Prom 22: Rachmaninov & Shostakovich

Death and darkness encounter light and new life in this Prom given by the BBC Philharmonic and its Chief Guest Conductor John Storgards.

Two Russian classics brood on death and loss; Rachmaninov’s atmospheric The Isle of the Dead conjures an ominous scene – a ghostly ferryman transporting the souls of the dead to rest – while Shostakovich’s bitterly passionate Symphony No. 11 takes inspiration from the ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre of 1905.

But there’s light and hope in Outi Tarkiainen’s Midnight Sun Variations a celebration of rebirth in the perpetual day of an Arctic summer.

Programme

Rachmaninov
The Isle of the Dead
Henry Wood Novelties: UK premiere, 1915

Outi Tarkiainen
Midnight Sun Variations
BBC co-commission with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa

– interval –

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 11 in G minor, ‘The Year 1905’

Performers

BBC Philharmonic
John Storgards conductor