0:00:02 > 0:00:03Tonight at the Proms... sparkling waltzes,
0:00:03 > 0:00:07passion at the piano and new sound worlds as Valery Gergiev brings
0:00:07 > 0:00:10the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra to the Royal Albert Hall.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Hello.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42This is Valery Gergiev's first season with the Munich Philharmonic
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and we are in for a real treat.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47We've got the luscious 3rd Piano Concerto by Rachmaninov,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50we've got Richard Strauss's Suite from Der Rosenkavalier,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52The Knight Of The Rose.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55But we're going to start with Ravel's Bolero, and who can forget
0:00:55 > 0:00:59that hypnotic side drum rhythm as Torvill and Dean
0:00:59 > 0:01:02stormed their way to victory in 1984's Winter Olympics?
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Such a simple rhythmic idea, but such a stroke of genius.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10APPLAUSE
0:01:14 > 0:01:16And here he comes, Valery Gergiev,
0:01:16 > 0:01:18to open tonight's Prom with Ravel's Bolero.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Ravel's Bolero, performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28conducted by Valery Gergiev.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38The music of Spain was always close to Ravel's heart -
0:17:38 > 0:17:40his mother was from the Basque region
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and used to sing Spanish songs to him as a child.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Next, Rachmaninov, his 3rd Piano Concerto in D minor.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Now, Rachmaninov was an outstanding pianist himself, who had the
0:18:00 > 0:18:05advantage of famously large hands, with a gigantic finger-stretch.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07In fact, he performed here at the Royal Albert Hall
0:18:07 > 0:18:09in Sir Henry Wood's Jubilee Concert,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13just days after the end of the 1938 Proms season.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18Rachmaninov had come to London especially to honour his old friend.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21The 3rd Piano Concerto is fiendishly difficult.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Rachmaninov himself played at the premiere in 1909 but,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28as he grew older, he preferred to entrust those technical challenges
0:18:28 > 0:18:29to younger players.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Of those, the most famous was Vladimir Horowitz.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Rachmaninov said that Horowitz could play the 3rd Piano Concerto
0:18:35 > 0:18:38better than he could, and that is quite the compliment.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42APPLAUSE
0:18:43 > 0:18:47So here comes tonight's soloist, Behzod Abduraimov.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Born in Uzbekistan in 1990,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52he began to play the piano at the age of five.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55He's only 26 now, making his Proms debut
0:18:55 > 0:18:59with Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor.
1:00:49 > 1:00:52APPLAUSE
1:00:56 > 1:01:02A resounding cheer for Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto in D minor,
1:01:02 > 1:01:06performed by Behzod Abduraimov with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
1:01:06 > 1:01:08conducted by Valery Gergiev.
1:01:08 > 1:01:13What a tremendous Proms debut for this phenomenal young pianist.
1:01:13 > 1:01:15It really is a fiendishly difficult work to perform,
1:01:15 > 1:01:19so difficult that even Rachmaninov had to practise it on a dummy piano
1:01:19 > 1:01:22during his Atlantic crossing to the premiere in 1909.
1:01:27 > 1:01:31He's artist-in-residence at Park University in Kansas City.
1:01:31 > 1:01:34He left his native Uzbekistan when he was 16.
1:01:40 > 1:01:42Rachmaninov's own virtuosity as a pianist led him to
1:01:42 > 1:01:45New York's Carnegie Hall where he played his 3rd Piano Concerto
1:01:45 > 1:01:48with none other than Gustav Mahler conducting.
1:01:48 > 1:01:50Apparently Mahler made the musicians stay on long after
1:01:50 > 1:01:53the end of the rehearsal to perfect the rich orchestration.
1:02:00 > 1:02:03Behzod and Valery Gergiev perform together regularly -
1:02:03 > 1:02:06they went on tour with the Mariinsky Orchestra recently
1:02:06 > 1:02:09to perform the Prokofiev Piano Concerto cycle
1:02:09 > 1:02:12at concerts in Stockholm, Vienna and Dortmund.
1:06:47 > 1:06:51APPLAUSE
1:06:58 > 1:07:01That was Liszt's La Campanella, The Little Bell,
1:07:01 > 1:07:03Behzod Abduraimov's encore tonight.
1:07:06 > 1:07:09The tune comes from Paganini's 2nd Violin Concerto.
1:07:09 > 1:07:12Liszt had a lifelong admiration for Paganini's playing -
1:07:12 > 1:07:15he first heard him play in Paris in 1831
1:07:15 > 1:07:18and brilliantly arranged the virtuoso violin theme for the piano.
1:07:34 > 1:07:38In 15 minutes, we'll be hearing Richard Strauss's ever-popular
1:07:38 > 1:07:40Suite from Der Rosenkavalier.
1:07:40 > 1:07:43But, before that, we've got some more Russian music,
1:07:43 > 1:07:45although it couldn't be more different
1:07:45 > 1:07:47from the Rachmaninov we just heard.
1:07:47 > 1:07:50It's Galina Ustvolskaya's 3rd Symphony,
1:07:50 > 1:07:52Jesus Messiah, Save Us.
