THE FIRST NIGHT OF THE PROMS – WITH IGOR LEVIT

Igor Levit & the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner perform Beethoven, Adams & Coult at the Royal Albert Hall, London

This year’s BBC Proms open with a dance and a shout.

The award-winning and critically acclaimed Russian-German pianist Igor Levit, will be the the soloist in Beethoven’s ground-breaking Third Piano Concerto. Levit, who names Beethoven as “the composer he feels closest to”, says about the piece himself: “Of all the Beethoven concertos, of which every single one is my favourite, this one is my favourite. I love this piece. It’s a whole miracle and one of the great pinnacles of the repertoire.”

Edward Gardner, Igor Levit and the BBC Symphony Orchestra will open the concert with the world premiere of Tom Coult's "St John's Dance".

Marking the composer’s 70th birthday this year John Adams’s epic choral work “Harmonium” is an intricate tapestry of sound, with bright vocal threads and driving brass and percussion rhythms. It features the combined forces of the BBC Symphony Chorus and the Proms Youth Choir.