Today at the Proms - Proms 31 & 32

Continuing our daily coverage of what's on at The Proms 2018, Susan Omand has a quick look at the programme for Prom 31: Minnesota Orchestra & Osmo Vänskä and Prom 32: Inside Shostakovich ...



Spoilt for choice today I think. First up we have the best of early to mid 20th century American composers with Bernstein, Gershwin and Ives, although I'm hoping that they go with the Bernstein arrangement of the Ives as this is the more often used score, even though Ives himself is purported to have hated it.



It's the late night prom that intrigues me this time around though. The blurb promises that "Presenter Tom Service, Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra take their audience inside Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony – taking it apart to reveal its intricate construction, before putting it back together again in a complete performance from memory" which will be a feat in itself as the technicalities of the 9th are very difficult to hit right because of the speed in the Presto and it often ends up feeling overly emotional which Shostakovich was not.



However, it's back to Bernstein for the video and a chance to watch him conducting his own composition, the overture to Candide. A maestro indeed.









Here's the full programme for this evening's Prom which you can listen to live on Radio 3 or on the iPlayer

Prom 31 - 19:00


Leonard Bernstein
Candide – overture(5 mins)

George Gershwin
Piano Concerto in F major(31 mins)

INTERVAL

Charles Ives
Symphony No. 2(37 mins)





Prom 32 - 22:15


Dmitri Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No 2 in F major(20 mins)
Symphony No 9 in E flat major(20 mins) Tom Service and Nicholas Collon present Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9, with live excerpts



Image - Photo © Chris Christodoulou