Stream the season opening from the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by their new Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.

The concert opens with a fan favorite, Carl Nielsen's cinematic ''Helios Overture'' - inspired by the sunlight dancing on the Aegean sea.  Then comes a thrilling new commission from composer James MacMillan. MacMillan's virtuosic new Concerto for Orchestra, ''Ghosts'' is a kaleidoscopic homage to beloved works including Beethoven's D Major Pino Trio ( also called ''Ghost''),  Debussy's Trio for Flute Viola and Harp, and sonic references to Bartók and Sibelius. As MacMillan himself put it, ''...the music seems to be haunted by other, earlier musical spirits and memories.'' 

Not a frequent conductor of Sibelius, Pappano ventures into, nearly, uncharted territory with Sibelius' First Symphony to conclude an already impactful concert. He doesn't disappoint.  ''Pappano held the tension of the finale... from opening outcry... to decisive pizzicato cut-off. A stunner.'' ★★★★★ - The Arts Desk 

This concert marks the beginning of the orchestra's 2024/25 season, featuring a captivating program that showcases the orchestra's brilliance.

Program:
Helios Overture - Carl Nielsen
Concerto for Orchestra, ''Ghosts'' - James MacMillan
Symphony No. 1 - Jean Sibelius

★★★★★ ''Singular adventures for a new era.'' - The Arts Desk 
Sir Antonio Pappano leads the LSO in a thrilling concert featuring Sibelius' ''Symphony No,1'' and a kaleidoscopic new work.

Pappano Conducts Sibelius

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a captivating performance that showcases Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra, Liszt's Totentanz - featuring pianist Alice Sara Ott - and a world premiere from Hannah Kendall.  
 
Sir Antonio Pappano's first concert as Chief Conductor Designate of the LSO is packed with emotional depth and technical mastery. The concert opens with the world premiere of Hannah Kendall's O Flower of Fire. Renowned pianist Alice Sara Ott joins the LSO for Liszt's technical showpiece, Totentanz, making light work of the breakneck glissandos. The concert concludes with Strauss' vivid tone poem, inspired by Nietzsche's philosophical book of the same name. A profoundly beautiful musical expression of the literary text, the opening bars are a memorable blast of trumpets and pounding timpani, made famous by Stanley Kubrick's film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Program:   
O Flower of Fire - Hannah Kendall (World Premiere)
Totentanz - Franz Liszt *
Also sprach Zarathustra - Richard Struass 

*Featuring Alice Sara Ott on piano

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a captivating performance that showcases Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra, Liszt's Totentanz, and a world premiere from Hannah Kendall.

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Liszt & Strauss

''There can be few more thrilling sights... than when the eight horn players rise to their feet...for the unbridled coda to Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony.'' - Bachtrack.   

Sir Antonio Pappano leads an exuberant concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. The concert opens with a playful, rarely heard, piece from Polish composer Karol Szymanowski that exudes cinematic drama. It's the perfect, lively, intro to Mahler's celebrated First Symphony. 

Nicknamed 'Titan,'  after a 19th-century German novel, Mahler's First Symphony is a sonic poem filled with references to nostalgic folk songs, a moving funeral march to the tune of ‘'Frère Jacques,'' and the gentle call of birdsong. The masterwork is a dramatic journey through the serenity of nature, the joys of youth, melancholy, and triumph, and this performance is nothing short of thrilling. ''Pappano wrung every last drop of drama from Mahler’s score'' - Bachtrack

Program:
Concerto Overture - Karol Szymanowski
Symphony No. 1 - Gustav Mahler

 ''Pappano wrung every last drop of drama from Mahler’s score'' - Bachtrack. Pappano leads an exuberant concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. 

Pappano Conducts Mahler's 1st

Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra follow up their stunning performances of Vaughan Williams’ Fourth and Sixth Symphonies with this magnificent take on his popular Fifth.

Master pianist Bertrand Chamayou makes Ravel's beautiful piano concerto sound newly written with his fresh and assertive interpretation. Like a ringmaster, Ravel sets his Piano Concerto in G major in motion with a flick of the whip. Here come Basque folk melodies, Spanish panache, and American jazz. The fascinating melody in the middle section was a painstaking high-wire act for the composer. Ravel wrote, ''That flowing phrase! How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!''

Vaughan Williams was a student of Ravel. His sophisticated, original Fifth Symphony deeply moved audiences who heard it at its premiere during World War II. Its bittersweet melodies and transcendent climax seem to offer listeners a vision of future peace.

