Performance on 3 - 07/10/2008

Presented by Catherine Bott. The LSO and conductor Valery Gergiev launch their Emigres series on composers in exile, starting with Rachmaninov. At the height of his fame, Rachmaninov liked to escape to get peace and quiet. But when the disruptions of the 1917 Revolution caused him to leave Russia for good, he felt the loss of his homeland keenly. This first concert opens with the First Symphony, composed in St Petersburg when Rachmaninov was just 22. It was initially poorly received due to a terrible first performance, which affected him greatly. The other work in the programme is the Third Symphony, written during a summer break in Lucerne some years after Rachmaninov's emigration to America and filled with the sorrow of separation from his home country. London Symphony Orchestra Valery Gergiev (conductor) Rachmaninov: Symphony No 1; Symphony No 3 Followed by Play to the Nation, Radio 3's celebration of amateur orchestras across the UK: Edward Gregson: Metamorphoses Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra Mark Haydn Robinson (conductor) Richard Glover: Loose Change (premiere) Solway Harps Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 Todmorden Orchestra Nicholas Concannon Hodges (conductor) ...and Pianothon, showcasing amateur pianists from across the nation: Liszt: In Festo Transfiguronis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Jonathan Welsh