CBSO Plays Tchaikovsky

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0:00:03 > 0:00:05Hello. Tonight, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

0:00:05 > 0:00:08brings us Tchaikovsky's fateful Fourth Symphony,

0:00:08 > 0:00:11a curtain-raiser from Mozart and a contemporary song cycle by

0:00:11 > 0:00:14the Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen.

0:00:14 > 0:00:18And all under the baton of their brand-new conductor.

0:00:18 > 0:00:21I'm Sarah Mohr-Pietsch. Welcome to the BBC Proms.

0:00:48 > 0:00:51Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla.

0:00:51 > 0:00:53Remember that name, because everyone is talking about her.

0:00:53 > 0:00:57Earlier this year, aged just 29, the Lithuanian-born conductor

0:00:57 > 0:01:01was announced as the new music director of the CBSO.

0:01:01 > 0:01:04It's a seriously prestigious job, it's where Sir Simon Rattle

0:01:04 > 0:01:08made his name, and tonight is Mirga's Proms debut,

0:01:08 > 0:01:11and the first London concert for her with the Orchestra.

0:01:11 > 0:01:14Joining them onstage is another extraordinary musician,

0:01:14 > 0:01:16the Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan,

0:01:16 > 0:01:19who sings the song cycle Let Me Tell You,

0:01:19 > 0:01:22which Hans Abrahamsen wrote for her three years ago.

0:01:23 > 0:01:27Tonight, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla's chosen to open with Mozart

0:01:27 > 0:01:30and the overture to his last opera, The Magic Flute.

0:01:30 > 0:01:33Like the rest of the opera, it combines the seriousness of

0:01:33 > 0:01:37its hero's challenge with the playful invention of its comedy.

0:01:37 > 0:01:40The Magic Flute is heavily inspired by Freemasonry -

0:01:40 > 0:01:42Mozart was a Mason himself.

0:01:42 > 0:01:46And it opens up with three powerful and symbolic chords.

0:01:47 > 0:01:50From what I've seen of Mirga so far in rehearsals, her presence

0:01:50 > 0:01:53on the podium is rather like this music - strong and serious,

0:01:53 > 0:01:56and at the same time, incredibly playful,

0:01:56 > 0:01:59making it the perfect piece for her Proms debut.

0:02:01 > 0:02:03And here she comes now

0:02:03 > 0:02:05to conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

0:02:05 > 0:02:08in Mozart's Overture To The Magic Flute.

0:08:35 > 0:08:37What a sense of joy on her face.

0:08:37 > 0:08:40Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla making her Proms debut,

0:08:40 > 0:08:44conducting the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, led by

0:08:44 > 0:08:48Zoe Beyers, in the overture to Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.

0:08:56 > 0:09:00Mirga rather boldly chose a very small ensemble for the

0:09:00 > 0:09:03first piece in tonight's concert, violins sitting opposite each other.

0:09:03 > 0:09:07They'll join up again later on for Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

0:09:14 > 0:09:17Next up tonight is Let Me Tell You by the Danish composer

0:09:17 > 0:09:18Hans Abrahamsen.

0:09:18 > 0:09:21He wrote it three years ago for Barbara Hannigan, who's one

0:09:21 > 0:09:25of the most sought-after performers of 20th and 21st century repertoire.

0:09:25 > 0:09:28She's also a conductor as well as an outstanding soprano.

0:09:28 > 0:09:32And it was Barbara Hannigan who originally suggested setting a text

0:09:32 > 0:09:34drawn from a novella called Let Me Tell You,

0:09:34 > 0:09:37by the British writer Paul Griffiths,

0:09:37 > 0:09:41which is based on Hamlet but focuses specifically on Ophelia.

0:09:41 > 0:09:43It tells her story in the first person,

0:09:43 > 0:09:49using only the 481 words which Shakespeare gave her in his play.

0:09:49 > 0:09:53Hans Abrahamsen and Barbara Hannigan spoke about the experience

0:09:53 > 0:09:55together in rehearsals.

0:09:55 > 0:09:57When I first got the score,

0:09:57 > 0:10:02I opened it in the hotel room, and I felt understood.

