, but none of this is apparent from the work itself., which is generally melodic, mellow, even nostalgic in tone. It is championed tonight by András Schiff, appearing at the Proms for the first time since his 2006 solo recital. And, to close, a joyous sequence of sonic snapshots: Janácek's Sinfonietta is his typically bold evocation of a beloved city, the Moravian regional capital, Brno.

Sibelius: Scènes historiques - Suite No. 2
Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C major

András Schiff (piano)
±á²¹±ô±ôé
Sir Mark Elder (conductor)

This Prom will be repeated on Sunday 24 July at 2pm.