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Nail-biting Shostakovich from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the Proms

Kostas Smoriginas, Ryan Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales
© BBC | Andy Paradise
Benjamin Grosvenor
© BBC | Andy Paradise
The BBC National Chorus and Orchestra of Wales
© BBC | Andy Paradise
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“dangerous times and a dangerous score, which... throbbed with menace”
Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 15 August 2025
Gubaidulina, Revue Music for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band (UK premiere)
Ravel, Piano Concerto in G major
Prokofiev, Piano Sonata no. 7 in B flat major, Op.83: Precipitato
Shostakovich, Symphony no. 13 in B flat minor, "Babi Yar", Op.113
Benjamin Grosvenor, Piano
Kostas Smoriginas, Bass-baritone
Synergy Vocals
BBC National Chorus of Wales
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Ryan Bancroft, Conductor
Bancroft and BBCNOW at the Proms: a deeply satisfying Mahler 3
****1
Exciting Bacewicz and Lutosławski from Tadaaki Otaka and the BBC NOW
***11
Nil Venditti impresses in BBC Proms debut
****1
A choral treat to savour: Verdi’s Requiem at the BBC Proms
*****
Music that eats into you: Schoenberg and Zemlinsky at the BBC Proms
****1
Playfulness and horror: Beethoven and Shostakovich in Cardiff
*****
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