Prom 69: Smetana, Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky

10 Sep 2019, Royal Albert Hall

19:00 Tue 10 Sep 2019 Next Event

Proms 2019 Prom 69: Smetana, Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky

19:00 Tue 10 Sep 2019 Royal Albert Hall

Semyon Bychkov conducts the Czech Philharmonic in Shostakovich鈥檚 Symphony No. 8 鈥� the most personal of the composer鈥檚 many confrontations with the horror of war. Love dominates the first half, in music from the operas Eugene Onegin and The Bartered Bride.

Programme

- - Bedrich Smetana
  - The Bartered Bride 鈥� overture
  - The Bartered Bride 鈥� Three Dances(19 mins)
- - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  - Eugene Onegin 鈥� Letter Scene(12 mins)Henry Wood Novelties: UK premiere, 1892
- - interval
- - Dmitry Shostakovich
  - Symphony No 8 in C minor(65 mins)Henry Wood Novelties: UK premiere, 1944

Performers

Elena Stikhina
soprano
soprano
Czech Philharmonic
Semyon Bychkov
conductor
conductor

Composers

About This Event

The dancing rhythms and swirling colours of Smetana鈥檚 opera The Bartered Bride launch a concert of big musical gestures and even bigger emotions.

First love blazes hot in the Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky鈥檚 opera Eugene Onegin, as Tatyana (sung here by soprano Elena Stikhina) pours out her heart in music as romantic as anything the composer ever wrote.

War, not love, drives the pulsing heartbeat of Shostakovich鈥檚 Eighth Symphony 鈥� the most personal and direct of the composer鈥檚 many attempts 鈥榯o express the terrible tragedy of war鈥�.

Approx. end time: 21:10

Image: Elena Stikhina 漏 Ilia Koroktov