The St Petersburg Philharmonic, despite its new name, is
Russia's oldest orchestra. In tonight's concert
Yuri Temirkanov conducts it in Berlioz's tempestuous overture The Corsair, inspired by Byron's pirate, followed by Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor, in which the soloist is the brilliant Maxim Vengerov , making his Proms debut nine days after his 18th birthday.
The programme is completed by Tchaikovsky's Manfred
Symphony, a portrait of another Byronic hero, a tormented outcast who finds solace in death.
Introduced by John Tusa.