:00:33. > :00:37.Slavs, Scandinavians and Scots are in this Prom's
:00:38. > :00:41.Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC Scottish Symphony
:00:42. > :00:44.Orchestra tonight in a programme that has Tchaikovsky's full-blooded
:00:45. > :00:47.and quintessentially Russian Violin Concerto at its heart.
:00:48. > :00:50.It's played by Pekka Kuusisto, great excitement as the charismatic
:00:51. > :00:54.Finnish musician prepares to make his Proms debut.
:00:55. > :00:57.Another Russian master in the second half - Petrushka is the first
:00:58. > :01:00.of a trio of Stravinsky ballets to be performed at the Proms this
:01:01. > :01:04.weekend with a radical soundscape inspired
:01:05. > :01:08.by old St Petersburg and the city's traditional folk music.
:01:09. > :01:10.There is actually a folk thread running through
:01:11. > :01:16.We start with a world premiere by Scottish composer Helen Grime -
:01:17. > :01:21.Subtly incorporating a traditional farmworkers' song,
:01:22. > :01:24.it is the first of two orchestral pieces inspired by the landscape
:01:25. > :01:32.Eardley was just 42 when she died of cancer in 1963.
:01:33. > :01:34.Though from Glasgow, she spent her latter years
:01:35. > :01:37.in a house perched on a cliff near the small fishing village
:01:38. > :01:40.of Catterline in the North-East of Scotland, painting the sea
:01:41. > :01:45.Grime, who herself grew up not far away, became fascinated by Eardley's
:01:46. > :01:49.approach of painting the same scenes over and over in different lights,
:01:50. > :01:57.In her new work Grime applies this to musical composition.
:01:58. > :01:59.Catterline in Winter evolves by exploring the same
:02:00. > :02:02.material in multiple ways, gradually shifting through different
:02:03. > :02:05.harmonic registers, rhythms and orchestrations.
:02:06. > :02:07.Although it's far from a straightforward depiction
:02:08. > :02:10.of the painting in sound, listen out for the exuberant motifs
:02:11. > :02:15.bursting through later in Grime's short piece,
:02:16. > :02:18.akin to the sun breaking through the leaden sky
:02:19. > :02:41.Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
:02:42. > :02:44.The world premiere of Catterline in Winter, part one from Two Eardley
:02:45. > :11:40.MUSIC: Catterline in Winter by Helen Grime.
:11:41. > :11:50.Thomas Dausgaard conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
:11:51. > :11:52.in the world premiere of Catterline in Winter - the first of
:11:53. > :12:13.presented in Joan Eardley's picture. -- magically.
:12:14. > :12:16.The Scottish folk song referenced in the piece is called
:12:17. > :12:18."The Scranky Black Farmer" - scranky being a rather wonderful sounding
:12:19. > :12:23.It is what's known as a bothy ballad sung by farm labourers
:12:24. > :12:25.specifically in the north-east of Scotland.
:12:26. > :12:27.A bothy is the building where they would sleep and entertain
:12:28. > :12:29.themselves with songs, often about the harshness
:12:30. > :12:35.You can hear the second part of her Two Eardley Pictures,
:12:36. > :12:38.entitled Snow, on BBC Radio 3 this Sunday afternoon.
:12:39. > :13:03.I couldn't stand all that fiddling with reeds, it brings on neurosis.
:13:04. > :13:12.BBC Four at the Proms this Friday night. Great to have you with us.