Program: 
Suite from the Bad and the Beautiful - David Raksin
Piano Concerto in G - Ravel *
Symphony No. 5 -  Ralph Vaughan Williams

*Soloist: Bertrand Chamayou 

Sir Antonio Pappano leads the LSO in a stunning concert of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.5 and Ravel's Piano Concerto in G featuring soloist Bertrand Chamayou. 

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Ravel & Vaughan Williams

London Symphony Orchestra's Associate Artist Barbara Hannigan conducts a thrilling program of Vivier, Ligeti, Strauss, Haydn, and Nono.  

This beautifully curated program creates a moving story of finding hope in the dark, beginning with Ligeti's short but haunting piece for strings and ending with Strauss' profound tone poem. Mezzo-Soprano Fleur Barron gives a dramatic performance of Vivier's musical meditation on human suffering interwoven with audio from Martin Luther King Jr.'s final speech and flashes of news from the Vietnam War. Hannigan briefly steps down from the conductor's podium to sing composer Luigi Nono's soaring tribute to an Algerian freedom fighter. 

Program:
Ligeti - Ramifications for String orch
Vivier - Wo bist du licht! *
Haydn - Symphony No. 26 (La Lamentatione)
Nono - Djamila Boupacha **
Strauss - Tod und Verklarung

*Mezzo-Soprano Fleur Barron 
** Soprano Barbara Hannigan 

London Symphony Orchestra's Associate Artist Barbara Hannigan conducts a thrilling program of Vivier, Ligeti, Strauss, Haydn, and Nono.

Barbara Hannigan conducts Ligeti & Strauss

Join the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor François-Xavier Roth for a perfectly balanced concert featuring Beethoven's most surprising symphony and Unsuk Chin's brilliantly disorienting Piano Concerto.

Beethoven wrote two light-hearted symphonies in challenging times. Beethoven composed his Second Symphony while struggling with his increasing deafness, and his Eighth coincides with a despairing letter to his ''immortal beloved'', a mystery woman with whom he had a tragic affair. Together these symphonies create the perfect backdrop for Chin's complex contemporary Piano Concerto. 

According to Roth, Beethoven's symphonies are the perfect partner for contemporary music ''because his symphonies are an amazing example of radical, modern music, that changed the basis of composing and of the role of music in our life. We can hear Beethoven’s music with different ears, in dialogue with contemporary music from our time.''  Thanks to the impressive talent of soloist Bertrand Chamayou, this musical dialogue takes shape as he dives deep into Chin’s oeuvre as part of an Artist Portrait series, which includes chamber music at LSO St Luke’s.

Program:
Beethoven-  Symphony No. 2
Unsuk Chin - Piano Concerto*
Beethoven - Symphony No. 8

*Bertrand Chamayou - Piano 

François-Xavier Roth leads an impactful concert featuring two Beethoven symphonies and Unsuk Chin's brilliantly disorienting Piano Concerto.

François-Xavier Roth conducts Unsuk Chin & Beethoven

Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a brilliantly paired program of Beethoven and Prokofiev.

Beethoven famously made four attempts at a punch overture for his only operatic work, ''Fidelio'' - the story of a courageous wife who rescues her beloved husband from prison. Leonore Overture No. 3 was his second attempt and is considered to be a miniature opera in itself. Noseda, known for his artistry in opera, highlights the moments of ecstatic reunion in this emotive performance. 

Written the year before his death, Prokofiev's final symphony, like Beethoven's overture, is a complete narrative world in itself. Intended for children, the symphony is full of playful fantasy and joyful nostalgia for his youth, while simultaneously holding a much more somber meaning as Prokofiev's final farewell.  ''[Noseda] beautifully captured the pervasive sadness of the Prokofiev in a great, deeply felt interpretation that was all the more affecting...'' - The Guardian 

Together, these brilliantly expressive pieces create a memorable concert from the LSO. 

Program: 
Beethoven - Overture: Leonore No. 3
Prokofiev - Symphony No.7

⋆⋆⋆⋆ ''A beautifully judged program.'' - The Guardian  
Principal Guest conductor Gianandrea Noseda leads the LSO in a brilliant concert of Beethoven and Prokofiev.  

Noseda conducts Beethoven & Prokofiev

Edward Gardner conducts Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture and Brahms' Symphony No.1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

After seeing Fingal's Cave in the inner Hebrides of Scotland, Felix Mendelssohn was instantly inspired to write his brilliant concert overture. It's said that upon hearing the overture Brahms remarked, "I would gladly give all I have written, to have composed something like the Hebrides Overture."  It's the perfect pairing for Brahms' epic Symphony No.1. He spent over 14 years writing this emotional symphony, and the depth of his dedication shines through. 