0:10:04 > 0:10:06But you know, when I wrote it,

0:10:07 > 0:10:12I always heard Barbara's voice on the lines.

0:10:12 > 0:10:19For me, this piece is Ophelia,

0:10:19 > 0:10:21however many centuries later,

0:10:21 > 0:10:24telling her story again

0:10:24 > 0:10:27with the advantage of time.

0:10:27 > 0:10:32Now she has looked at what has happened in the world, perhaps

0:10:32 > 0:10:35looked at what has happened with humanity and with women,

0:10:35 > 0:10:38and she has a different perspective.

0:10:38 > 0:10:42And so, when she sings the three sections of the piece -

0:10:42 > 0:10:45Let Me Tell You How It Was,

0:10:45 > 0:10:46Let Me Tell You How It is,

0:10:46 > 0:10:50and Let Me Tell You How It Will Be, you know...

0:10:50 > 0:10:53There is a poignancy, especially at the end,

0:10:53 > 0:10:55there's a poignancy and there's a wisdom to it.

0:10:55 > 0:11:00Barbara asked me if I could imagine a work

0:11:00 > 0:11:03based on Paul Griffith's novella.

0:11:03 > 0:11:06You knew that I have not written for voice before,

0:11:06 > 0:11:10but you somehow imagined that I could do something. Mm-hm. Mm-hm.

0:11:10 > 0:11:13And... And then we met in Berlin.

0:11:13 > 0:11:17And I was demonstrating

0:11:17 > 0:11:20many, many different styles of vocal writing for Hans.

0:11:20 > 0:11:25Baroque styles, also using different registers with the

0:11:25 > 0:11:30same material like Mahler does in his Fourth Symphony.

0:11:30 > 0:11:34Hans does use a kind of baroque, or even Monteverdi, technique,

0:11:34 > 0:11:37this repeating of note.

0:11:37 > 0:11:41# Aaa-aa-aaa

0:11:41 > 0:11:45# Le-e-et me tell you. #

0:11:45 > 0:11:46So it...

0:11:46 > 0:11:49It's the repeating, it's kind of like, as if your heart is going...

0:11:49 > 0:11:51SHE HUMS RHYTHMICALLY

0:11:51 > 0:11:56But you know, when a composer gets things shown,

0:11:56 > 0:12:01you never know if it can come into the piece. Yeah. But it...

0:12:01 > 0:12:05Somehow, musically, and...out from the expression,

0:12:05 > 0:12:10it came into the piece and belonged to the piece.

0:12:10 > 0:12:14We're working very hard up there. But we're...

0:12:14 > 0:12:21I'm certainly trying not to show any of that complicated construction,

0:12:21 > 0:12:25which is also why I have always sung the piece from memory.

0:12:25 > 0:12:29Literally incorporated the piece, because as soon as I would sing with

0:12:29 > 0:12:34a score in front of me, it would be a completely different experience.

0:12:34 > 0:12:37It would be saying, "This was too hard to memorise."

0:12:37 > 0:12:40It was almost too hard to memorise.

0:12:42 > 0:12:45Hans Abrahamsen and Barbara Hannigan there.

0:12:45 > 0:12:48And here comes Barbara Hannigan now with Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla

0:12:48 > 0:12:51behind her to conduct the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

0:12:51 > 0:12:56in the London premiere of Let Me Tell You by Hans Abrahamsen.

