A tribute to Sir Andrew Davis: Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.
SANSARA and United Strings of Europe join forces to explore the themes of sanctuary and solidarity in a programme built around Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands.
Classical meets jazz with some Christmas favourites – plus a riotous ride with Kapustin, Gershwin’s most swinging tunes, and Bernstein at his exuberant best.
James McVinnie completes his residency in a recital with a difference: a rare chance to hear Bach played on both the piano and the organ by the same performer.
Now entering its 80th year, the eminent ensemble performs gloriously Romantic string quartets by Brahms and Tchaikovsky.
Gustavo Dudamel returns to the hall at the head of his ‘other’ orchestra: the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. There’s just one work, but Mahler’s mighty Symphony No 3 is a stand-alone masterpiece.
When memories turn into music, the personal becomes universal. Alban Berg was haunted by the death of a young girl: his Violin Concerto ‘to the memory of an angel’ distils pain into piercing beauty. Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen rose from the ashes of wartime Germany, asking difficult questions even as it lays bare its heart. Brahms, meanwhile, wrote his Second Symphony on the sunlit slopes of the Austrian Alps – but happy memories have their own truth, and Edward Gardner and violinist Isabelle Faust will bring the same insight and commitment to every note, whether tragic, troubled or glowing with joy.
For the 2nd concert of their Barbican stopover, Gustavo Dudamel and his orchestra are remembering home as the vibrant Latino vibes of Riccardo Lorenz and Gonzalo Grau encounter fate-full Tchaikovsky.
Experience highlights from the hit BBC series on the big screen with live orchestral music from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted and presented by the series’ composer George Fenton.
For LPO Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski, every concert is an opportunity to explore, and with our ‘Moments Remembered’ theme as inspiration, he’s conceived an intensely personal programme. Two towering choral works face each other across the centuries, and at first glance, John Adams’s tribute to the dead of 9/11 could hardly seem more different from Haydn’s joyous Mass setting. But even here, the drums of conflict rumble ominously in the distance. In between comes a moment of solemn reflection from György Kurtág: music that invites us to search our own memories, and find our own meanings.
The birdsong of Spring, the downpours of Summer, the frosts of Winter: everyone’s got their favourite bit of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
There’s still nothing to match the sensation of hearing these four evergreen concertos performed live, and tonight Baroque specialist Richard Egarr and the LPO’s own Alice Ivy-Pemberton bring their shared energy to music that never gets any less fresh. But first, as part of our ‘Moments Remembered’ season, there’s a sideways look at what makes a classic: the Vivaldi inspired Requiem by African-American composer Julia Perry, and Evan Williams’s playful, provocative piece that discusses his own place in classical music as a young African-American composer.
Please note venue.
An evening-long meditation on life and the hereafter, devised by Sakari Oramo and featuring the UK premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s astonishing final masterpiece Hush.
Sarod Grand Master Amjad Ali Khan was born to a family steeped in Indian classical music and is regarded as one of the undisputed icons of the music world, bringing a new and yet timeless interpretation to the technique of playing the Sarod. His sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash are virtuoso performers in their own right, and tonight they come together with conductor (and regular collaborator) Lidiya Yankovskaya and the LPO at the centre of a concert that spans continents and cultures – from a flamboyant new overture by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail to the hugely popular Bollywood film scores of AR Rahman, the composer they call the ‘Mozart of Madras’.
Music thrives on change: and for centuries, great composers have channelled the spirit of their age into music that shocked some and gripped others – but which has never lost its power to thrill. Stravinsky’s taboo-smashing ballet provides the final blast tonight, as Vasily Petrenko conducts this explosive opening concert of the RPO’s new season. But first he explores the rich, strange and sometimes violent new sounds that Alban Berg created in the Vienna of Klimt and Mahler. And he joins the superb British pianist Paul Lewis in a masterpiece that broke all the rules and still sounds just as exciting today. It’s the concerto they call the ‘Emperor’: daring, majestic and filled from beginning to end with the irrepressible genius of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Celebrating Pierre Boulez and his influences, in the composer’s centenary year: his beloved Debussy, alongside three intriguing world premieres.
‘A mighty hero, in his veins the blood of ages …’ Lemminkäinen was a warrior like no other: loving, hunting, and challenging death itself. As a proud Finn, Sibelius knew all those ancient tales, and his Lemminkäinen Suite retells them in music that’s as vivid as a film score and as powerful as any fantasy epic. LPO Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis does nothing by halves; she opens
with Sibelius’s gripping evocation of the Viking age before joining Benjamin Grosvenor in the majesty, beauty and unchained melody of Mozart’s 21st Piano Concerto. Expect both sunlight and shadow from this much-loved British pianist.
Please note start time.
Marking 50 years since the composer’s death, the Carduccis inaugurate a five-concert odyssey through the complete string quartets – works that enshrine his inner life, loves and closest friendships.
Extraordinary pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, known to his many fans as Nobu, joins us for an evening of sparkling masterworks.
This fascinating young artist brings his creative slant to cool-hued piano works by two contrasting composers, showing the piano’s capacity for maximum magic.
The Year 1905: Shostakovich’s monumental symphony meets Beethoven at his brightest. Unchained energy from conductor Jakub Hrusa, pianist Jonathan Biss and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.