Interchanging Idioms

MONDAY 27 MAY 2013 AT 6.30 PM Following the outstandingly successful first open-air, free concert in May 2012, the London Symphony Orchestra in partnership with BMW and the Mayor of London is returning to Trafalgar Square this year. The next annual BMW LSO Open Air Classics concert, which last year attracted an audience estimated in the press to be up to 10,000 people, will take place in the square on Monday 27 May 2013, Spring Bank Holiday Monday, at 6.30 pm. Principal Conductor of the LSO, Valery Gergiev will conduct an all-Berlioz programme. The aim of BMW LSO Open Air Classics is to bring outstanding music performed in the open air – free for everyone in an informal atmosphere. Gergiev and the LSO will perform Berlioz’s Overture Le corsaire, and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. In a performance of a specially arranged version of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique by Gareth Glyn 80 young musicians including conservatoire students and LSO On Track young musicians from LSO Discovery,...

80 years and still going strong The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s 80th anniversary season opens next week! We begin the 2012/13 season with a diverse series of performances ranging from the dark theatrics of Strauss and Zemlinksy, spell-binding Russian bells, thought-provoking explorations of War & Peace, soulful cello concertos and brand new work from Carl Vine. Upcoming Events 26 September – Strauss & Zemlinksy Love, infidelity and scorn abound in Zemlinksy’s A Florentine Tragedy , inspired by Oscar Wilde’s play and Zemlinsky’s own embittered feelings towards former lover Alma Schindler. Greatly influenced by Richard Strauss, Zemlinksy’s colourful and gritty one-act opera is complemented by excerpts of Strauss’s own Die Frau Ohne Schatten . 29 September – Rachmaninoff The Bells An all-Russian programme of bell-inspired works, two also inspired by the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe. Featuring UK premieres of Rodion Shchedrin’s Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, Denisov's B...

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant - The Official Album Music has been at the heart of royal occasions for centuries and the great tradition is set to continue when the London Philharmonic Orchestra joins the mighty flotilla of barges and boats mustered for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on Sunday 3 June. To mark the occasion we have released a CD of popular music by British and Commonwealth composers including the UK Theme, a favourite with generations of early morning listeners to BBC Radio 4; Sir William Walton’s march Orb and Sceptre, written for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953; and the Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’ by Vaughan Williams. Available exclusively at John Lewis and Waitrose in stores and online. £1 from the sale of each CD will be donated to the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, supporting youth and education projects at home and in the Commonwealth.

Bernard Haitink conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in two concerts with Portugese pianist Maria João Pires on 10 and 14 June. On 10 June the programme includes Schubert’s Ninth and final symphony, widely considered to be Schubert’s finest piece for orchestra. On 14 June Haitink conducts the LSO in Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, one of the composer’s most popular works. Both concerts open with music by Purcell; the Chacony in G minor edited for string orchestra by Benjamin Britten (10 June) and the Funeral March for Queen Mary (14 June). Maria João Pires is the soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor (10 June) and No 23 in A major (14 June). The LSO with Bernard Haitink and Maria João Pires perform the same programmes at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on 17 and 18 June, part of the LSO’s annual residency at the Salle Pleyel. On Sunday 10 June there is an LSO Discovery Day exploring the music of Schubert ahead of the evening performance of his Ninth Symphony. Sunday 10 Jun...

The current season at Royal Festival Hall ends with a programme that's creative and fascinating - exactly what you've come to expect from Vladimir Jurowski. The concert opens with Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen Suite . This comes just a few weeks before Vladimir Jurowski conducts a new production of Janáček's most popular work at the opening of this summer's Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Following a performance of Suk's Asrael Symphony that electrified the atmosphere of Royal Festival Hall in 2010, Jurowski turns to Ripening - Suk's symphonic poem that grapples with demons before finding a radiating transcendence. Pianist Martin Helmchen plays Dvořák's astounding Piano Concerto. It is, without doubt, one of the best-kept secrets of the Romantic repertoire. Wednesday 2 May, 7.30pm | Royal Festival Hall

12 May 2012, 6.30pm, Trafalgar Square The London Symphony Orchestra and its Principal Conductor Valery Gergiev will give a concert in Trafalgar Square at 6.30pm on Saturday 12 May, free and open to everyone. The concert is the first in the BMW LSO OPEN AIR CLASSICS series, a major new partnership between the LSO and BMW. The programme will feature Stravinsky’s Fireworks , The Firebird suite and The Rite of Spring , as well as a performance of The Lite of Spring , an interpretation of Stravinsky’s work by Gareth Glyn for 100 young musicians from LSO Discovery, the Orchestra’s award-winning music education and community programme, who will play alongside LSO musicians on the stage. The concert begins at 6.30pm, is presented by LSO animateur Paul Rissmann and will feature large screens mounted on either side of the stage to allow the audience to witness the concert close up.

