0:00:02 > 0:00:04Tonight we travel though the rugged soundscapes
0:00:04 > 0:00:07of central Europe by way of a whole new musical solar system.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Welcome to the BBC Proms 2017.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36The BBC Symphony Orchestra, the backbone of the BBC Proms,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39is back in the Royal Albert Hall tonight
0:00:39 > 0:00:41to perform music by Bartok and Dvorak,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43and a contemporary work
0:00:43 > 0:00:46by the acclaimed young American Missy Mazzoli.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Hello, I'm Sara Mohr-Pietsch.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53Welcome to our final night of BBC Four broadcasts from the BBC Proms.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56We have a special last-night double bill for you this evening
0:00:56 > 0:00:59with the ground-breaking debut of "Chineke!",
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Europe's first black and minority ethnic orchestra
0:01:01 > 0:01:05which you'll be able to see straight after this concert.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07And we're about to see another debut
0:01:07 > 0:01:10from the young American Karina Canellakis,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13her first time conducting at the Proms.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Karina started out as a violinist before being encouraged to take up
0:01:18 > 0:01:21the baton by none other than Sir Simon Rattle, and last year,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25she won the prestigious Georg Solti Conducting Prize.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Joining Karina tonight is fellow American, the pianist Jeremy Denk,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32who'll be playing Bartok's Second Piano Concerto -
0:01:32 > 0:01:34a piece that's notoriously difficult
0:01:34 > 0:01:38and challenging for both the soloist and the orchestra.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41And we finish with the richly melodic and adventurous
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Eighth Symphony by Dvorak,
0:01:43 > 0:01:49reinterpreting the traditions and folk music of his Czech homeland.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52But first, Missy Mazzoli, the toast of New York,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and a hugely celebrated composer of new opera.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59In her orchestral Sinfonia (For Orbiting Spheres),
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Missy takes us on a journey to the centre of a musical solar system.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Lloyd Coleman caught up with her at rehearsals to find out more.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Let's talk about your piece that's being played,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14- Sinfonia (For Orbiting Spheres)... - Yes.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Can you tell me a bit about that title, what it means?
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Well, the word "sinfonia" has a couple of different meanings
0:02:19 > 0:02:23throughout history, so it can refer to a Baroque orchestral work,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26and this piece certainly has a lot of Baroque influences.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28But there's another meaning which is that
0:02:28 > 0:02:32sinfonia is the old-fashioned word, Italian word for the hurdy-gurdy,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35which is the cranked medieval instrument. I have a real thing
0:02:35 > 0:02:38for out-of-tune, old, strange instruments.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41I'm not going to give it away, but you know, in this piece,
0:02:41 > 0:02:42there are some strange instruments
0:02:42 > 0:02:44that the orchestra plays that sort of imitate
0:02:44 > 0:02:48the sound of a hurdy-gurdy, so I thought, OK, you know,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52what if I try to turn the orchestra into a massive hurdy-gurdy?
0:02:52 > 0:02:53So, there's that!
0:02:53 > 0:02:56And then the "orbiting spheres" part is I had this other idea to try
0:02:56 > 0:03:00to create a piece in the shape of a solar system, which, again,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02sounds maybe crazy and impossible, but, it's just the idea
0:03:02 > 0:03:06of all these little loops that come together to create bigger loops.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09And the piece itself ends where it starts,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11but in a massively transformed way,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14which again, I'm not going to give away the ending,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17but it comes back in a very unexpected, strange way.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21You do ask the orchestra, or some members of the orchestra,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24- to pick up a harmonica, or a melodica.- Yeah.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26How have you found the response of the players?
0:03:26 > 0:03:30It's tricky. And you know, you're asked to play this toy instrument
0:03:30 > 0:03:33that you've never...maybe never played before
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and, maybe it feels silly, but I think once they hear it,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39they realise that it's actually...
0:03:39 > 0:03:41You know, the sound of a harmonica is actually, for me,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43a very heartbreaking sound.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45It's intimately connected to everyone's breath,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47it's a sound that everyone is familiar with.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49So, I think, to put that in the context
0:03:49 > 0:03:51of this virtuosic playing
0:03:51 > 0:03:53is actually quite tender
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and it gives the piece a sort of vulnerable quality.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59So, I think that these players have such good ears that they,
0:03:59 > 0:04:00I think, after the first rehearsal
0:04:00 > 0:04:02they heard how it worked with the strings
0:04:02 > 0:04:05and realised that it wasn't a joke, it wasn't a gimmick,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08but it was a genuine part of the sound world.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11When you're in the Albert Hall, will you be nervous at that point?