:13:13. > :13:14.I'm thrilled to introduce Pekka Kuusisto a soloist in Tchaikovsky's
:13:15. > :13:19.Violin Concerto. It's a piece that brilliantly shows
:13:20. > :13:22.off just what fertile ground Tchaikovsky's mind was when it came
:13:23. > :13:25.to melodic inspiration - a deep well that kept
:13:26. > :13:27.on providing exciting new ideas. The work is highly virtuosic,
:13:28. > :13:29.a real challenge to play, but it's also full of lyrical
:13:30. > :13:32.writing and unforgettable melodies. It was written in 1878
:13:33. > :13:34.in Clarens in Switzerland, where Tchaikovsky was recuperating
:13:35. > :13:39.after a disastrous and brief Though we now think of the concerto
:13:40. > :13:44.as a masterpiece, it divided It was even declared
:13:45. > :13:48.unplayable and was refused Tchaikovsky had to wait three
:13:49. > :13:55.years for his premiere. His work was determinedly,
:13:56. > :13:58.defiantly and luxuriantly Russian, attracting cheers from his fellow
:13:59. > :14:02.countrymen but sneers from some "The violin is no longer played,
:14:03. > :14:07.it is tugged about, torn, beaten black and blue," wrote
:14:08. > :14:12.the Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick. "In the finale we see a host
:14:13. > :14:15.of savage, vulgar faces. We hear crude curses,
:14:16. > :14:21.and smell the booze," he concluded. Whilst he was not as nationalist
:14:22. > :14:24.as some of his colleagues, it's true that Tchaikovsky
:14:25. > :14:27.was at the forefront of a specifically Russian
:14:28. > :14:29.brand of romanticism. He proudly drew clear inspiration
:14:30. > :14:32.from the popular music, dance His concerto is shot
:14:33. > :14:38.through with driving folk rhythms, from the vigorous country dance
:14:39. > :14:41.of the first movement, to the exhilarating intensity
:14:42. > :14:43.of the festival celebrations Our soloist tonight really
:14:44. > :14:49.is a thrilling player. I have been lucky enough to hear him
:14:50. > :14:52.play chamber music and concertos He is charismatic, challenges
:14:53. > :14:57.the musical status quo and yet always gives complete respect
:14:58. > :15:01.to the composer whose music he is playing -
:15:02. > :15:05.Pekka Kuusisto's Proms debut an exciting and eagerly
:15:06. > :15:28.awaited occasion. Pekka Kuusisto is a great character,
:15:29. > :15:32.as we will see. Pekka Kuusisto takes
:15:33. > :15:34.to the stage to perform Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto
:15:35. > :15:36.in D Major, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra,
:15:37. > :20:51.conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. MUSIC: Vionlin Concerto
:20:52. > :33:36.in D Major by Tchaikovsky. The rollicking Finale
:33:37. > :50:22.to Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, played by the BBC Scottish Symphony
:50:23. > :50:25.Orchestra, under the direction of their new chief conductor
:50:26. > :50:40.in waiting, Thomas Dausgaard. I don't think I remember a soloist
:50:41. > :50:43.making the audience laugh as he did in the first movement. He seemed to
:50:44. > :50:47.have them in the palm of his hand. Tchaikovsky's nemesis Hanslick
:50:48. > :50:50.denounced it all as irredeemably Well, if that's the case,
:50:51. > :50:59.soloist Pekka Kuusisto clearly relishes filling his nostrils
:51:00. > :51:21.with such earthiness and passion. Erica Jeal, writing about Kuusisto
:51:22. > :51:24.in the Guardian nearly ten years ago: "he seems to take every piece
:51:25. > :51:27.he performs, however familiar, back to first principles,
:51:28. > :51:29.stripping any vestige of interpretative tradition
:51:30. > :51:32.and playing it as though he were hearing it
:51:33. > :51:35.for the first time. It's as if nobody has ever told him
:51:36. > :51:49.how the violin is You got a real sense of that in the
:51:50. > :51:54.Tchaikovsky, determined to give the impression that he was almost
:51:55. > :52:04.improvising, as if he was a folk musician standing up and making up
:52:05. > :52:07.the work as he went along. A great dynamic between him and Thomas
:52:08. > :52:13.Dausgaard. They have worked together much in northern Europe. Thomas
:52:14. > :52:16.Dausgaard was delighted, he was telling me earlier, to be with him
:52:17. > :52:29.as he makes his Proms debut this evening.