Also joined by Yefim Bronfman and Gil Shaham for Mozart, Beethoven & Berg Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in three concerts in May and June at the Barbican. On 27 May they perform Mahler’s Symphony No 4, with soprano Elizabeth Watts and are joined by Yefim Bronfman as soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3. Bronfman returns on 31 May to perform Berg’s Chamber Symphony alongside violinist Gil Shaham and the programme is completed by Mahler’s Symphony No 1 (‘Titan’). The trio of Mahler symphonies continues on 3 June with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No 5, alongside Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5 (‘Turkish’) with Gil Shaham as soloist. Before the 3 June concert at 6pm there will be a free recital given by Guildhall School musicians, part of the ongoing Guildhall Artists at the Barbican series. Michael Tilson Thomas is Principal Guest Conductor of the LSO. In June 2013 he returns to conduct the Orchestra with cellist Yo-Yo Ma in three conce...

The London Symphony Orchestra’s LSO Live label is thrilled to release sixteen albums mastered specifically with iTunes in mind, delivering the music to listeners exactly the way the artists and recording engineers intended. The albums include Valery Gergiev’s new recording of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, Sir Colin Davis conducting Holst’s The Planets, Bernard Haitink’s acclaimed Beethoven Symphony cycle and some of the best known titles in the LSO Live catalogue. These new recordings, Mastered for iTunes, use high-resolution sourced audio to provide fans with an incredibly rich listening experience. James Mallinson, producer for LSO Live states, ‘Mastered for iTunes is a clever way to use modern production techniques and technology to improve the experience for listeners. Bypassing the inadequacies of CD-quality masters and focusing on the way people listen to music today allows us to produce recordings which are far more natural.’ The pursuit of the best sound quality has alw...

THE LSO AND VALERY GERGIEV GIVE A FREE CONCERT IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE ON 12 MAY BMW and the London Symphony Orchestra announce today a new long-term partnership, BMW LSO OPEN AIR CLASSICS, which will bring outstanding music performed in the open air – free for everyone in an informal atmosphere. The first in a groundbreaking series of annual concerts will be conducted in Trafalgar Square by Principal Conductor of the LSO, Valery Gergiev, on Saturday 12 May at 6.30 pm. Large screens will be mounted on either side of the stage to allow the audience to witness the concert close up. The programme will feature works by Igor Stravinsky including the highly popular Firebird Suite and The Rite of Spring. 100 young musicians from LSO Discovery, the Orchestra’s award-winning music education and community programme, will play alongside the LSO players and perform The Lite of Spring, an interpretation of Stravinsky’s work by Gareth Glyn. LSO animateur Paul Rissmann will present the concert and guide ...

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the London Symphony Orchestra on 15 February in Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Composed in 1943, the work consists of five movements, with the fourth movement Intermezzo parodying the march theme from Shostakovich’s Seventh (‘Leningrad’) Symphony. The concert opens with Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem Isle of the Dead, inspired by a painting of a coffin crossing dark waters by Swiss artist Arnold Böcklin. Violinist Leonidas Kavakos joins the orchestra to perform Korngold’s Violin Concerto, composed using themes from Korngold’s Hollywood film scores. There will be a free pre-concert performance of Rachmaninov’s Preludes Op 23 by Guildhall School pianist Ashley Fripp. Wednesday 15 February 7.30pm, Barbican Hall RACHMANINOV Isle of the Dead KORNGOLD Violin Concerto BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra Sir Antonio Pappano conductor Leonidas Kavakos violin London Symphony Orchestra Tickets: £10-£35

Time and again, Hough's traversals of familiar works are played with such insight, probity and sage musical understanding that we feel almost as if we are hearing them for the first time … Stephen Hough's steady ascent to the summit of his profession exhibits equally supreme mastery of his instrument and the deep humanity from which it has flowered' International Record Review on Grieg/Liszt Piano Concertos, 2011 [Hyperion] Antonín Dvořák never really suited the musical rat race in which he inevitably became embroiled. At the height of his career, symphonies were commissioned for London and New York. But there was no such commission for the Eighth. This was a symphony Dvořák wrote to satisfy nobody but himself, ‘a work singing of the joy of green pastures, of summer evenings, of the melancholy of blue forests, of the defiant merrymaking of the Czech peasants’. An eye-widening sense of fun characterises Czech music of a later age from Bohuslav Martinů, heard before both of ...

Robin Ticciati conducts the LSO in Brahms’ 2nd Symphony and Strauss’ Tod und Verklärung on Thursday 15 March in the Barbican Hall. They are joined by baritone Christopher Maltman in a performance of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder , completing the programme. Robin Ticciati was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain when he turned to conducting, aged 15, under the guidance of Sir Colin Davis, LSO President, and Sir Simon Rattle. He is Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Bamberger Symphoniker and from January 2014, Music Director of Glyndebourne. Ahead of the performance, at 6pm, Guildhall School pianist Ben Schoeman will perform Brahms’ Sonata No 3 in F minor Op 5 and Variations on a theme of Paganini (Book 1), part of the Guildhall Artists at the Barbican series. Thursday 15 March, 7.30pm, Barbican STRAUSS Tod und Verklärung MAHLER Kindertotenlieder BRAHMS Symphony No 2 Robin Ticciati conductor Christopher...

