91Èȱ¬

Live at the 91Èȱ¬ Proms: 91Èȱ¬ Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Thomas Dausgaard perform music by Nielsen; and Behzod Abduraimov joins for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1.

Presented by Martin Handley, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Ravel: La valse
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1

8.20 Interval: Daniel Grimley talks to Martin Handley about the music of Nielsen.

8.40 Part 2
Nielsen: Symphony No. 3, ‘Sinfonia espansiva’

Behzod Abduraimov (piano)
Elizabeth Watts (soprano)
Benjamin Appl (baritone)
91Èȱ¬ Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard (conductor)

‘Sizzling’ was how The Guardian described the playing of pianist Behzod Abduraimov. For The Arts Desk, meanwhile, he’s a ‘rare and enchanting musician’: the ideal performer, in other words, for a masterwork as witty, as joyful and as impulsive as Beethoven’s sunlit First Piano Concerto. That’s the burst of light and joy at the heart of this concert from the 91Èȱ¬ Scottish Symphony Orchestra under its Chief Conductor Thomas Dausgaard, but there’s no letting up after the interval, as Dausgaard conducts a symphony he’s made his own: Nielsen’s ebullient Sinfonia espansiva. Ravel’s La valse sets things spinning: a sumptuous, sinister evocation of an era – and a culture – waltzing ever closer to the abyss.