Gemma New the LPO: a blockbuster night on the Southbank

London Philharmonic Orchestra

By Susannah Moody, 17 November 2025

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“The evening with the LPO may as well have been an evening at the cinema”

Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 12 November 2025

Frank, Contested Eden

Walton, Cello Concerto, Op.68

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: excerpts

Nicolas Altstaedt, Cello

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Gemma New, Conductor

Karabits and Szeps-Znaider carouse with the LPO

Christopher Woodley, 8th April

The sparkle of Max Bruch's Fecond Violin Concerto and the drama of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony overcome the gloom of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s dark forebodings.

****1

Portraits and pictures from Ibragimova, Gardner and the LPO

Roy Westbrook, 1st April

From Three Screaming Popes to Pictures at an Exhibition, a pair of works inspired by paintings frame a violin concerto by Béla Bartók at London's Southbank Centre.

****1

Ticciati and the LPO deliver epic Sibelius plus lively Wennäkoski

Nick Boston, 25th March

Sibelius' Kullervo receives a dramatic performance from Ticciati and the LPO, with strong turns from Shenyang, Miina-Liisa Värelä and the YL Male Voice Choir.

****1

Paavo Järvi marks his new LPO appointment in Tchaikovsky and Sibelius

Mark Valencia, 4th March

Paavo Järvi demonstrates just why the London Philharmonic Orchestra has chosen him as its next Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor.

*****

Canellakis, Mutter and the LPO at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 24th February

Anne-Sophie Mutter’s commanding presence meet the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s exceptional adaptability, yielding a concert that balances tradition-steeped authority with modern transparency, rhythmic vitality and the orchestra’s own electrifying spontaneity.

****1

Phoenix Lands: the London Philharmonic blazes with energy

Charlotte Gardner, 4th February

Edward Gardner’s Bacewicz, Martinů, Lutosławski and Janáček set the Royal Festival Hall ablaze.

****1

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Susannah Moody

A London-based journalist and ex-lawyer, Susannah will cheerfully listen to most styles of music. Having trained as an operatic soprano through school and university, she has worked for several opera companies and set up a student opera company where she translated, directed and performed in productions including flash mob opera. Most recently she took part in the ENO Response programme reviewing the company's 2022-2023 season. She also writes about food as The Moody Foodie.

A blockbuster night on the Southbank with Gemma New and the LPO