BBC SO/Bychkov

In 1922, the BBC made its first broadcast. As the BBC SO celebrate a century of informing, educating and entertaining, they look back on what the world was listening to 100 years ago and also to the future as the BBC SO, founded in 1930, continues to shape the sounds of the present and the future.  
 
It was in 1922 that Maurice Ravel turned to Modest Mussorgsky’s monumental piano work Pictures at an Exhibition, reimagining the piece in orchestral clothing and bolstering its shattering climax in the process. Semyon Bychkov presides over this performance of the resulting masterpiece, after the UK premiere of a work by Bryce Dessner (who is also a member or rock band The National). In between comes the youthful and dynamic Burleske for piano and orchestra by Richard Strauss, a work of sparkling virtuosity in the manner of Chopin and Liszt.