Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto

Claude Debussy gazed at the waves of the English channel, and saw – and heard – a thousand glowing colours. Isolated and ill, the exiled Béla Bartók wrote a piano concerto for his beloved wife, and created rhythms that dance for joy. And in our own time, Unsuk Chin gazes into the infinite and finds a star that pulses in time with the human heart.

That’s actually true: Chin’s wondrous new orchestral work takes its cue both from Korean court music and the curiously human rhythm of the star Alaraph. It’s an unforgettable opening to conductor Dinis Sousa’s nature-inspired debut concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra: and with the “remarkable” (The Guardian) French pianist Bertrand Chamayou also appearing for the first time with the BBC SO, there’ll be a regular constellation of stars in alignment tonight. The concert comes to a close with the insistent rhythms and drama of Ravel’s Boléro.