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Is it a moment of, "Oh, it's out of my hands now,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15"it's in the musicians' hands!"
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Or is it just something that, you know, you just let the piece go?
0:04:18 > 0:04:20Yeah, I mean, I wish that I could have
0:04:20 > 0:04:21that sort of Zen attitude about it,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25but I'm probably going to be, like, sweating out of my palms profusely!
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Very honest of you! Very honest of you.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Obviously, there's something strange about not having control
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and then you have to go up on stage and say, "That was mine."
0:04:33 > 0:04:35You know, like, and represent.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39So, I think I'll be very scared, but very excited.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43So, get ready for the Royal Albert Hall to be transformed
0:04:43 > 0:04:45into a sort of musical planetarium
0:04:45 > 0:04:48as Karina Canellakis takes to the stage
0:04:48 > 0:04:50to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra
0:04:50 > 0:04:54in Sinfonia (For Orbiting Spheres) by Missy Mazzoli.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57APPLAUSE
0:04:57 > 0:04:59SILENCE DESCENDS
0:14:37 > 0:14:40APPLAUSE
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The American composer Missy Mazzoli turning
0:14:55 > 0:15:00the orchestra into a musical solar system and a giant hurdy-gurdy.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04The European premiere of Sinfonia (For Orbiting Spheres)
0:15:04 > 0:15:06by Missy Mazzoli.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Karina Canellakis making her Proms debut
0:15:08 > 0:15:10conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra
0:15:10 > 0:15:14in the European premiere of Mazzoli's piece.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Originally a piece of chamber music,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20but turned into that full orchestral version last year
0:15:20 > 0:15:23for the Boulder Symphony Orchestra in Colorado.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Here's Missy Mazzoli making her way onto the stage
0:15:29 > 0:15:31of the Royal Albert Hall.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34She had a huge success recently with her full-length opera,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38Breaking The Waves, based on the film by Lars von Trier.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41It was in New York earlier on this year and won Best Opera
0:15:41 > 0:15:44in the American Music Critics' Association.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45And she has a third opera
0:15:45 > 0:15:49due to be premiered in Washington DC next January.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Missy Mazzoli described by the New York Time Out
0:15:58 > 0:16:01as "Brooklyn's post-millennial Mozart".
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Next tonight, Bartok's Second Piano Concerto,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13a virtuosic piece written by a true virtuoso.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Bartok is remembered today
0:16:15 > 0:16:18as one of the greatest Hungarian composers of the 20th century,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21but during his life he earned his living
0:16:21 > 0:16:23mainly from teaching and playing the piano
0:16:23 > 0:16:26and he was also a pioneering collector
0:16:26 > 0:16:29and a passionate expert in central European folk music,
0:16:29 > 0:16:34particularly of the Hungarian, Romanian and Slovak peasantry.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Bartok was an uncommonly gifted pianist,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40but even he found his own work challenging at times.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45It's said that after he wrote his fiendish First Piano Concerto
0:16:45 > 0:16:49in 1927, he resolved that his second would be less difficult to play,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52so quite how he ended up with a piece this hard, who knows?
0:16:52 > 0:16:55The great pianist Sir Andras Schiff famously said that every time
0:16:55 > 0:16:59he finishes the Second Concerto, there's blood on the keyboard.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03We caught up with tonight's soloist Jeremy Denk in rehearsals.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05So, Bartok's Second Piano Concerto
0:17:05 > 0:17:08is about two kinds of virtuosity -
0:17:08 > 0:17:10his virtuosity as a pianist
0:17:10 > 0:17:13and his tremendous virtuosity as a composer.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15It's in three very different movements.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18The first channels Bach, Gabrielli, earlier music,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21so there's all this wonderful chatter between the brass,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23the winds and the piano. You know, counterpoint.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Kind of an orgy of counterpoint!
