Prom 57: Hillborg / Mozart / Beethoven

Premiered earlier this year by David Zinman and the Berlin Philharmonic, Anders Hillborg’s Cold Heat leavens high-art finesse with the rampaging pulse and flow of street music. Quite a contrast with the autumnal poise of Mozart’s final piano concerto, tonight featuring Maria João Pires, whose Late Night Chopin recital was a highlight of last year’s Proms.

After the interval, one of the great pinnacles of Western art music, a work inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution. Beethoven famously struck out the dedication to Napoleon Bonaparte when the latter declared himself Emperor but the heroic musical drama of the ‘Eroica’ stands for all time.