0:13:46 > 0:13:57# Let me tell you

0:13:58 > 0:14:18# How it was

0:14:30 > 0:14:36# I know I can do this

0:14:36 > 0:14:41# I have the powers

0:14:41 > 0:14:48# I take

0:14:50 > 0:14:55# Them

0:14:55 > 0:15:01# Here

0:15:05 > 0:15:10# I have the right

0:15:30 > 0:15:38# My words

0:15:38 > 0:15:43# May be poor

0:15:43 > 0:15:59# But they have to do

0:16:02 > 0:16:08# There was a time

0:16:08 > 0:16:21# When I could not

0:16:21 > 0:16:32# Do this

0:16:55 > 0:17:03# I remember

0:17:05 > 0:17:17# That time

0:17:47 > 0:17:55# O but memory

0:17:57 > 0:18:04# Is not one

0:18:04 > 0:18:10# But many

0:18:11 > 0:18:16# A long

0:18:19 > 0:18:21# Music

0:18:21 > 0:18:29# We have made

0:18:31 > 0:18:37# And will make

0:18:37 > 0:18:41# Again

0:18:41 > 0:18:43# Over and over

0:18:43 > 0:18:46# With some things we know

0:18:46 > 0:18:48# And some we do not

0:18:52 > 0:18:55# Some that are true

0:18:58 > 0:19:01# And some that are made up

0:19:05 > 0:19:09# Some that have stayed

0:19:09 > 0:19:13# From long before

0:19:17 > 0:19:21# And some that have come

0:19:21 > 0:19:25# This morning

0:19:33 > 0:19:41# Some that will go

0:19:41 > 0:19:46# Tomorrow

0:19:48 > 0:19:51# And some

0:19:51 > 0:19:59# That have long been there

0:20:00 > 0:20:05# But that we

0:20:05 > 0:20:10# Will never find

0:20:10 > 0:20:17# For to memory

0:20:18 > 0:20:25# There is no end

0:23:12 > 0:23:20# There was a time

0:23:26 > 0:23:34# I remember

0:23:38 > 0:23:46# When we had

0:23:46 > 0:23:52# No music

0:23:52 > 0:24:00# A time

0:24:00 > 0:24:04# When there was no time

0:24:04 > 0:24:10# For music

0:24:13 > 0:24:22# And what is music

0:24:22 > 0:24:32# If not time

0:25:01 > 0:25:08# Time of now and then

0:25:08 > 0:25:15# Tumbled

0:25:15 > 0:25:28# Into one another

0:25:32 > 0:25:36# Time

0:25:36 > 0:25:44# Turned

0:25:44 > 0:25:54# And loosed

0:25:56 > 0:26:01# Time

0:26:01 > 0:26:06# Bended

0:26:08 > 0:26:14# Time

0:26:14 > 0:26:19# Blown up

0:26:22 > 0:26:29# Here and there

0:26:29 > 0:26:36# Time sweet and harsh

0:26:38 > 0:26:42# Time still

0:26:45 > 0:26:52# And long

0:27:48 > 0:27:58# Let me tell you

0:27:58 > 0:28:07# How

0:28:07 > 0:28:17# It is

0:28:20 > 0:28:25# For you are the one

0:28:25 > 0:28:29# Who made me more

0:28:29 > 0:28:43# Than I

0:28:43 > 0:28:49# Was

0:28:52 > 0:28:55# You are the one

0:28:55 > 0:29:03# Who loosed out

0:29:03 > 0:29:10# This music

0:29:12 > 0:29:16# Your face

0:29:16 > 0:29:22# Is my music lesson

0:29:22 > 0:29:30# And I sing

0:29:45 > 0:29:49# Now I do not mind if it is day

0:29:49 > 0:29:51# If it is night

0:29:54 > 0:29:56WORDLESS TRILL

0:30:01 > 0:30:04# If it is night

0:30:04 > 0:30:08# An owl will call out

0:30:08 > 0:30:10WORDLESS TRILL

0:30:12 > 0:30:19# If it is morning

0:30:19 > 0:30:27# A robin will tune his bells

0:30:41 > 0:30:43# Night, day

0:30:43 > 0:30:48# There is no difference for me

0:30:57 > 0:31:03# What will make the difference

0:31:03 > 0:31:08# Is

0:31:08 > 0:31:16# If you are with me

0:31:16 > 0:31:24# For you are my sun

0:32:00 > 0:32:04# You

0:32:04 > 0:32:09# Have sun-blasted me

0:32:09 > 0:32:16# And turned me to light.