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Then, the second movement, completely different mood,
0:17:27 > 0:17:28everything turns still.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32It's a great "dark night of the soul" Hungarian lament,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and the piano sings these kind of Hungarian blues.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37And then the last movement,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40good old-fashioned riotous Hungarian gypsy dance
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and he brings back all the themes from the first movement
0:17:43 > 0:17:45so that the piece is symmetrical, and it rounds itself out
0:17:45 > 0:17:48and it returns to its beginnings.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50APPLAUSE
0:17:50 > 0:17:53The American pianist Jeremy Denk making his way onto the stage
0:17:53 > 0:17:57of the Royal Albert Hall, joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra
0:17:57 > 0:18:00with Karina Canellakis for the musical orgy
0:18:00 > 0:18:04that is Bartok's Second Piano Concerto here at the BBC Proms.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06SILENCE DESCENDS
0:28:21 > 0:28:24MOVEMENT ENDS
0:28:43 > 0:28:45NEXT MOVEMENT BEGINS
0:41:16 > 0:41:18MOVEMENT ENDS
0:41:23 > 0:41:26NEXT MOVEMENT BEGINS
0:47:38 > 0:47:41CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:47:53 > 0:47:56Well, there's no blood on the keyboard of the piano,
0:47:56 > 0:48:00and, frankly, Jeremy Denk looked like he barely broke a sweat.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03But what an astonishingly muscular and radiant performance
0:48:03 > 0:48:07of one of the most challenging works in the repertoire,
0:48:07 > 0:48:10Bartok's Second Piano Concerto -
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Jeremy Denk at the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
0:48:13 > 0:48:16conducted by Karina Canellakis.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31Bartok's Second Concerto is so difficult for both pianist
0:48:31 > 0:48:34and orchestra that it's barely ever performed.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36So, a wonderful treat to hear it here at the Proms.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38And since it's done so rarely,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41there are members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
0:48:41 > 0:48:43playing it for the first time tonight.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58Exquisite playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00Bartok's score demands such a lot from them.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Jeremy Denk is a real musical polymath.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09As well as an astonishing virtuoso pianist,
0:49:09 > 0:49:11he's also a composer, a writer
0:49:11 > 0:49:14and a winner of the MacArthur Genius Prize.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41And now for something completely different.
0:49:41 > 0:49:42LAUGHTER
0:54:17 > 0:54:22CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Something completely different indeed!
0:54:27 > 0:54:29American pianist Jeremy Denk
0:54:29 > 0:54:31could not have picked a more perfect encore
0:54:31 > 0:54:34than the slow movement of Mozart's C-Major Sonata
0:54:34 > 0:54:38which carries the nick-name, the "Sonata Facile",
0:54:38 > 0:54:41the "simple" or easy sonata. So, the ideal antidote
0:54:41 > 0:54:43to the fiendishly challenging Bartok concerto
0:54:43 > 0:54:46he played earlier this evening at the Proms.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13Well, we've got about 20 minutes now
0:55:13 > 0:55:15before the second part of this Prom
0:55:15 > 0:55:19and we're almost at the end of this year's BBC Proms festival.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21It all wraps up tomorrow night
0:55:21 > 0:55:24with the traditional Last Night celebrations.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27So, to mark the end of a glorious eight-week season
0:55:27 > 0:55:29of broadcasts here on BBC Four,
0:55:29 > 0:55:31we thought we'd take the chance to relive
0:55:31 > 0:55:33just some of our favourite moments,
0:55:33 > 0:55:37including some other encores from the 2017 BBC Proms.
0:58:44 > 0:58:45APPLAUSE
1:03:37 > 1:03:40LOUD CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:05:47 > 1:05:50MUTED SASSY NOTES
1:06:17 > 1:06:19APPLAUSE
1:10:17 > 1:10:20WILD CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:12:45 > 1:12:46LAUGHTER
1:12:49 > 1:12:50APPLAUSE
1:12:50 > 1:12:55Just a taste of the BBC 2017 Proms and, of course,
1:12:55 > 1:12:58lots of the television and radio broadcasts are still there
1:12:58 > 1:13:01to relive on BBC iPlayer.
1:13:01 > 1:13:03Well, the BBC Symphony Orchestra is starting to return
1:13:03 > 1:13:05to the stage here at the Albert Hall.
