Proms 2015 Prom 73: Vienna Philharmonic by Brahms, Schmidt, Franz, Elgar, Alates (2015/2015), Dirigent Semyon Bychkov, Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

In the first of the Vienna Philharmonic’s two Proms this year, Semyon Bychkov conducts Brahms’s Third Symphony and Franz Schmidt’s Second. The first of two consecutive nights with the Vienna Philharmonic under two different conductors. Here, Semyon Bychkov showcases Franz Schmidt’s neglected Second Symphony – a work he has passionately championed. A bold piece of Brucknerian ambition, it has more than a hint of Richard Strauss about it. It’s paired with Brahms’s Third Symphony – the work that saw the composer finding his true musical identity, stepping out from behind his influences to create something lyrical yet strangely unresolved.