0:32:47 > 0:32:51# You

0:32:51 > 0:32:57# Have made me

0:32:57 > 0:33:00# Like glass

0:33:00 > 0:33:05# Like

0:33:05 > 0:33:12# Glass in an ecstasy

0:33:12 > 0:33:16# From your light

0:33:16 > 0:33:21# Like glass in which light rained

0:33:21 > 0:33:26# Rained

0:33:26 > 0:33:30# Rained

0:33:30 > 0:33:36# And rained

0:33:36 > 0:33:42# And rained

0:33:42 > 0:33:49# And goes on

0:33:54 > 0:34:01# Like glass

0:34:01 > 0:34:05# In which

0:34:05 > 0:34:11# There are

0:34:11 > 0:34:20# Showers of light

0:34:20 > 0:34:27# Light that cannot end

0:34:27 > 0:34:32# End

0:34:32 > 0:34:39# End

0:34:39 > 0:34:46# End

0:34:46 > 0:34:51# End

0:34:51 > 0:34:57# End

0:35:41 > 0:35:46# I know

0:35:52 > 0:35:57# You are

0:36:02 > 0:36:06# There

0:36:08 > 0:36:12# I know I will

0:36:14 > 0:36:17# Find you

0:36:19 > 0:36:24# Let me tell you

0:36:25 > 0:36:29# How it

0:36:29 > 0:36:34# Will be

0:38:12 > 0:38:15# I will

0:38:15 > 0:38:21# Go out now

0:38:23 > 0:38:26# I will

0:38:26 > 0:38:33# Let go the door

0:38:34 > 0:38:40# And not look

0:38:40 > 0:38:47# To see my hand

0:38:47 > 0:38:55# As I take it away

0:38:58 > 0:39:12# Snow falls

0:39:29 > 0:39:35# So I will

0:39:35 > 0:39:46# Go on

0:39:46 > 0:39:55# In the snow

0:39:58 > 0:40:09# I will have

0:40:10 > 0:40:23# My hope

0:40:23 > 0:40:31# With me

0:40:39 > 0:40:44# I look up

0:40:44 > 0:40:51# As if I

0:40:51 > 0:40:55# Could see

0:40:56 > 0:41:01# The snow

0:41:01 > 0:41:10# As it falls

0:41:13 > 0:41:17# As if

0:41:17 > 0:41:22# I could

0:41:22 > 0:41:29# Keep my eye

0:41:29 > 0:41:36# On a little

0:41:36 > 0:41:42# Of it

0:42:11 > 0:42:17# And

0:42:17 > 0:42:33# See it

0:42:33 > 0:42:37# Come down

0:42:37 > 0:42:46# All the way

0:42:46 > 0:42:54# To the ground

0:42:56 > 0:43:11# I cannot

0:43:30 > 0:43:42# The snow flowers

0:43:44 > 0:43:56# Are all like

0:43:56 > 0:44:04# Each other

0:44:07 > 0:44:19# And

0:44:19 > 0:44:27# I cannot

0:44:27 > 0:44:36# Keep my eyes

0:44:36 > 0:44:42# On one

0:44:48 > 0:44:55# I will

0:44:55 > 0:45:07# Give up this

0:45:10 > 0:45:20# And go on

0:45:58 > 0:46:09# I will

0:46:09 > 0:46:15# Go on. #

0:47:17 > 0:47:20APPLAUSE

0:47:25 > 0:47:30The exquisite close of Hans Abrahamsen's Let Me Tell You.

0:47:30 > 0:47:32Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla conducting

0:47:32 > 0:47:35the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

0:47:35 > 0:47:37and the soprano for whom it was written,

0:47:37 > 0:47:40an extraordinary artist, Barbara Hannigan.

0:47:42 > 0:47:45"I will go on," sings Ophelia at the close.

0:47:45 > 0:47:48She doesn't drown herself, as in Shakespeare's Hamlet,

0:47:48 > 0:47:50but we are left, instead,

0:47:50 > 0:47:54with the image of her wandering out and becoming one with the snow.

0:47:55 > 0:47:58Even when singing stratospherically high,

0:47:58 > 0:48:02Barbara Hannigan's voice is crystal clear and precise.

0:48:02 > 0:48:06She inhabits every note, every nuance of Abrahamsen's score

0:48:06 > 0:48:08with total conviction.

