Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Symphony no. 7 in C sharp minor, Op.131

Sally Beamish's Distans received its UK premiere, along with the Seventh Symphony in Noseda's ongoing Prokofiev cycle with the LSO.

Excellent playing from The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and an interesting programme of less familiar works by familiar composers, made for an exhilarating musical experience.

Valery Gergiev is the most committed advocate for Prokofiev, so it is no surprise that in this 125th anniversary year, he is leading the celebrations, programming the symphonies and three string concertos too. Too much?

Impressively, Principal Conductor Nézet-Séguin matched his predecessor, Valery Gergiev, with such high quality Russian repertoire. 

The early 1950s were marked by the world premières of Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 7 (1952), Poulenc’s Piano Concerto (1950) as well as his Stabat Mater (1951). The most recent offering of The Rest is Noise series at the Southbank Centre encouraged us to place these pieces not just in the 1950s, but also in a wider political and cultural context.

Mit Prokofjews siebter Sinfonie präsentierte Nézet-Séguin ein Werk voll heiterer Melodien, walzerselig, fast mit Swing im zweiten Satz, rasant, virtuos, dynamisch gut differenziert.

Drei sehr unterschiedliche Werke auf dem Programm des Abends vereinte eine exzellente Interpretation der Münchner Philharmoniker unter Valery Gergiev.