Synopsis

The program featured a distinctly Russian selection, beginning with excerpts from Tchaikovsky's *The Snow Maiden*, followed by Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, performed by the twenty-year-old Armenian virtuoso Sergey Khachatryan. The concert culminated in Prokofiev's wartime Symphony No. 5, a work conceived as an affirmation of human resilience. Vassily Sinaisky, the Russian-born principal guest conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, led the orchestra. The evening was hosted by Charles Hazlewo