0:48:08 > 0:48:11Here he is now, Hans Abrahamsen leading the way.

0:48:11 > 0:48:14Behind him is Paul Griffiths, the librettist.

0:48:14 > 0:48:17A well-known British writer and music journalist,

0:48:17 > 0:48:19a great authority on contemporary music.

0:48:19 > 0:48:21And he wrote the novella Let Me Tell You,

0:48:21 > 0:48:24and helped adapt it for Abrahamsen's score.

0:48:26 > 0:48:29And Hans Abrahamsen, a leading Danish composer,

0:48:29 > 0:48:31studied with Per Norgard and the late Gyorgy Ligeti.

0:48:31 > 0:48:35He often deals with the subject of snow in his work - his next piece

0:48:35 > 0:48:39is his first opera, based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen.

0:49:03 > 0:49:07And Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla in her Proms debut,

0:49:07 > 0:49:10and one of her first concerts with her new orchestra the CBSO,

0:49:10 > 0:49:12really showcasing the fact that contemporary music

0:49:12 > 0:49:16is going to be one of her focuses in her new position.

0:49:32 > 0:49:34Well, coming up in a few minutes,

0:49:34 > 0:49:36something completely different - Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

0:49:36 > 0:49:39Ahead of that, we're going to get to know tonight's conductor

0:49:39 > 0:49:40a bit better.

0:49:40 > 0:49:44Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla is just days into her new job at the CBSO,

0:49:44 > 0:49:48following in the footsteps of Andris Nelsons, and before that,

0:49:48 > 0:49:50Sakari Oramo and Sir Simon Rattle.

0:49:50 > 0:49:53It's an appointment which always generates quite a lot of buzz,

0:49:53 > 0:49:55but this time round, there was even more.

0:49:55 > 0:49:56Partly because she's young,

0:49:56 > 0:49:59and partly because there are still very few women who hold

0:49:59 > 0:50:03such prestigious orchestral jobs in the classical music world.

0:50:03 > 0:50:07Hers has been a pretty meteoric rise over the last few years,

0:50:07 > 0:50:10including assisting Gustavo Dudamel at the LA Philharmonic.

0:50:10 > 0:50:12And she's still only 30.

0:50:12 > 0:50:15We caught up with her in the days running up to her Proms debut,

0:50:15 > 0:50:18starting in her new workplace in Birmingham.

0:50:23 > 0:50:27This hall, it's not only one of the best halls in Great Britain,

0:50:27 > 0:50:31it's one of the best halls in the world.

0:50:31 > 0:50:36And the hall an orchestra is rehearsing, performing,

0:50:36 > 0:50:42living in always influences the spirit of the orchestra.

0:50:45 > 0:50:49Over the years, the CBSO has built a reputation

0:50:49 > 0:50:53for inspired choices of chief conductor, prepared to take risks

0:50:53 > 0:50:56to spot and grow the next generation of talent.

0:50:58 > 0:51:02The orchestra does appraise all conductors that come here,

0:51:02 > 0:51:06just so that we know who we should invite back and who we don't.

0:51:06 > 0:51:08The players go on to the website, and it's al very confidential,

0:51:08 > 0:51:11and we vote. And that's the system that we used

0:51:11 > 0:51:13when choosing the principal conductor.

0:51:13 > 0:51:16It was electric when we first met Mirga,

0:51:16 > 0:51:19and it was just so not what we expected.

0:51:19 > 0:51:23The CBSO are incredible musicians,

0:51:23 > 0:51:29and it feels as if it was a youth orchestra, because of the spirit.

0:51:29 > 0:51:34They don't say, "This is how we play Tchaikovsky," or

0:51:34 > 0:51:36"Mozart is only like this," or other things.

0:51:36 > 0:51:39So this openness is an incredible gift.

0:51:39 > 0:51:42One of the amazing things that Mirga seems to do is she takes

0:51:42 > 0:51:45fairly normal, standard repertoire and completely turns it on its head.

0:51:45 > 0:51:47Her ideas are new ideas.

