Afternoon on 3 - Prom 15

Presented by Penny Gore. BBC Proms 2009 A Prom featuring Smetana's rustic Bohemian comedy The Bartered Bride, set at a Slavic fair, and Bartok's Dance Suite, which incorporates folk themes from Hungary, Romania and as far afield as Africa. These works are followed by Martinu's Concerto for two pianos, composed just after his First Symphony in 1943, and which betrays some of the tensions of two years earlier when he, like Bartok, was forced to flee to America. The piece ultimately finds release in an outpouring of the composer's characteristically effervescent vitality. Smetana: Overture (The Bartered Bride) Bartok: Dance Suite Martinu: Concerto for two pianos Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version) Jaroslava Pechocova, Vaclav Macha (pianos) BBC Symphony Orchestra Jiri Belohlavek (conductor).