Marin Alsop conducts Bernstein and Piazzolla

The seductive sounds of Latin America fill the Royal Festival Hall in the our irresistible Valentine’s Day programme.

Your companions on this Latin American journey are a trailblazing conductor, the world’s leading exponent of the classical accordion, two tango dancing champions, and the 80 fantastic musicians of the Philharmonia.

Your starting point is Havana, where George Gershwin was inspired by the rhythms of the Rumba to compose his Cuban Overture. Then it’s on to New York, the setting for Bernstein’s gangland love story.  Bernstein captures the febrile energy and passion of adolescence in memorable numbers including ‘Somewhere’ and ‘Mambo’. Brazil is next – hold on to your hats as the orchestra flies through Edu Lobo’s irrepressible Pé de Vento.

After the interval, you’ll reach your final destination: Buenos Aires, birthplace of the Argentine tango. Ksenija Sidorova is the undisputed queen of the classical accordion. She is the soloist in Astor Piazzolla’s Aconcagua Concerto – Piazzolla’s publisher named the piece after South America’s highest mountain, because it represented ‘the peak of Astor’s oeuvre’.

Last but certainly not least, 2023 Tango UK Champions Iro Davlanti-Lo and Adrien Bariki-Alaoui join the party for two contrasting tangos – the tender and wistful Tanti anni prima (Many Years Ago), and to send you home humming, the most famous of them all: Libertango.