0:51:47 > 0:51:51They're not just recycled, and we feel we're doing a piece

0:51:51 > 0:51:54for the first time, even if it is Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

0:51:54 > 0:52:00We are now 48 hours ahead of our first Prom together.

0:52:01 > 0:52:04Following one performance and two days of rehearsals,

0:52:04 > 0:52:07Mirga and the orchestra make their way to London.

0:52:07 > 0:52:13My parents were young when I was born. My mother was 19,

0:52:13 > 0:52:16she's a pianist, my father is a choral conductor.

0:52:16 > 0:52:21So I was just spending my childhood in music making.

0:52:22 > 0:52:25And then, when I was 11, I said,

0:52:25 > 0:52:32"Well, I can't imagine any other profession, work, than music."

0:52:32 > 0:52:34At 11, already? Yeah.

0:52:34 > 0:52:41I got nervous that if I don't start really learning things now,

0:52:41 > 0:52:43it'll be too late!

0:52:43 > 0:52:46The fact that you're a female conductor

0:52:46 > 0:52:48is probably completely normal to you,

0:52:48 > 0:52:52but for a lot of young aspiring female conductors,

0:52:52 > 0:52:54you are going to be a role model in this job.

0:52:54 > 0:52:55How do you feel about that?

0:52:55 > 0:52:58I'm schizophrenic about this question, because I hate

0:52:58 > 0:53:03the question itself, but I know how important it is for our society.

0:53:03 > 0:53:05And...

0:53:05 > 0:53:08After a family concert in LA,

0:53:08 > 0:53:11some Latin American mothers came to me and said,

0:53:11 > 0:53:15"Thank you, it was so good for our daughters,"

0:53:16 > 0:53:19and it was so touching, that moment.

0:53:19 > 0:53:20And afterwards,

0:53:20 > 0:53:25I was thinking about what they said and reflecting and actually,

0:53:25 > 0:53:28every little girl, and every little boy,

0:53:28 > 0:53:33has a right to have such a picture in their mind.

0:53:33 > 0:53:37This is a possible profession for their life.

0:53:37 > 0:53:39The first steps.

0:53:39 > 0:53:44I'm still on this journey of exploring what it is like for me.

0:53:45 > 0:53:47You're not afraid to take risks.

0:53:47 > 0:53:49Oh, we all need risks!

0:53:51 > 0:53:53But the classical music world is not always one

0:53:53 > 0:53:54in which people take risks.

0:53:54 > 0:53:57Well, not only in classical music. I think.

0:53:57 > 0:54:02We want to protect ourselves, and to say,

0:54:02 > 0:54:04"This is like this, and there are rules,

0:54:04 > 0:54:09"and there are things I can lean at."

0:54:09 > 0:54:11But sometimes,

0:54:11 > 0:54:15taking everything away and saying, "No, there is nothing,"

0:54:15 > 0:54:18maybe you discover something completely new.

0:54:19 > 0:54:22Tonight's conductor, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla.

0:54:22 > 0:54:26Now, it's time for Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony - the cry

0:54:26 > 0:54:28of a man at the mercy of fate.

0:54:28 > 0:54:31In the middle of writing this symphony in 1877,

0:54:31 > 0:54:33Tchaikovsky got married.

0:54:33 > 0:54:36It was not a love match, and it was a complete catastrophe.

0:54:36 > 0:54:38It only lasted a couple of months.

0:54:38 > 0:54:40The experience shook him to the core.

0:54:40 > 0:54:44In this symphony, we meet a man who's deeply troubled.

0:54:44 > 0:54:47The opening movement introduces the Fate theme,

0:54:47 > 0:54:49a subject he was to return to again and again.

0:54:49 > 0:54:54Now, it also has lots of moments of beauty, nostalgia,

0:54:54 > 0:54:56consolation and playfulness in it.

0:54:56 > 0:55:00The second movement is basically an aria for solo oboe,

0:55:00 > 0:55:02and reminds me so much of his tragic opera Eugene Onegin,

0:55:02 > 0:55:05which he started around the same time.

0:55:05 > 0:55:07And the third movement of the symphony,

0:55:07 > 0:55:09played on plucked strings, is just like one of those

0:55:09 > 0:55:13fizzy ballet scenes in Swan Lake, which premiered the same year.

