The BBC Scottish SO, under Chief Conductor Ilan Volkov, pair two Diaghilev commissions. With its pounding rhythms, cataclysmic upheavals and savage scenario of a young girl dancing herself to death, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is still genuinely earthshattering – no wonder Nijinsky's 1913 production provoked a riot.



Begun as a homage to the Viennese waltz but twisted by his wartime experiences into a darker vision of a society whirling to disaster, Ravel's La valse was actually rejected by Diaghilev and only finally staged in the year of his death, choreographed by Nijinsky's sister Bronislava.



Unsuk Chin's new Cello Concerto was written specially for Alban Gerhardt, an early member of Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme.



Ravel La valse (12 mins)

Unsuk Chin Cello Concerto (BBC commission: world premiere) (c30 mins)



interval



Stravinsky The Rite of Spring (33 mins)



Alban Gerhardt cello



BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Ilan Volkov conductor