Alena Baeva plays Korngold’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Delyana Lazarova — alongside Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony.
Programme
Dobrinka Tabakova Orpheus’ Comet
Korngold Violin Concerto in D major
Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 in B flat major
Alena Baeva (violin)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Delyana Lazarova
Thursday 30 July 2026 · 7pm–c9pm
Royal Albert Hall
Listen on BBC Radio 3 / BBC Sounds
Preview
There is much to love in Prokofiev’s fifth symphony. An unsettling sense of confidence is evoked in the first movement. A dark, brooding third movement crawls here, there and everywhere. Grip on tight in the second and fourth movements where melodies have a devilish feel and are treated to a lot of seemingly awkward treatments. Delicious ordered cacophony with a sardonic eye. Salt in the wound kind of stuff. In the conclusion of the militaristic final movement, strings risk bursting into flames, terrorised by an insistent percussion section, if it’s done right.
Review
Prokofiev’s fifth symphony from Delyana Lazarova and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was close in on the mics, casting full sunlight on scrunchy strings, the intricate woodwind lines, and in places, the brass. The second movement manic-ness felt more rural NHS mental health clinic than the all-out borderline disintegration I’ve come to appreciate from Gergiev and the LSO. The third movement felt oddly polite. Menace was abandoned in the fourth movement. Instead we were served up what felt like the mild peril buried deep in the denouement of a mid-budget early-evening murder mystery set in post-war England. The playing was spot on, but the maniacal spirit appeared to have taken an undeserved evening off. It wasn’t together in the final bars. I just want it to sound angry (or ideally on the verge of a nervous breakdown), because real life is unbearable.
This review will be updated in due course.
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