by Ben Hogwood

The BBC Proms came to a close last night with the feverish excitement of the Last Night. As ever it offered a huge range of music, but one performance in particular drew the eye – a spectacular account, from Yuja Wang and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo, of Samuel Barber‘s Piano Concerto, completed in 1962.

Difficult to reconcile that this was the same composer of the Adagio for Strings, and the melt-in-the-middle Violin Concerto – this was forthright pianism, terrifically played but still with a deeply emotive heart.

You can watch Yuja Wang’s account here…but below is the premiere recording made by John Browning, who Barber had in mind when he wrote the work. Here he is with the Cleveland Orchestra and George Szell:

Published post no.3,316 – Sunday 13 September 2026