| Víkingur Ólafsson | Piano |
| Philharmonia Orchestra | |
| Santtu-Matias Rouvali | Dirección |
The Philharmonia Orchestra celebrates its 80th birthday, and Víkingur Ólafsson is its Featured Artist, so we are delighted to welcome them to open the season.
Finlandia, part of a suite which Sibelius wrote for a patriotic pageant in 1900, is possibly his most famous and stirring piece.
The opening movement of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto is full of tension and drama. The slow movement is a lyrical dialogue between the soloist and woodwinds, while the vivacious finale is punctuated with quicksilver piano cadenzas.
The Firebird was Stravinsky's first big success, a richly coloured ballet score based on a Russian folk tale in which the young prince overcomes a demon with the protection of a feather from the fabled firebird. It is glittering, imaginatively orchestrated music, with a rhythmic impetus all Stravinsky’s own.
The Philharmonia Orchestra is Anvil Arts' Orchestra in Partnership.