1:13:05 > 1:13:09The second half of their concert devoted to just one work -
1:13:09 > 1:13:13music by the great Czech master, Dvorak,
1:13:13 > 1:13:15and his gloriously joyful Eighth Symphony.
1:13:15 > 1:13:19Unlike his other late symphonies, which are outward-looking,
1:13:19 > 1:13:22the Eighth is a profoundly personal take
1:13:22 > 1:13:24on the music of his homeland,
1:13:24 > 1:13:27written in his summer home in Bohemia.
1:13:27 > 1:13:30During rehearsals, Lloyd Coleman spoke to tonight's conductor,
1:13:30 > 1:13:33Karina Canellakis, about this symphony,
1:13:33 > 1:13:36and also about her stellar career which has taken her
1:13:36 > 1:13:40from a job as a professional violinist to the conductor's podium.
1:13:40 > 1:13:44Working with an orchestra like the BBC Symphony Orchestra,
1:13:44 > 1:13:45how does your experience
1:13:45 > 1:13:49as a professional violin player inform that?
1:13:49 > 1:13:52My experience playing string quartets
1:13:52 > 1:13:55probably influenced my approach as a conductor,
1:13:55 > 1:13:56my approach to scores,
1:13:56 > 1:14:00more than any other single thing that I've done as a musician.
1:14:00 > 1:14:03The analytical way you have to approach
1:14:03 > 1:14:05playing in a string quartet,
1:14:05 > 1:14:09the way that you have to try things dozens of times.
1:14:09 > 1:14:14You have to also learn how to communicate with other people
1:14:14 > 1:14:16without speaking,
1:14:16 > 1:14:18without necessarily dictating
1:14:18 > 1:14:21or deciding every single tiny detail,
1:14:21 > 1:14:25but sometimes it has to be left up to...what happens in the moment.
1:14:25 > 1:14:28I understand that none other than Sir Simon Rattle
1:14:28 > 1:14:30became something of a mentor for you,
1:14:30 > 1:14:33or encouraged you to take up conducting?
1:14:33 > 1:14:37He heard me play a chamber music concert and was very encouraging,
1:14:37 > 1:14:43um, towards the idea that I would become a conductor.
1:14:43 > 1:14:46And he gave me a tremendous amount of confidence and guidance.
1:14:46 > 1:14:49We are still very much in regular contact
1:14:49 > 1:14:54and talk about all things related to nerdy conductor problems.
1:14:54 > 1:14:57What a thought! You and Simon Rattle having coffee over a score
1:14:57 > 1:15:00and nerding out over Dvorak Eight or whatever!
1:15:00 > 1:15:04I think all conductors love to nerd out together.
1:15:04 > 1:15:07And it's your first time at the Proms as a conductor,
1:15:07 > 1:15:09but it is also your first time conducting
1:15:09 > 1:15:11the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
1:15:11 > 1:15:13What do you make of this particular band?
1:15:13 > 1:15:17Everyone is excited to play at the Proms,
1:15:17 > 1:15:21and, at the same time, we're still getting to know each other,
1:15:21 > 1:15:23there is a lot of electricity in the air
1:15:23 > 1:15:28and there's a lot of suspense, even, as to what is going to happen.
1:15:28 > 1:15:30How are we going to react to each other on that stage
1:15:30 > 1:15:34with that audience on that particular day?
1:15:34 > 1:15:37So, I'm very happy and very excited to work with them.
1:15:37 > 1:15:40The Eighth Symphony by Dvorak - what did this piece mean to you
1:15:40 > 1:15:43and why do you want to play it at this Prom?
1:15:43 > 1:15:47I love this symphony...so much.
1:15:47 > 1:15:49I think it's, um...
1:15:49 > 1:15:52one of the most joyful pieces ever written.
1:15:52 > 1:15:55It is so beautifully constructed,
1:15:55 > 1:15:58every movement complements every other movement,
1:15:58 > 1:16:00and by the time you get to the third movement,
1:16:00 > 1:16:03this theme that the violins play, you don't expect it,
1:16:03 > 1:16:06and it just takes you into a whole other world.
1:16:06 > 1:16:08And then, you get to the last movement
1:16:08 > 1:16:10and the trumpets have this fanfare
1:16:10 > 1:16:13that comes out of...out of nowhere.