:52:30. > :52:38.I hope you can hear that stamping as Pekka Kuusisto looks like he might
:52:39. > :52:46.be about to give us an encore. Thank you. Let's get to work. I think I
:52:47. > :52:54.have about four and half minutes. I am going to play a traditional folk
:52:55. > :53:08.song from a region between Finland and Russia. Yes! The first version
:53:09. > :53:13.of this song is from about 1850 in a collection of folk songs from that
:53:14. > :53:25.region. This is the time when Russia used to be a part of fenland! --
:53:26. > :53:37.Finland. Depending on your point of view, of course. I was going to make
:53:38. > :53:45.a Brexit Job! So, it is four versus. It is the man singing about his
:53:46. > :53:57.beloved girl. It was in the time when it was considered not beautiful
:53:58. > :54:04.to be thin. The first verse is about how sweet and beautiful she is, but
:54:05. > :54:10.she has got narrow bones. The second verse is, she has got blue eyes but
:54:11. > :54:17.they go in different directions. In the third verse she has a very
:54:18. > :54:25.beautiful and sweet mouth, and fortunately it is massive. And in
:54:26. > :54:36.the fourth verse he says when I take her to the marketplace even the
:54:37. > :54:46.horses laugh at her. Thank you so much for being here. I heard all
:54:47. > :55:08.sorts rumours about you, but this is great.
:55:09. > :56:06.Ladies and gentlemen, Laura Samuel. Sell you noticed this part keeps
:56:07. > :56:12.repeating. You need to think it now. We have a new mixed choir of Royal
:56:13. > :56:34.Albert Hall. Let's do it slowly once. Louder. And then in the real
:56:35. > :56:39.tempo. One more time. Very clear articulate, please. Right, this is
:56:40. > :57:39.the last verse. My goodness, what quick learners the
:57:40. > :57:47.Proms audiences are. An improvised choir joining Pekka Kuusisto in an
:57:48. > :57:52.improvised folk song, Munun Kultani Kaunis, its chance late as my
:57:53. > :57:55.darling is beautiful. -- translates. What a fantastic entertainer Pekka
:57:56. > :58:03.Kuusisto is. The violinist uses the term
:58:04. > :58:05."multimusical" to explain his When he's not performing classical
:58:06. > :58:09.concerts, directing orchestras around Europe,
:58:10. > :58:11.running his own festival in Sibelius's home town,
:58:12. > :58:13.or working with contemporary composers like Nico Muhly
:58:14. > :58:15.and Thomas Ades, he is joining forces with the Finnish National
:58:16. > :58:17.Theatre, or enthusiastically jamming, collaborating and touring
:58:18. > :58:20.with a jazz electronica band, a Norwegian noise duo
:58:21. > :58:35.or a folk outfit. It is clear his one passion in life
:58:36. > :58:38.is making music, it does not matter what it is. It is his Proms debut
:58:39. > :58:45.this evening. It's a piece with a somewhat
:58:46. > :58:48.left field connection for tonight's conductor,
:58:49. > :58:50.Thomas Dausgaard, who tells me his childhood cat was called,
:58:51. > :58:53.you guessed it, Petrushka! In September Dausgaard takes over
:58:54. > :58:55.from Donald Runnicles as chief conductor of the BBC
:58:56. > :58:58.Scottish Symphony Orchestra. When we met backstage
:58:59. > :59:00.after rehearsals I began by asking him how strongly
:59:01. > :59:16.a thread of folk music runs In the very obvious way in
:59:17. > :59:22.Tchaikovsky and in a very sophisticated way in Stravinsky. We
:59:23. > :59:25.might take it in that it is very natural, but the way Stravinsky
:59:26. > :59:31.handles the folk material is super inspiring. He just cut it up all the
:59:32. > :59:36.time. Just as you think he is getting into the swing of something,
:59:37. > :59:41.if you know the song or something, he will have cut it up and a few
:59:42. > :59:52.buyers from there and it is all clashing in the middle. That is what
:59:53. > :59:57.he develops further in the Rites Of Spring and it is fascinating how he
:59:58. > :00:01.makes it happen. Folk abuse at influencing Tchaikovsky and folk
:00:02. > :00:06.music in Helen Grimes' piece that started the programme. This is an
:00:07. > :00:10.area of fascination for you. You have worked with Pekka Kuusisto on
:00:11. > :00:14.programmes on how folk music influenced classical composers.
