Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra

Vasily Petrenko raises his baton. The air shimmers, a trumpet pierces the darkness, and the whole universe explodes into glorious sound. When Richard Strauss composed Also sprach Zarathustra, he set out to tell the entire story of humanity in music, and from heaven-splitting opening to enigmatic close, it’s an incredible ride – a fitting climax to a concert that bursts with emotions and ideas on a truly heroic scale.

Beethoven’s Fifth and final piano concerto is so stirring and majestic that his contemporaries called it the ‘Emperor’, played tonight by Elisabeth Leonskaja, an artist who has dedicated her long and distinguished career to interpreting the works of Beethoven.

The evening begins with the eternal battle between the human spirit and the pleasures of the senses: Wagner’s barnstorming Overture to Tannhäuser. Music to make the pulse race, played with heart and soul.