| London Philharmonic Orchestra | |
| Vasily Petrenko | Direction |
| Jorge Luis Prats | Piano |
| Anna Samuil | Soprano |
| Daniil Shtoda | Ténor |
| Andrei Bondarenko | Baryton |
| London Philharmonic Choir |
Rising star Vasily Petrenko conducts a concert of Russian greats including Rachmaninoff's The Bells.
A Russian take on Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Bells was a perfect find for Rachmaninoff. Konstantin Balmont's literary work combined the composer's fascination with fate and eternity and ideas ripe for musical conversion - the mysterious sound world of bells and his own preoccupation with the twisting, haunting plainchant theme, the Dies Irae.
His setting of the poem in a vast choral symphony depicted the slivery brightness of birth, the golden browns of marriage, the dark stillness of death and the muted serenity of peace through death.
Vasily Petrenko conducts The Bells after the fascinating syncopations of Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements and Rachmaninoff's own soaring, life-changing Second Piano Concerto.
Royal Festival Hall at 6pm - Free pre-concert event. LPO musicians have been working with GCSE music students from south east London to explore the music of Rachmaninoff. They will perform their own new works for ensemble - Rachmaninoff out of Rotherhithe! Free
