Afternoon on 3 - 13/08/2008

Presented by Ian Skelly. BBC Proms 2008 Leonard Slatkin conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a Prom featuring three diverse composers. Chen Yi's Olympic Fire was commissioned to celebrate the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and to look forward to the London Olympics in 2012. Winner of the 2001 Van Cliburn Competition Olga Kern plays one of the best-loved works by fellow-Russian Sergei Rachmaninov. The Prom finishes with two major pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams: a work for strings commissioned for the New York World's Fair just before the Second World War and a searing symphony apparently inspired by the horrors that conflict brought. Introduced by Sara Mohr-Pietsch. Olga Kern (piano) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Leonard Slatkin (conductor) Chen Yi: Olympic Fire (BBC commission; world premiere) Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Vaughan Williams: Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 6 in E minor Chamber Music Bach: Preludes and Fugues Schoenberg: Pieces Alfredo Pearl (piano) Plus highlights from Hesperion XXI and Jordi Savall at the 2006 Wyastone Leys Festival.