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A young conductor and a venerable orchestra unite in Berlin for three 20th-century works, covering vastly different soundscapes. 

The London Philharmonic Orchestra certainly pulled out all the stops with a Rest is Noise programme that, in theory, should have scared the horses half to death. A concert of three large orchestral works from height of the 1960/70s avant garde, and featuring composers from behind the Iron Curtain to boot, is a very rare beast indeed.

Thankfully, when it comes to classical music, programmes around the theme of death tend to make highly energetic evenings. The eighth Prom of this year was no exception, as Thomas Adès led the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the world première of his new work Totentanz, but not after performances of two similarly themed works: Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem and Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto.

Continuing Woven Words, the Lutosławski festival, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen presented us with another evening of impressive music and impressive programming. Like featuring Ravael’s Daphnis et Chloé in the Lutosławski concert on 30 January, opening this evening with Debussy’s La mer proved an excellent decision.La mer is a piece that heavily relies on interpretation.

This past Thursday and Friday, Yo-Yo Ma (the CSO’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant), Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra tackled the immensely challenging Lutosławski Cello Concerto.

On Tuesday night at Cadogan Hall near Sloane Square the audience was treated to an expertly mastered programme of 20th century Polish music by Górecki, Lutoslawski and Szymanovski as well as the Overture, St. Francis of Assisi by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The latter had its London premiere that night.