| Main Performers | Vikingur Olafsson - piano |
| Set List | 'Symphony No.1 in D Major, Classical', Prokofiev,
'Keyboard Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056', Bach
INTERVAL
'Piano Concerto No.24 in C Minor, K491', Mozart,
'Symphony No.9 in E Flat Major', Shaostakovich |
| Performance Notes | In 2021, the BBC Proms returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a summer of live music, as it has done every year since 1941. With 52 concerts over 44 days, featuring 30 orchestras and ensembles and more than 2,000 musicians, this ambitious season promises a celebration of live music on a scale not seen since before the pandemic. From the power of a symphony orchestra to the sheer joy of a single performer on the Halls magnificent organ, this summer we look forward to coming together through music. Every Prom will be live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
Award-winning Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson makes his much-anticipated Proms debut, as soloist in both Bachs Keyboard Concerto in F minor, whose energised outer movements frame a ravishing central Adagio, and Mozarts pioneering Piano Concerto K491, a rare minor-key work whose stormy, richly orchestrated music climaxes in a relentless dance. The Philharmonia Orchestra and its dynamic Finnish Principal Conductor Designate Santtu-Matias Rouvali frame the concert with two symphonies: Prokofievs playful Classical Symphony, with its clever juxtaposition of traditional forms and contemporary colours, and the more loaded irony of Shostakovichs compact Symphony No. 9.
The season was shortened to six, rather than eight, weeks because of the financial risk to the BBC not knowing audience sizes due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| Related Archival Material | Prospectus (RAHE/1/2021/5),
Programme (RAHE/1/2021/22),
Digital photographs |