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New and old rubbed shoulders in this thrilling Philharmonia Orchestra concert of Elgar and Joseph Phibbs.

An interesting evening where links between Haydn and Nielsen were illuminated in bold and individual performances.

Vaughan Williams and Finzi given the Philharmonia treatment with John Wilson at the helm at the Royal Festival Hall.

Whenever Brahms is mentioned, songs and symphonies often come straight to mind: after all, the man was the master of all things symphonic, even his piano sonatas being called “veiled symphonies” by his mentor, Schumann.

When Stravinsky brought his radical ballet Petrushka to Vienna in 1912, the composer recounts in his autobiography, the orchestra was full of complaints about the demands of the score. Disillusioned by this, Stravinsky found comfort from the unlikely figure of the man who raised and lowered the stage curtains. “Don’t let’s be downhearted”, he said, “I’ve been here for 55 years...

Béla Bartók was a composer of extremes. An avid collector of Hungarian folk songs, he published arrangements of these simple tunes alongside his own more ascetic music. The detailed programme notes for the Philharmonia’s Bartók series entitled ‘Infernal Dance’ divide his music into three categories: the banned, the rarely played and the fully approved.

Les concerts de musique d’avant-garde sont réputés difficiles. Pourtant, le concert donné à l’occasion du 90e anniversaire de Pierre Boulez s’est déroulé devant une salle pleine, ou presque, d’un public manifestement enthousiaste.