Proms 2015 Prom 18: Katia And Marielle Labèque by Mozart, Shostakovich, Glass, Fra (2015/2015), Dirigent Semyon Bychkov, Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

The world-famous Labèque sisters perform Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra before a performance of Shostakovich’s visceral ‘Leningrad’ Symphony. Sisters Katia and Marielle Labèque perform Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos as a complement to our focus on the composer’s late piano concertos. Written in the 1770s for Mozart and his own sister ‘Nannerl’ to perform, it’s a work that delights in the interplay of dialogue, with a slow movement that is a tender conversation between friends. Intimacy gives way to epic gestures in Shostakovich’s sprawling ‘Leningrad’ Symphony – one of the giants of the symphonic repertoire, and a passionate musical testament to the 25 million Soviet citizens killed in the Second World War.