Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sibelius | 20120224 | Live from the Barbican Hall, London Presented by Martin Handley The BBC Symphony Orchestra's Sibelius cycle continues with Symphony No 4 under the Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits. They are joined by Georgian pianist Katia Buniatishvili for Prokofiev's virtuosic First Piano Concerto. Stravinsky's brightly coloured ballet Petrushka completes the programme. Sibelius's stark, elemental Fourth Symphony was inspired in part by the landscape of Northern Karelia and composed at a time when the calm of the composer's life at his lakeside home Ainola was threatened by ill-health. Prokofiev described his Piano Concerto No 1 as his first more or less mature composition and the composer's own virtuoso performance at the keyboard at the premiere was sufficient to win him the coveted Rubinstein prize at the St Petersburg Conservatory. Stravinsky's puppet ballet, written to a commission from the great ballet impressario Sergei Diaghilev, tells of the life, death and afterlife of the Russian clown Petrushka in spectacular orchestral technicolour. The BBC Symphony Orchestra is conducted by the star Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits, making his debut with the orchestra. Sibelius: Symphony No 4 in A minor Khatia Buniatishvili (piano) Kirill Karabits (conductor). Kirill Karabits conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Sibelius: Symphony No 4. Presenting exciting live musical events from all over the world |
| 02 | Prokofiev, Stravinsky | 20120224 | Live from the Barbican Hall, London Presented by Martin Handley The BBC Symphony Orchestra's Sibelius cycle continues with Symphony No 4 under the Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits. They are joined by Georgian pianist Katia Buniatishvili for Prokofiev's virtuosic First Piano Concerto. Stravinsky's brightly coloured ballet Petrushka completes the programme. Sibelius's stark, elemental Fourth Symphony was inspired in part by the landscape of Northern Karelia and composed at a time when the calm of the composer's life at his lakeside home Ainola was threatened by ill-health. Prokofiev described his Piano Concerto No 1 as his first more or less mature composition and the composer's own virtuoso performance at the keyboard at the premiere was sufficient to win him the coveted Rubinstein prize at the St Petersburg Conservatory. Stravinsky's puppet ballet, written to a commission from the great ballet impressario Sergei Diaghilev, tells of the life, death and afterlife of the Russian clown Petrushka in spectacular orchestral technicolour. The BBC Symphony Orchestra is conducted by the star Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits, making his debut with the orchestra. Prokofiev: Piano concerto No 1 in D flat major Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version) Khatia Buniatishvili (piano) Kirill Karabits (conductor). BBC SO/Kirill Karabits and Khatia Buniatishvili. Music by Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Presenting exciting live musical events from all over the world |