1:16:13 > 1:16:18And you expect, perhaps, something victorious or march-like,
1:16:18 > 1:16:20and you don't get that at all. You get, again,
1:16:20 > 1:16:24the cellos somehow reminding you of the beginning of the symphony,
1:16:24 > 1:16:27but then they play something incredibly tender,
1:16:27 > 1:16:29like a lullaby, and then, after that,
1:16:29 > 1:16:33you have the exciting full orchestra that comes in.
1:16:33 > 1:16:36But even at that moment, it's never aggressive,
1:16:36 > 1:16:40it's never violent, it's never that kind of intensity
1:16:40 > 1:16:44that you would hear from perhaps other composers.
1:16:44 > 1:16:47There's always a roundness to the sound,
1:16:47 > 1:16:51there's always a richness and a suppleness
1:16:51 > 1:16:53in the sound in Dvorak's music.
1:16:53 > 1:16:55And especially in the Eighth Symphony.
1:16:55 > 1:16:58And, ultimately, at the end of the symphony,
1:16:58 > 1:17:04just the most sort of ebullient and joyful ending you could imagine.
1:17:04 > 1:17:06We should have a thesaurus to look up
1:17:06 > 1:17:09all the different words for "joy",
1:17:09 > 1:17:12because it's just... that is what this piece embodies.
1:17:12 > 1:17:15It's just absolute, pure joy.
1:17:20 > 1:17:23Karina Canellakis, and here she comes to conduct
1:17:23 > 1:17:27the BBC Symphony orchestra in Dvorak's Eighth Symphony.
1:17:27 > 1:17:29APPLAUSE
1:17:37 > 1:17:40SILENCE DESCENDS
1:28:38 > 1:28:41MOVEMENT ENDS
1:29:01 > 1:29:03NEXT MOVEMENT BEGINS
1:39:24 > 1:39:27MOVEMENT ENDS
1:39:52 > 1:39:55NEXT MOVEMENT BEGINS
1:55:36 > 1:55:40CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:55:53 > 1:55:56The BBC Symphony Orchestra bringing warmth,
1:55:56 > 1:55:59exuberance and plenty of joy to that performance
1:55:59 > 1:56:01of Dvorak's Eighth Symphony,
1:56:01 > 1:56:05conducted here at the BBC Proms for the first time
1:56:05 > 1:56:08by the American Karina Canellakis.
1:56:12 > 1:56:15The Eighth is one of Dvorak's most popular symphonies,
1:56:15 > 1:56:19second only perhaps to the one that came after, the Ninth,
1:56:19 > 1:56:22the so-called New World Symphony.
1:56:24 > 1:56:28Karina Canellakis bringing principal flute Michael Cox to his feet,
1:56:28 > 1:56:33principal clarinet Richard Hosford, principal oboe Richard Simpson.
1:56:38 > 1:56:41And that's bassoonist Amy Harman.
1:56:41 > 1:56:46Some wonderful woodwind writing by Dvorak in that symphony.
1:56:47 > 1:56:51And Karina Canellakis was making her debut tonight as a conductor
1:56:51 > 1:56:54at the Proms, although she has already played at the festival
1:56:54 > 1:56:57as a violinist back in 2008.
1:56:57 > 1:56:59She appeared in a concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
1:56:59 > 1:57:01under Bernard Haitink.
1:57:03 > 1:57:08There's lots of wonderful standout solo and orchestral writing,
1:57:08 > 1:57:11but it's a very collegiate piece, Dvorak Eight.
1:57:12 > 1:57:17Dvorak doesn't give any one individual limelight to a player,
1:57:17 > 1:57:18he involves the entire orchestra
1:57:18 > 1:57:21in the atmosphere of warmth and optimism.
1:57:38 > 1:57:42Well, that's the end of this concert given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra,
1:57:42 > 1:57:45but do stay tuned because straight after this broadcast,
1:57:45 > 1:57:49you can watch the ground-breaking orchestra "Chineke!"
1:57:49 > 1:57:51in their Proms debut from last week.
1:57:51 > 1:57:55And, of course, tomorrow night, starting at 7.15 on BBC Two,
1:57:55 > 1:57:57we'll begin our live broadcast
1:57:57 > 1:58:01of the Last Night celebrations of the BBC Proms 2017.
1:58:01 > 1:58:06But, for now, from all of us here at the Royal Albert Hall, goodnight.