Under the skillful baton of Conductor Edward Gardner, both pieces come alive with dramatic intensity. This program is a harmonious blend of romantic imagination and masterful composition. 

Program: 
Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture 
Brahms - Symphony No.1 

This concert was filmed on 27 September 2023 at the Royal Festival Hall

Edward Gardner conducts Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture and Brahms' Symphony No.1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Gardner conducts Mendelssohn & Brahms

LSO Associate Artist André J Thomas delivers an all-American programme of music never-before-heard in the UK, including Wynton Marsalis’ dramatic new Tuba Concerto and two rising-star composers in the US.

A narrator and an orchestra lead a meditation – based on the words of James Baldwin, one of the most influential social critics of the last century – asking us to see the world as it is, and to imagine how it could be. The lowest instrument of the orchestra becomes a star in its own concerto, performed by LSO Principal Tuba Ben Thomson. And one woman is at the centre of a musical story of injustice, courage and strength, tracing the experience of Black people in the US across the centuries. 

André J Thomas is one of the most inspiring forces in modern American music, and he has handpicked some of the biggest and most vital names in the US right now, from jazz icon Wynton Marsalis to young composers who use music to respond powerfully to conversations on race and justice.

LSO Associate Artist André J Thomas delivers an all-American programme including Wynton Marsalis’ dramatic new Tuba Concerto.

Andre Thomas conducts Marsalis and Carlos Simon

From Richard Strauss’ sweeping self-portrait to the musical poetry of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Sir Antonio Pappano conducts an evening of music that’s larger than life.

Richard Strauss never did anything by halves, and he wasn’t a man for false modesty either. Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) is a grand, swashbuckling musical self-portrait or the composer as superhero, and it doesn’t hold back: there’s a battle, and even a love scene. Liszt and the British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor are perhaps more restrained, but every bit as imaginative.

‘A conductor has to be theatrical,’ says Sir Antonio Pappano, and as a veteran of the opera house, the LSO’s future Chief Conductor is a master at bringing characters to life, and telling a story with music. From Liszt’s soaring idealism to Strauss’ supersized musical comedy, this is a concert that lets him do exactly that.

From Richard Strauss to the musical poetry of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Sir Antonio Pappano conducts an evening of music that’s larger than life.

Pappano conducts Liszt & Strauss

Fate knocks at the door, and LSO Principal Guest Conductor François-Xavier Roth and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja seize the moment.

‘This is how Fate knocks at the door!’ declared Beethoven, but if those first electrifying notes are all you know of his Fifth Symphony, you’re in for a thrilling discovery. It’s the only possible way to follow the fabulous, fantastical music of György Ligeti – a composer who took the orchestra, turned it upside down, and crafted astonishing new sounds from what fell out.

In other words, it’s the music of a true original – perfect for a conductor like François-Xavier Roth, who hears every note as if it’s newly minted. And even more perfect for explorer, storyteller and one-woman musical phenomenon Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Not many violinists acquire a cult following but when you hear ‘PatKop’ play, you’ll understand why she’s the exception that proves the rule.

Concert Order:
Macabre Collage - György Ligeti arr Elgar Howarth
Violin Concerto - György  Ligeti  
Symphony No. 5 - Beethoven 

Fate knocks at the door, and LSO Principal Guest Conductor François-Xavier Roth and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja seize the moment.

François-Xavier Roth conducts Ligeti & Beethoven

Watch the London Symphony Orchestra’s critically acclaimed performance of Janácek’s opera Katya Kabanova, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. 

Janácek’s tale of love and loneliness centers around the young Katya. Living in a remote country village with her boring husband and his snobbish family, she is desperate for love and an escape. Everything changes one stormy evening when a secret love enters her life, changing it forever.

Sir Simon Rattle hand-picked a star-studded cast of singers including tenor Simon O’Neill and, appearing in one of her signature roles as seen at the Royal Opera House, Amanda Majeski as Katya. This concert is bursting with energy, emotion, and a brilliant performance from the entire cast. It’s no wonder critics gave this performance countless five-star reviews.

Watch the London Symphony Orchestra’s critically acclaimed performance of Janáček’s opera Katya Kabanova, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Mendelssohn's Elijah

London Symphony Orchestra

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