麻豆社

Two of the most evocative 20th-century orchestral sound-pictures fill the Royal Albert Hall with finely graduated shades of symphonic colours. Bashkortostan-born mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina makes her Proms debut with Maurice Ravel鈥檚 kaleidoscopic song-cycle Sh茅h茅razade which ranges from a panoramic fantasy tour of Asia to the intimate disappointments of human love. Claude Debussy鈥檚 La mer has been variously described as the musical equivalent of Monet鈥檚 impressionist paintings or Japanese woodblock prints. But what鈥檚 perhaps most striking about this orchestral masterpiece is the way in which the composer uses novel instrumental colours rather than traditional harmonies to capture the mercurial nature of the sea.

The concert is introduced by Andrew McGregor and Flora Willson.

Broadcast programme:
Maurice Ravel - Sh茅h茅razade
Claude Debussy - La mer
Performers: Aigul Akhmetshina, mezzo-soprano; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner, conductor

(Photo: Aigul Akhmetshina, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner at the 2025 麻豆社 Proms. Credit: 麻豆社/Andy Paradise)