1:07:52 > 1:07:54The text is written by a Benedictine monk
1:07:54 > 1:07:57from the 11th century known as Hermann the Cripple,
1:07:57 > 1:08:00who couldn't speak or move without pain.
1:08:00 > 1:08:03Prepare yourself for a new and agonising sound world.
1:08:05 > 1:08:08Galina Ustvolskaya died in 2006,
1:08:08 > 1:08:11and during her lifetime she was famously reclusive.
1:08:11 > 1:08:14She was a pupil of Shostakovich, but memorably said,
1:08:14 > 1:08:16"There's no link whatsoever between my music
1:08:16 > 1:08:19"and that of any other composer, living or dead."
1:08:19 > 1:08:22Not that this affected Shostakovich - he proposed marriage
1:08:22 > 1:08:25to her twice, only to be turned down on both occasions.
1:08:28 > 1:08:31It's a much-reduced orchestra on stage - five oboes,
1:08:31 > 1:08:35five trumpets and five double basses, with trombone,
1:08:35 > 1:08:37three tubas, percussion and a piano.
1:08:37 > 1:08:39APPLAUSE
1:08:39 > 1:08:43And here comes Valery Gergiev with tonight's reciter, Alexei Petrenko,
1:08:43 > 1:08:46to perform Galina Ustvolskaya's 3rd Symphony,
1:08:46 > 1:08:49Jesus Messiah, Save Us.
1:08:58 > 1:09:00IN RUSSIAN
1:21:03 > 1:21:05- TRANSLATION:- Save us.
1:21:15 > 1:21:18- TRANSLATION:- Save us.
1:21:37 > 1:21:39- TRANSLATION:- (Save us.)
1:22:44 > 1:22:46- TRANSLATION:- Save us.
1:22:50 > 1:22:53- TRANSLATION:- Save...
1:22:53 > 1:22:54us.
1:23:37 > 1:23:40APPLAUSE
1:23:43 > 1:23:46Valery Gergiev conducting members of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
1:23:46 > 1:23:48there in Galina Ustvolskaya's 3rd Symphony,
1:23:48 > 1:23:50Jesus Messiah, Save Us,
1:23:50 > 1:23:52which was written in 1983.
1:23:57 > 1:24:00The narrator was Alexei Petrenko making his Proms debut.
1:24:00 > 1:24:03He's very well known across Russia in film and television
1:24:03 > 1:24:04as well as on stage...
1:24:04 > 1:24:07His roles have included Peter the Great and Stalin.
1:24:10 > 1:24:13Valery Gergiev knew Galina Ustvolskaya personally -
1:24:13 > 1:24:16apparently she was fiercely independent
1:24:16 > 1:24:18and something of a myth in her own lifetime.
1:24:18 > 1:24:19She would turn down commissions
1:24:19 > 1:24:22and even disowned some of her early works.
1:24:37 > 1:24:40Now for the final piece of music in this evening's Prom,
1:24:40 > 1:24:43the Suite from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier,
1:24:43 > 1:24:45The Knight of the Rose.
1:24:45 > 1:24:49This opera was an instant success, a romantic comedy
1:24:49 > 1:24:53set in 18th century Vienna with plenty of scope for waltzes.
1:24:53 > 1:24:57The title comes from the silver rose presented by the dashing young
1:24:57 > 1:25:00Count Octavian to his prospective fiancee, Sophie.
1:25:00 > 1:25:03The music is gloriously colourful,
1:25:03 > 1:25:05it's stuffed full of gorgeous melodies.
1:25:07 > 1:25:09APPLAUSE
1:25:12 > 1:25:14Here comes Valery Gergiev to conduct
1:25:14 > 1:25:17the Suite from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.
1:51:05 > 1:51:08APPLAUSE
1:51:11 > 1:51:14The Suite from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.
1:51:16 > 1:51:19A sparkling, imaginary Viennese world.
1:51:24 > 1:51:26Richard Strauss's father, Franz,
1:51:26 > 1:51:29played first horn with the Munich Opera, so it's rather fitting
1:51:29 > 1:51:32that it's the Munich Philharmonic playing here tonight.
1:51:36 > 1:51:39This is Valery Gergiev's first season with the Munich Philharmonic,
1:51:39 > 1:51:45an orchestra founded in 1893 with an illustrious and rich history,
1:51:45 > 1:51:48including the world premieres of Mahler's 4th and 8th Symphonies,
1:51:48 > 1:51:50with Mahler himself conducting.
1:51:55 > 1:51:58And it looks as if we're going to get an encore.
1:56:28 > 1:56:30APPLAUSE
1:56:34 > 1:56:36The Hungarian Dance from The Damnation Of Faust
1:56:36 > 1:56:40by Hector Berlioz, played there by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
1:56:40 > 1:56:43under their new music director, Valery Gergiev.
1:57:05 > 1:57:07And that it is for tonight,
1:57:07 > 1:57:10but make sure you tune in next week when there will be a full week
1:57:10 > 1:57:13of Proms performances over on BBC Four,
1:57:13 > 1:57:15starting with Quincy Jones on Monday.
1:57:15 > 1:57:18But, for now, from me, Katie Derham, goodnight.