Mitsuko Uchida makes a welcome return to the Proms for Schoenberg鈥檚 rarely heard Piano Concerto. It鈥檚 a work whose 12-tone abstraction is tempered by intriguing autobiographical suggestions 鈥� 鈥楲ife was so easy鈥�, 鈥楽uddenly hatred broke out鈥� 鈥� scribbled on the original manuscript. Autobiography is also at the fore in Shostakovich鈥檚 Eighth Symphony. Composed in 1943, at a particularly dark moment for Russia in the war, the work is a fragile statement of hope that the composer himself summarised as: 鈥楢ll that is dark and oppressive will disappear; all that is beautiful will triumph.鈥