Two big piano stars are set to appear at the Royal Albert Hall this weekend
Pianists Yuja Wang and Benjamin Grosvenor will grace the BBC Proms stage this weekend.
Yuja takes to the Royal Albert Hall stage on Friday night (12 Aug, 19:30) alongside conductor Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they will perform Liszt’s First Piano Concerto. Yuja has said in the past that she feels like a 'rockstar' when she plays at the Proms. We're sure she'll pull out another showstopper of a performance this year.
The following evening (13 Aug, 19:30), Benjamin Grosvenor will appear alongside legendary conductor Marin Alsop and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra for Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No 3 in C major. The programme also includes Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin, Dvořák's Symphony No 7 in D minor, and a very special UK premiere of Heliosis – written especially for Alsop and the Vienna RSO by young Viennese composer Hannah Eisendle.
Both Yuja Wang and Benjamin Grosvenor have appeared on the cover of Pianist in the past; Wang in Issue 105 and Grosvenor in Issue 63.
There may be no pianists on Sunday's schedule, but there are still a couple of exciting Proms to look forward to; Dinis Sousa conducts the Royal Northern Sinfonia, oboist Nicholas Daniel and violinist Maria Włoszczowska (14 Aug, 11:00). Repertoire includes Haydn's Symphony No 6 in D major, ‘Le matin’, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Oboe Concerto, the London premiere of Vers toi qui es si loin by Kaija Saariaho, and Beethoven's Symphony No 4 in B flat major.
Later in the evening, the Philharmonia Orchestra and violinist Jennifer Koh are conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali (14 Aug, 19:30) for Tchaikovsky's epic Swan Lake, Missy Mazioli's Violin Concerto (Procession) and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
It's going to be a hot weekend. Let's hope the Royal Albert Hall's new air conditioning systems are all working ok!
Main image: Yuja Wang (©Norbert Kniat), Benjamin Grosvenor (©Andrej Grilc)
