BBC Symphony Orchestra from Beijing

The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo on tour in China perform Brahms's Symphony No 2; Judith Weir, and with soloist Bertrand Chamayou, Bartok's Piano Concerto No 3.

Recorded at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing on 20th and 21st March 2026. Presented by Petroc Trelawny.

Judith Weir: The Welcome arrival of rain
Bartok: Piano Concerto No 3

Interval. Petroc plays extracts from a few recordings made by some of the resident musical ensembles at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

Brahms: Symphony No 2 in D major, Op 73

Bertrand Chamayou (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)

Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra on tour in China and East Asia last month present a monsoon downpour imagined by Judith Weir, and the nocturnal rustlings and pulsating rhythms of Bartók’s Third Concerto performed by Bertrand Chamayou. That's before more contemplation of the great outdoors from
Brahms, who from a lakeside summer resort in Southern Austria penned the pastoral, Beethoven-esque levity and soul-searching of his Second Symphony.