Prom 45: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Charles Dutoit

It has been almost 30 years since the celebrated Russian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja last performed at the Proms. She makes her return alongside another international great, Charles Dutoit, in Mozart’s majestic E-flat Piano Concerto. Written concurrently with The Marriage of Figaro, the Concerto shares much of the opera’s grace and its abundance of tunes, as well as some strikingly lovely woodwind textures. Shostakovich’s Fifteenth Symphony is an altogether darker affair – intimate and introspective. Musical memories haunt the score as the composer searches for meaning in what he surely knew would be his final symphony.