Foulds, Beethoven, Strauss - Part 1

Synopsis

BBC PROMS 2010

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London

Presented by Penny Gore

The pianist Paul Lewis pays his third visit to the Royal Albert Hall this season for the next concerto in his Beethoven concerto cycle, this time with the Halle and its Music Director, Sir Mark Elder. Beethoven's Third concerto is more turbulent than those that precede it, and it shows a more experimental side of Beethoven's musical language.

The concert opens with music by John Foulds who had a varied life as a musician - as a cellist with the Halle, as a conductor, a cinema pianist, and a composer of both serious and light music. He had a fascination for Indian music and mysticism, and this had an impact on his work. In this symphonic poem he evokes a spring day.

In the final work Strauss places himself at the forefront of his epic tone poem, casting himself as the central heroic figure and portraying his own life as a struggle against adversity.

Foulds: April - England, Op.48 No.1
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor

Paul Lewis, piano
Halle
Sir Mark Elder, conductor

This Prom will be repeated on Wednesday 11th August at 2pm.