Performer: Anastasia Kobekina

The BBC Phil's chief conductor led a relentless account of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, paired with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

The Year of Czech Music continues at the BBC Proms with a highly-shaped Dvořák Cello Concerto from Proms debutant Anastasia Kobekina and Suk’s monster of a symphony, Asrael.

Anastasia Kobekina and Cedric Tiberghien treat Wigmore Hall to a night of flair, flitting between their two homelands. 

The young Belgian conductor has had a long association with the Flanders Symphony – and this January he takes the chief’s baton from departing Kristiina Poska, who reaffirmed the orchestra’s crisp, classical sound.

Bryce Dessner enters the Czech Philharmonic’s living tradition with electric guitars, a new cello concerto and a composer’s ear for landscape, history, collaboration and renewal.

With a focus on Shostakovich, and many prestigious guest orchestras from around Europe, this year’s BBC Proms confirms orchestral music can make a big public statement.