:00:15. > :00:19.It's interesting to find out where the music possibly comes from. It
:00:20. > :00:26.gives a clue on how to perform it. Whether it was a song, a dance, and
:00:27. > :00:31.the words and the articulation, all of this can inform the way we
:00:32. > :00:34.perform it. That's interesting in terms of Pekka Kuusisto's approach
:00:35. > :00:42.in terms of the Tchaikovsky. There's a sense in the way he does it as if
:00:43. > :00:48.he's improvising it, as if it's happening spontaneously in front of
:00:49. > :00:54.us It should be the same in Petrushka. There's only 33 years
:00:55. > :00:58.that separates the Violin Concerto and Petrushka. But it feels like a
:00:59. > :01:03.century. Yes, Tchaikovsky was inspired by the classic. His great
:01:04. > :01:08.love was Mozart. Stravinsky's great love was Tchaikovsky. With all that
:01:09. > :01:12.great love for Tchaikovsky, he managed to blend so many different
:01:13. > :01:19.styles. It's not just folk music, it's popular music, it is what you
:01:20. > :01:22.would have heard in the fair, accordion playing, he's imitating
:01:23. > :01:28.the roller coasters or the carousels and all these sounds you would find
:01:29. > :01:34.there, he is making fun of Western European music. The melody you have
:01:35. > :01:42.in the introduction, he is mixing so many of the styles that in the end,
:01:43. > :01:46.you are almost confused what is a parody, when is this serious? You
:01:47. > :01:49.wonder and you are mystified. That's a fantastic place to be, I think,
:01:50. > :01:54.without us searching, we won't find anything. He puts us there.
:01:55. > :01:58.There are four sections to Stravinsky's Ballet.
:01:59. > :02:01.We start at the busy Shrovetide Fair, where the puppets -
:02:02. > :02:03.The Moor, The Ballerina and Petrushka - come to life.
:02:04. > :02:06.Petrushka is languishing in a prison cell in the second movement,
:02:07. > :02:12.Stravinsky described his writing here as "exasperating the patience
:02:13. > :02:17.of the orchestra with diabolical cascades of arpeggios".
:02:18. > :02:21.The ballerina - who Petrushka loves, makes a brief appearance.
:02:22. > :02:23.In the third tableau she is dancing with the Moor.
:02:24. > :02:25.Petrushka appears and there is a fight.
:02:26. > :02:28.Back to the fairground for the final section.
:02:29. > :02:30.At its climax, Petrushka is killed by the Moor.
:02:31. > :02:33.Petrushka's ghost appears, and thumbs his nose
:02:34. > :02:44.Thomas Dausgaard, about to conduct the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
:02:45. > :02:51.in a performance of Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka.
:02:52. > :38:28.MUSIC: Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka.
:38:29. > :38:38.A sting in the tail at the end of Stravinsky's Petrushka.
:38:39. > :38:41.The "hero" is slain by his love rival, but as the corpse
:38:42. > :38:47.is displayed, his ghost appears and thumbs his nose at the showman.
:38:48. > :38:50.The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Leader is Laura Samuel.
:38:51. > :39:00.So, a trio of Stravinsky ballets this weekend,
:39:01. > :39:03.including on Sunday with Dausgaard conducting this
:39:04. > :39:25.Hear that live on Radio 3. Dausgaard remains Chief Conductor
:39:26. > :39:32.All that running and diving from the Olympics take over BBC Four for a
:39:33. > :39:38.fortnight. After that the Proms return with a vengeance. Tomorrow
:39:39. > :39:41.night we're live on iPlayer with Holst's Planets. Then we move to BBC
:39:42. > :39:49.Two for the following two Saturdays. For now that's it from
:39:50. > :39:53.the Royal Albert Hall good night