BBC SO/Bringuier

BBC Symphony Orchestra explore the works of composers who have been inspired by dance, from Prokofiev’s riotous ballet symphony to Poulenc’s toe-tapping concerto shaped by jazz.

Prokofiev’s music for Diaghilev’s ballet The Prodigal Son is riotous, seductive and sweepingly melodic. It was too good to be confined to choreography, so the composer fashioned his Symphony No 4 from the score’s finest tunes and best offcuts, creating a piece full of esprit premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, in its revised version, in 1947.

Lionel Bringuier conducts the BBC SO, bringing with him gems from his French homeland embodying exoticism and escapism: Mel Bonis’s sensual orchestral poem Le songe de Cléopâtre and Ravel’s concerto filled with the toe-tapping spirit of Harlem.