Rites: Santtu conducts Stravinsky

Witness The Rite of Spring – a visceral experience for performers and listeners alike. And be among the first to hear Bryce Dessner’s Violin Concerto, commissioned for the Human / Nature series. Witness The Rite of Spring – a rite of passage for the Philharmonia Orchestra’s new Principal Conductor, and a visceral experience for performers and listeners alike.

Stravinsky’s ballet changed the course of music history, with its stamping rhythms, violent dissonances, and menacing, primeval soundworld. Its story of pagan rituals heralding the spring, culminating in a sacrificial dance, leaves us in no doubt as to how closely human lives are tied to the life and rhythms of the Earth.

Silvestre Revueltas’s score for the 1939 Mexican film La Noche de los Mayas also evokes a time before modern ‘civilisation’ separated us from nature.  The third part we hear tonight is a gentle nocturne, with a traditional Yucatán evening song, played by flute and percussion, at its heart.

Charismatic violinist Pekka Kuusisto, the Philharmonia’s Featured Artist this season, joins the Orchestra for Bryce Dessner’s Violin Concerto, commissioned for the Human / Nature series. Dessner is one of the most versatile musicians working today, known for his band The National and collaborations with artists from Steve Reich and Sufjan Stevens to Taylor Swift, as well as his own minimalist-inspired, multi-layered concert music.

Price: £48, £38, £29, £20, £13