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Classical Music

Best Southbank Centre concerts 2020/21: Royal Festival Hall and neighbours host top artists

By Claudia Pritchard on 3/3/2020

Beethoven, Verdi and Mozart, of course, but also minimalist Steve Reich, soloists with a difference, and a new work about climate crisis. Booking is open now...

The Rite of Spring, London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Rite of Spring, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Stravinsky's radical and unruly score is as exciting as ever, played here by the LPO under Jukka-Pekka Saraste (pictured) with Schubert's lovely Symphony No 1. Before the interval, witness the UK premiere of Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg's dynamic and virtuosic Cello Concerto.

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WHEN
Wed 7 Oct 2020, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Grieg's Piano Concerto, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Grieg's Piano Concerto, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson (pictured) is the soloist in the ever-popular Grieg Piano Concerto, paired with the powerful and dramatic Symphony No 5 of Tchaikovsky. Perfect for youngsters getting into orchestra music.

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WHEN
Fri 10 Oct 2020, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Chineke! Orchestra plays Beethoven

Chineke! Orchestra plays Beethoven

In the year that marks 250 year since his birth, Beethoven still astounds with his Fifth Symphony, played here by the breakthrough orchestra (pictured) under Joseph Young, and with Gerard Aimontche as the soloist in Tchaikovsky's exciting Piano Concerto No 1, and the picturesque Sussex Landscape by 20th-century composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor

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WHEN
Mon 19 Oct 2020. 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Ode to Joy, Beethoven 250

Ode to Joy, Beethoven 250

Beethoven's mighty Choral Symphony will be heard a lot in this anniversary year, but ddo catch this one, with outstanding soloists including Bryn Terfel (pictured), Sophie Bevan and Toby Spence joining the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Opening the concert, Handel's coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest.

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WHEN
Sat 24 Oct 2020, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Mehta conducts Shankar

Mehta conducts Shankar

East meets West in a landmark concert by Zubin Mehta that opens with Beethoven's elegiac Symphony No 6 (Pastoral) and features Anoushka Shankar (pictured) as soloist in the Sitar Concerto No 2 by her father, Ravi Shankar.

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WHEN
Wed 18 Nov 2020, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX

Verdi's Requiem, Philharmonia Orchestra

Distinguished Italian conductor Riccardo Muti marks 75 years of the Philharmonia with the mighty Requiem by Verdi in which soloists include soprano Asmik Grigorian and tenor Francesco Meli. At 6pm, hear a free recital by members of the orchestra.

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WHEN
Thurs 10 Dec 2020, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Daniel Barenboim plays Beethoven

Daniel Barenboim plays Beethoven

A world statesman of music, pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim (pictured) dedicates two evenings to Beethoven, with his violinist son Michael Barenboim and the celloist Kian Soltani. Together they explore the intricacies of the composer's perfectly balanced trios and variations. Expect musical magic.

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WHEN
Sat 16 Jan & Sun 17 Jan 2021, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Wagner's Ring Cycle

Wagner's Ring Cycle

Two complete concert renditions of Wagner's colossal Ring Cycle – Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung – with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by outgoing music director Vladimir Jurowski (pictured). Expect about 15 hours of music over four afternoons and evenings, with long dinner and shorter intervals, and buy the whole package for a fraction of an opera house price.

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WHEN
Mon 25 to Sun 31 Jan 2021; also Fri 5 to Wed 10 Feb 2021
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Nicola Benedetti plays Mendelssohn

Nicola Benedetti plays Mendelssohn

London favourite Benedetti (pictured) is the soloist in the evergreen Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, joining pioneers of historically informed playing, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, under Sir Roger Norrington. With Cimarosa's sparkling overture Il Matrimonio and the Symphony No 8 of Schubert, unfinished by the composer but completed here by Schubert expert and scholar Brian Newbould. A great concert for the young musicians in your household.

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WHEN
Mon 22 Feb 2021, 7PM (note early start time)
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Mitsuko Uchida plays Mozart

Mitsuko Uchida plays Mozart

Culture Whisper favourite Mitsuko Uchida (pictured) both directs the scintillating Mahler Chamber Orchestra and plays the solo piano part in not one but two of Mozart's Piano Concertos. Nos 18 and No 21 bookend Janáček's atmospheric and touching Mladi (Youth).

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WHEN
Fri 12 March 2021, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Beethoven's Ninth

Beethoven's Ninth

The 250th anniversary celebrations continue with another eye-catching performance of the composer's final Choral Symphony. David Hill conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra an the Bach Choir, with soloist including soprano Fflur Wynn, mezzo Kitty Whately, and tenor Toby Spence. Also in this big concert, Mendelssohn's overture The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) and the much-loved Grieg Piano Concerto, with soloist Ivana Gavrić (pictured).

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WHEN
Sat 20 March 2021, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Colin Currie plays Steve Reich

Colin Currie plays Steve Reich

Three modern classics by the much-loved American minimalist composer Steve Reich: Pulse, Double Sextet, and the intricate and fascinating Music For 18 Musicians, performed by the Colin Currie Group (pictured) and Synergy Vocals. Will the great man himself appear? He often does...

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WHEN
Sat 1 April 2021, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Stephen Hough plays Brahms

Stephen Hough plays Brahms

London-based international soloist Stephen Hough (pictured) joins the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Karina Canellakis in Brahms's mighty Piano Concerto No 1. In the second half, Beethoven's ambitious Symphony No 3, the Eroica. A classic programme ideal for younger music-lovers too.

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WHEN
Fri 16 April 2021, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Extinction Manifesto

Extinction Manifesto

Sure to arouse great interest, the world premiere of Extinction by contemporary composer Laura Bowler, whose early work Antarctica was based on travel in that melting zone. Sian Edwards (pictured) conducts the city's new music experts, the London Sinfonietta, with mezzo-soprano Jessica Aszodi.

Read more ...
WHEN
Fri 30 April 2021, 7:45PM
WHERE
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Dvorak and Elgar, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Dvorak and Elgar, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Two warhorses of the classical repertoire follow Sunshine by contemporary composer Jonathan Dove. Kian Soltani is the soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto. Elgar's majestic, Brahms-influenced Symphony No 1 closes the concert conducted by the RPO's incoming conductor Vasily Petrenko (pictured), whose five-year appointment as music director runs from September 2021.

Read more ...
WHEN
Tues 1 June 2021, 7:30PM
WHERE
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Aurora Orchestra plays Beethoven

Aurora Orchestra plays Beethoven

Mouldbreakers Aurora (pictured) present The Orchestra Theatre. Expect a relaxed and surprising event, when music includes the popular Violin Concerto by Beethoven, with soloist Nicola Benedetti. With a fresh approach and afternoon slot, this one is perfect for families.

Read more ...
WHEN
Sun 4 July 2021, 3PM
WHERE
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
Share:

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Vladimir Jurowski

Verdi

Tchaikovsky

Brahms

Mozart

Beethoven

Stephen Hough

Nicola Benedetti

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