BBC Prom No. 53: Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin & Shostakovich Orango

Royal Albert Hall, London

24 August 2015

Shostakovich’s Orango – an incomplete opera whose manuscript came to light only in 2004 – is a glossy fusion of wit and political venom. The ‘Orango’ of the title is half man, half ape – a symbol of the decadent West. It’s a work matched for vivid colouring by Bartók’s violent and sexually charged ballet-pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin. French pianist David Fray returns following his Proms debut in 2011 to play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 – written at the height of the composer’s fame in Vienna as a performer of his own works.

For more details and to listen to a recording of this Prom, please follow this link: www.bbc.co.uk/events/eb48gw#b066zygd

Photo credit: Philharmonia Orchestra

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