0:55:13 > 0:55:17But for all that, it feels as though the moments of respite

0:55:17 > 0:55:20are constantly being chased away by the dark clouds of destiny.

0:55:20 > 0:55:26Tchaikovsky called his symphony "An unburdening of the soul in music."

0:55:28 > 0:55:32The Fate theme is ushered in by a mighty brass fanfare

0:55:32 > 0:55:33at the start of the symphony,

0:55:33 > 0:55:36and listen out for it recurring throughout the piece,

0:55:36 > 0:55:39as Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla conducts the City of Birmingham

0:55:39 > 0:55:43Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

1:39:56 > 1:39:59APPLAUSE

1:40:04 > 1:40:08in the final movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony Number Four,

1:40:08 > 1:40:12the Fate theme crashes in to interrupt the festivities.

1:40:12 > 1:40:15But there is still hope at the end as the music goes out

1:40:15 > 1:40:17in a blaze of celebration.

1:40:17 > 1:40:19And there is much to celebrate tonight

1:40:19 > 1:40:24for the young Lithuanian-born conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla,

1:40:24 > 1:40:27making her Proms debut and her London debut

1:40:27 > 1:40:31with the orchestra with whom she's just begun as music director,

1:40:31 > 1:40:34the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

1:40:34 > 1:40:37A triumphant start to a brand-new artistic partnership.

1:40:41 > 1:40:43That's a very nice touch.

1:40:43 > 1:40:45Ordinarily, the conductor stands up on the podium

1:40:45 > 1:40:47in front of their orchestra.

1:40:47 > 1:40:50A wonderful collegiate gesture for her to stand in amongst

1:40:50 > 1:40:52the violins to take that applause.

1:40:54 > 1:40:56She did manage to hold on to her baton

1:40:56 > 1:40:58at the end of that Tchaikovsky.

1:40:58 > 1:41:01Apparently she has been known to get so excited on the podium

1:41:01 > 1:41:03that it flies into the audience.

1:41:03 > 1:41:06But you could really see the extraordinary power and energy

1:41:06 > 1:41:08that she brings to her work.

1:41:09 > 1:41:11An incredibly authoritative conductor,

1:41:11 > 1:41:14particularly when she points with her left hand at members

1:41:14 > 1:41:17of the orchestra, but also such a fluid style.

1:41:17 > 1:41:19And wonderful to be able to see her face,

1:41:19 > 1:41:22which most of the audience standing behind her can't.

1:41:22 > 1:41:24Such joy and light in it.

1:41:30 > 1:41:31Now, that's very unusual.

1:41:33 > 1:41:37She's picking up percussionist Toby Kearney's stand.

1:43:17 > 1:43:19See you in Birmingham!

1:43:19 > 1:43:22CHEERS, APPLAUSE

1:43:26 > 1:43:29With a shout of "See you in Birmingham," what a treat.

1:43:29 > 1:43:31The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,

1:43:31 > 1:43:35under their new music director, conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla,

1:43:35 > 1:43:37rounding off their Prom with the final variation,

1:43:37 > 1:43:40the Diamond Fairy and Coda, from Tchaikovsky's ballet

1:43:40 > 1:43:42The Sleeping Beauty.

1:43:42 > 1:43:44And a lovely triangle solo at the beginning

1:43:44 > 1:43:46from percussionist Toby Kearney.

1:43:54 > 1:43:55Well, that is it for tonight.

1:43:55 > 1:43:59A terrific London launch for Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, promising

1:43:59 > 1:44:01great things for what she's going to do with her orchestra.

1:44:02 > 1:44:06The Proms are back on BBC Four with much fire and brimstone,

1:44:06 > 1:44:10next Friday evening at 7.30 with a live broadcast of Verdi's Requiem.

1:44:10 > 1:44:13The Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment,

1:44:13 > 1:44:15conducted by Marin Alsop.

1:44:15 > 1:44:19From me, Sarah Mohr-Pietsch, at the Royal Albert Hall, goodnight.