Prom 26 – Semyon Bychkov and the Labeque Sisters

Part of the BBC Proms.

Whether it’s the exhilarating propulsion of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances or the lively jazz and folk inflections of Martinu’s Concerto for Two Pianos, rhythm pulses through music that emerged from the threat and brutality of the Second World War. Czech composer Martinu’s wartime fears meet fellow exile Rachmaninov’s nostalgia for home in a heady swirl of emotion. Semyon Bychkov conducts a concert that opens with a major UK premiere by Julian Anderson. Hailed by the Financial Times as ‘a 21st-century Debussy’, Anderson here finds inspiration in 1940s Prague, as captured in Josef Sudek’s haunting panoramic shots of the city.