Ravel and Rachmaninov BBC Proms

Tonight at the Proms... sparkling waltzes,

passion at the piano and new sound worlds as Valery Gergiev brings

the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra to the Royal Albert Hall.

Hello.

This is Valery Gergiev's first season with the Munich Philharmonic

and we are in for a real treat.

We've got the luscious 3rd Piano Concerto by Rachmaninov,

we've got Richard Strauss's Suite from Der Rosenkavalier,

The Knight Of The Rose.

But we're going to start with Ravel's Bolero, and who can forget

that hypnotic side drum rhythm as Torvill and Dean

stormed their way to victory in 1984's Winter Olympics?

Such a simple rhythmic idea, but such a stroke of genius.

APPLAUSE

And here he comes, Valery Gergiev,

to open tonight's Prom with Ravel's Bolero.

Ravel's Bolero, performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra,

conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The music of Spain was always close to Ravel's heart -

his mother was from the Basque region

and used to sing Spanish songs to him as a child.

Next, Rachmaninov, his 3rd Piano Concerto in D minor.

Now, Rachmaninov was an outstanding pianist himself, who had the

advantage of famously large hands, with a gigantic finger-stretch.

In fact, he performed here at the Royal Albert Hall

in Sir Henry Wood's Jubilee Concert,

just days after the end of the 1938 Proms season.

Rachmaninov had come to London especially to honour his old friend.

The 3rd Piano Concerto is fiendishly difficult.

Rachmaninov himself played at the premiere in 1909 but,

as he grew older, he preferred to entrust those technical challenges

to younger players.

Of those, the most famous was Vladimir Horowitz.

Rachmaninov said that Horowitz could play the 3rd Piano Concerto

better than he could, and that is quite the compliment.

APPLAUSE

So here comes tonight's soloist, Behzod Abduraimov.

Born in Uzbekistan in 1990,

he began to play the piano at the age of five.

He's only 26 now, making his Proms debut

with Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor.

APPLAUSE

A resounding cheer for Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto in D minor,

performed by Behzod Abduraimov with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra

conducted by Valery Gergiev.

What a tremendous Proms debut for this phenomenal young pianist.

It really is a fiendishly difficult work to perform,

so difficult that even Rachmaninov had to practise it on a dummy piano

during his Atlantic crossing to the premiere in 1909.

He's artist-in-residence at Park University in Kansas City.

He left his native Uzbekistan when he was 16.

Rachmaninov's own virtuosity as a pianist led him to

New York's Carnegie Hall where he played his 3rd Piano Concerto

with none other than Gustav Mahler conducting.

Apparently Mahler made the musicians stay on long after

the end of the rehearsal to perfect the rich orchestration.

Behzod and Valery Gergiev perform together regularly -

they went on tour with the Mariinsky Orchestra recently

to perform the Prokofiev Piano Concerto cycle

at concerts in Stockholm, Vienna and Dortmund.

APPLAUSE

That was Liszt's La Campanella, The Little Bell,

Behzod Abduraimov's encore tonight.

The tune comes from Paganini's 2nd Violin Concerto.

Liszt had a lifelong admiration for Paganini's playing -

he first heard him play in Paris in 1831

and brilliantly arranged the virtuoso violin theme for the piano.

In 15 minutes, we'll be hearing Richard Strauss's ever-popular

Suite from Der Rosenkavalier.

But, before that, we've got some more Russian music,

although it couldn't be more different

from the Rachmaninov we just heard.

It's Galina Ustvolskaya's 3rd Symphony,

Jesus Messiah, Save Us.

The text is written by a Benedictine monk

from the 11th century known as Hermann the Cripple,

who couldn't speak or move without pain.

Prepare yourself for a new and agonising sound world.

Galina Ustvolskaya died in 2006,

and during her lifetime she was famously reclusive.

She was a pupil of Shostakovich, but memorably said,

"There's no link whatsoever between my music

"and that of any other composer, living or dead."

Not that this affected Shostakovich - he proposed marriage

to her twice, only to be turned down on both occasions.

It's a much-reduced orchestra on stage - five oboes,

five trumpets and five double basses, with trombone,

three tubas, percussion and a piano.

APPLAUSE

And here comes Valery Gergiev with tonight's reciter, Alexei Petrenko,

to perform Galina Ustvolskaya's 3rd Symphony,

Jesus Messiah, Save Us.

IN RUSSIAN

-TRANSLATION:

-Save us.

-TRANSLATION:

-Save us.

-TRANSLATION:

-(Save us.)

-TRANSLATION:

-Save us.

-TRANSLATION:

-Save...

us.

APPLAUSE

Valery Gergiev conducting members of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra

there in Galina Ustvolskaya's 3rd Symphony,

Jesus Messiah, Save Us,

which was written in 1983.

The narrator was Alexei Petrenko making his Proms debut.

He's very well known across Russia in film and television

as well as on stage...

His roles have included Peter the Great and Stalin.

Valery Gergiev knew Galina Ustvolskaya personally -

apparently she was fiercely independent

and something of a myth in her own lifetime.

She would turn down commissions

and even disowned some of her early works.

Now for the final piece of music in this evening's Prom,

the Suite from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier,

The Knight of the Rose.

This opera was an instant success, a romantic comedy

set in 18th century Vienna with plenty of scope for waltzes.

The title comes from the silver rose presented by the dashing young

Count Octavian to his prospective fiancee, Sophie.

The music is gloriously colourful,

it's stuffed full of gorgeous melodies.

APPLAUSE

Here comes Valery Gergiev to conduct

the Suite from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.

APPLAUSE

The Suite from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.

A sparkling, imaginary Viennese world.

Richard Strauss's father, Franz,

played first horn with the Munich Opera, so it's rather fitting

that it's the Munich Philharmonic playing here tonight.

This is Valery Gergiev's first season with the Munich Philharmonic,

an orchestra founded in 1893 with an illustrious and rich history,

including the world premieres of Mahler's 4th and 8th Symphonies,

with Mahler himself conducting.

And it looks as if we're going to get an encore.

APPLAUSE

The Hungarian Dance from The Damnation Of Faust

by Hector Berlioz, played there by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra

under their new music director, Valery Gergiev.

And that it is for tonight,

but make sure you tune in next week when there will be a full week

of Proms performances over on BBC Four,

starting with Quincy Jones on Monday.

But, for now, from me, Katie Derham, goodnight.