From Art Nouveau to Australia
A triptych of exotically coloured music.
The heavily perfumed and sensuous music of Debussy and Scriabin frames the world premiere of a new orchestral work reflecting the harsher colours and history of Australia.
Debussy: La Damoiselle elue (to words by Dante Gabriel Rossetti) with Ann Murray, Elizabeth Laurence, BBC Singers (women's voices).
Michael Finnissy: Red Earth.
Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy.
BBC Symphony Orchestra led by Bela Dekany, conducted by Lothar Zagrosek
Sue Cook makes her debut as a Proms presenter and talks to Michael Finnissy about his new orchestral work, Red Earth:
There is a red-ochre soil the Aboriginals use as a body paint in ritual ceremonies. In homage to them, 'Red Earth' could be described as a ritual chant.