´óÏó´«Ã½

In 2020, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3 is bringing together musical greats, from the past and the present, in one extraordinary Proms season. Radio 3 is broadcasting the best of four decades of unmissable Proms concerts.

This evening we've another chance to hear a Prom from 2015 - Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra present Beethoven’s Second and Fifth piano concertos – the composer’s first and final experiments in the genre. In No 2, a spacious and gentle central adagio is framed with Mozartean grace in the outer movements, while the Fifth is the composer’s last word on the subject – a musical emancipation of the soloist that anticipates the Romantic concertos of Beethoven’s successors.

Opening tonight’s concert is Stravinsky’s Octet, written for wind ensemble. Looking to the musical past for inspiration once again, Stravinsky’s Neo-classical masterpiece pastiches the forms and textures of the 18th century, colouring them with a mood and mischief all his own.

Presented by Andrew McGregor, who chats to Leif Ove between the two piano concertos.

Stravinsky: Octet
c.7.55pm
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major
c.8.35pm
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, ‘Emperor’

Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano/conductor)
(From ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms 2015, 26 July)