On Tuesday 15 August, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra made its annual appearance at the BBC Proms with a sell-out concert of Ligeti, Beethoven and Shostakovich, with Music Director Vasily Petrenko conducting and soloist Alexandre Kantorow, who made his Proms debut.
Read on to see photos, reviews and audience reactions from the night.
Photos (c) Andy Paradise unless otherwise stated.
The concert marks the third year in a row Vasily Petrenko conducted the RPO at the BBC Proms since he became the Orchestra's Music Director. This was Vasily's 16th appearance at the Proms overall. (c) RPO/Tim Lutton
Pianist Alexandre Kantorow won the coveted first prize and Grand Prix in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019. (c) RPO/Tim Lutton
The concert opened with Ligeti's Lontano, a composer whose 100th anniversary is being celebrated at the BBC Proms this year. Lontano ('In the Distance') features what the composer described as “harmonic crystallisation”, which uses dense polyphony to create a haze of orchestral harmony and complex texture.
This was followed by Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.4 with Alexandre Kantorow, a pianist who has been praised by The Guardian for "wonderfully fluid and mercurially expressive playing."
"Vasily Petrenko and the RPO went on to give a tailor-made accompaniment to Alexandre Kantorow, his sensitive and poetic introduction to Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto pointing the way to a lyrical reading of this wondrous work." Colin's Column
"He wove a kind of magic at the keyboard, with playing full of tenderness and a sound that shimmered somewhere in the ether. There was a true sense of conversation between orchestra and piano." The Times
Alexandre played a piano arrangement of music from Stravinsky's The Firebird for the encore.
The second half of the concert featured Shostakovich's Symphony No.10, composed before and after the death of Stalin, an event that lifted a weight from Shostakovich's shoulders. The symphony contains not only Shostakovich's own musical motif, 'DSCH', but also the musical signature of Elmira Nazirova, one of his composition pupils.
"The orchestra certainly gave its all, and there was some wonderful solo playing; the huge, world-weary sound of bassoonist Richard Ion was especially affecting." The Telegraph
My god. Live music. Didn’t think I could love Shostakovich any more, but @royalphilorch & Vasily Petrenko have left me even more smitten with their 10th Symph. And a phenomenal @BBCProms debut from Alexandre Kantorow & Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto. Turn the volume up @BBCSounds
— Emma Harding (@EmmaHarding01) August 15, 2023
My first prom. Absolutely loved it.
— Helen Marshall-Banks (@mb_helen) August 16, 2023
Wow. The @bbcproms is the gift that keeps on giving. A sensational performance of Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto by Alexandre Kantorow & then superlative playing by @royalphilorch of Shostakovich Symphony No 10 conducted with such skill by Vasily Petrenko @RoyalAlbertHall 🎼👏 pic.twitter.com/00m35oDAaX
— Rebecca Jones (@RebeccaJonesBBC) August 15, 2023
Absolutely brilliant playing tonight @royalphilorch & Petrenko were on fire 🔥 brilliant brilliant brilliant!!!
— Rosemary Scales (@musicGKs) August 16, 2023
Vasily Petrenko is doing such exciting things with @royalphilorch. A visceral yet often tender Shostakovich 10 @bbcproms, plus sparkling Beethoven with Alexandre Kantorow (encore: a transcription of The Firebird finale 🤯) and some thrillingly tense Ligeti 👏 👏 pic.twitter.com/hAYXF335v4
— Sam Jackson (@classicjacko) August 15, 2023
If every Tuesday could come with a side of Beethoven c/o @royalphilorch @VasilyPetrenko & Alexandre Kantorow - that would be great, thanks 👍🏼 @bbcproms @RoyalAlbertHall pic.twitter.com/5iVIhHS98J
— Anna Melville (@annamelville) August 15, 2023
The concert is available to listen to until Monday 9 October 2023.
In the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's 2023–24 season, Vasily Petrenko conducts music by Elgar, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, and Verdi at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.