2004: New visions

A tale of night, a tale of fire, a tale of love, and a tale of Fate. ‘A work of art is unpredictable. It makes its own rules’, said the late Einojuhani Rautavaara, but the warmth, poetry and deep, dark beauty of his Book of Visions (2004) casts its spell over this whole concert – whether music from 1904, when Elgar and Webern each chose to throw their music open to sunlight and warmth, or from 1804, when virtuoso violinist Louis Spohr revelled in a new world of musical possibilities. With the mesmerising Sergej Krylov as Spohr’s champion tonight, you’ll hear why Beethoven was a fan.