Southbank Centre: Royal Festival HallBelvedere Road, London, Greater London, SE1 8XX, United Kingdom
Dates/times in London time zone
Wednesday 05 November 2025 | 19:30 |
Programme
Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897) | Tragic Overture, Op.81 | |
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich (1840-1893) | Piano Concerto no. 1 in B flat minor, Op.23 | |
Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897) | Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op.98 |
Performers
Edward Gardner | Conductor |
Pavel Kolesnikov | Piano |
London Philharmonic Orchestra |
When Brahms’s Fourth Symphony was first performed in 1885, one critic said that it was like gazing into a deep well – the darker the sky, the more brightly the stars shine back. 140 years on, it’s just as beautiful, and for our Principal Conductor Edward Gardner, it’s a source of enduring poetry and strength. Tonight he pairs it with another tragic masterpiece by Brahms and welcomes the ‘outstanding’ (The Daily Telegraph) Pavel Kolesnikov in Tchaikovsky’s mighty First Piano Concerto. It’s hugely famous and rightly loved – but believe us, you won’t have heard it played like this.

© Jason Bell