The Ukrainian pianist was performing at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms
London's Royal Albert Hall witnessed a very touching, powerful performance on Sunday as Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova performed with the recently formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson.
The full video of the concert unfortunately isn't available on YouTube, but you can view the TWELVE (yes, twelve), minute ovation below. Ukrainian flags could be seen waving in the crowds.
The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra was only created a couple of months ago. The group is made up of Ukrainian musicians – some from Ukraine’s major cities, some now displaced as refugees, and others who play in European orchestras. Anna Fedorova herself grew up in the city of Kyiv.
Fedorova and the Orchestra also performed a number of other works including Symphony No 7 by Valentin Silvestrov, one of Ukraine's leading living composers, Beethoven's ‘Abscheulicher! … Komm, Hoffnung, lass den letzten Stern’, Brahms's Symphony No 4 in E minor, and Chopin's Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor. Silvestrov fled Kyiv with his daughter and granddaughter in March.
As part of the wider tour, the orchestra will also perform in Berlin (4 Aug) and New York (18-19 Aug) among other cities. Full details on the tour can be found here. Money raised from the tour will go to support Ukrainian artists.
