Haukur Tómasson
Magma 16'
UK premiere
Schumann
Piano Concerto in A minor 31'
interval
Leifs
Geysir 10'
Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 in C minor 33'
Jonathan Biss piano
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Ilan Volkov conductor
Ilan Volkov directs the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (of which he is Music Director) in the ensemble's Proms debut.
Together they bring works from two major Icelandic composers, both inspired by the power and drama of their native country's geology. There's a slow-growing, primal force to Leifs's Geysir that balances the shifting tectonics of Tómasson's Magma.
Jonathan Biss makes his second appearance this season with Schumann's Piano Concerto, written for the composer's wife Clara, and the concert closes with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, whose darkness-to-light scenario culminates in a blaze of glory.