Prokofiev: Man of the People? 13 January - 1 February 2012 Our Prokofiev festival is underway and the next performance, featuring his Fifth Piano Concerto with soloist Steven Osborne, will take place at London's Royal Festival Hall this evening. If you're unable to join us in person, tune in to BBC Radio 3 for a live broadcast of the concert from 7.30pm.

The London Symphony Orchestra performs an all-Russian programme with its Principal Conductor Valery Gergiev on 21 February. Acclaimed Russian pianist Denis Matsuev is the soloist in Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, written during a summer trip to Brittany. Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture and Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5 complete the programme. On 23 February violinist Sarah Chang will perform Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto with the LSO. The concert opens with Britten’s ‘Four Sea Interludes’ from his opera Peter Grimes, and Gergiev conducts the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Sixth (‘Pathetique’) Symphony as part of his cycle of the complete symphonies. The LSO follows its concerts at the Barbican with a tour to China, in partnership for the first time with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd with four concerts in Beijing and Shanghai in March 2012. The orchestra also travels to Korea for two concerts in Seoul in February 2012. Tuesday 21 February 7.30pm ,...

Feb 19-21 UBS Soundscapes: LSO Artist Portrait Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter performs André Previn’s Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra with violist Yuri Bashmet and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer, on Sunday 19 February in the Barbican Hall. John Harbison’s Symphony No 3 and Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite complete the programme. On Monday 20 February, André Previn and Anne-Sophie Mutter are joined by cellist Daniel Müller-Schott for a chamber recital in the Barbican Hall. They perform Mozart’s Piano Trio No 2 in B-flat major, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor and Previn’s own Piano Trio. The following day there is the rare opportunity to witness students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in a masterclass with André Previn, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniel Müller-Schott at LSO St Luke’s at 2pm. The masterclass is part of Centre for Orchestra, the ground-breaking initiative in orchestral training which is part of a unique ed...

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts 2, 9, 16 & 23 February - All broadcast on BBC Radio 3 The Nash Ensemble presents the Brahms Plus series at LSO St Luke’s on each Thursday in February at 1pm and each concert will be recorded for later broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The series presents some of Brahms’ great chamber works coupled with music by four composers who were an influence on, or were influenced by, Brahms – Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss. Brahms Plus sits within Echoes of Romanticism, the Nash’s over-arching focus for its 2011/12 season at Wigmore Hall. The Nash Ensemble is Britain’s leading chamber ensemble, acclaimed for adventurous programming and virtuoso performances. It has been Chamber Ensemble in Residence at the Wigmore Hall since the 2009/10 season. This will be its first week-long residency at LSO St Luke’s. 2011/12 is the most ambitious BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert season at LSO St Luke’s to date. During September, October and November, over...

Join the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall for a festival exploring one of the most fascinating yet misunderstood composers of the twentieth century – Sergei Prokofiev. Prokofiev Symphony Concerto Listen to the first movement of Prokoviev's Symphony Concerto with cellist Danjulo Ishizaka and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

“ A prodigiously gifted singer whose voice makes an immediate impact. ”– Associated Press “Stephen Costello stole the show,” reported the Guardian when Stephen Costello made his 2009 house debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Spectator magazine was moved to predict: “Stephen Costello will be a big star.” Now the American tenor returns to the fabled London venue for his company role debut as Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata . His five appearances (Jan 2–20) come in a revival of Richard Eyre’s celebrated staging, with Maurizio Benini on the podium. For the first three performances, Costello’s Violetta is Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho; for the final pair, he is rejoined by Anna Netrebko, with whom he recently made waves in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere production of Anna Bolena . Costello and Netrebko’s first appearance together in Donizetti’s tragedy was at the Met’s season-opening Anna Bolena this past fall. The Associated Press noted, “As the hapless Percy, Ann...

" Jurowski wipes the floor with the recent Rattle and Jansons accounts and is probably now the prime recommendation, the "library" choice, that has for so long eluded us. " Gramophone Magazine Recording of the Month, August 2011 " As engaging as it gets " BBC Music Magazine *****

The London Symphony Orchestra performs two concerts in January featuring music by Thomas Adès, one of Britain’s leading composers. On 10 January the LSO, conducted by Antonio Pappano will perform dances from his chamber opera Powder Her Face, which Adès conducted with the LSO at the Barbican in 2006. Following the exploits of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, Powder Her Face was written in 1995 and has been performed worldwide. The work is part of an all-British programme which also features Walton’s Viola Concerto with soloist Antoine Tamestit and Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. There is a free pre-concert performance of music by Sir William Walton at 6pm in the Barbican Hall given by artists from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Adès himself conducts the London Symphony Orchestra on 15 January in a performance of his own ‘In Seven Days’ for piano and orchestra (performed by Nicolas Hodges), and the orchestral work Tevot. Premiered in 2007 by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Tevot...