Santtu and Fazıl Say

Celebrated Turkish pianist-composer Fazıl Say performs his own new piano concerto, in an afternoon of music rooted in the earth of home.   

Awarded the International Beethoven Prize for Human Rights and Freedom in 2016, Say describes himself as ‘a bridge-builder between cultures.’ His music is a brilliantly effective blend of Western and Middle Eastern classical traditions, and his live performances are ‘one of a kind… full of energy and brilliance’ (Bachtrack).    

For Manuel de Falla, home was Spain and the passionate world of flamenco. His ballet El Amor Brujo (Love the Sorcerer) tells of a widow haunted by the ghost of her unfaithful husband. Classical music fans may be familiar with the ‘Ritual Fire Dance’, but the whole suite is well worth discovering.  

The sound of birdsong ripples through Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, and its third movement waltz is sprinkled with passages that evoke the folk dances of Dvořák’s native Bohemia. It’s been described as ‘35 minutes of life-enhancing joy’ (The Guardian) – a taste of summer on a November afternoon.