Prom 9: Sibelius / Bartók / Janáček

Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé contextualise the lofty preoccupations of Sibelius’s last surviving symphony with a rarity, a suite revealing the composer’s lighter side. Bartók’s last completed concerto was written in exile and is generally mellow, even nostalgic in tone. It is championed tonight by András Schiff, appearing at the Proms for the first time since his 2006 solo recital. And, to close, a joyous sequence of sonic snapshots: Janáček’ s Sinfonietta is his typically bold evocation of a beloved city, the Moravian regional capital, Brno.