Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony

“If I understood war as well as I understand music, I would conquer him” said Beethoven of the Emperor Napoleon. Instead, he did the next best thing – and composed a symphony so revolutionary that, from opening explosion to victorious finish, it’s still shaping the way we think and feel about the power of music. With the young British conductor Jamie Phillips at the helm, this should be a highlight of the RPO season, and the same goes for tonight’s chance to hear Łukasz Krupiński – winner of the San Marino International Piano Competition – in Chopin’s deliriously poetic Second Piano Concerto. First, though, a real rarity: the ravishing prelude to Delius’s forgotten fairytale opera Irmelin – British music doesn’t get more magical than this.