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

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

Jurowski and the LPO’s Mahler cycle reaches a momentous climax

Peter Quantrill, 24th January

Retrospection held at bay by the conductor’s unusual choice of Rudolf Barshai's completion to Mahler’s last symphony.

****1

Explosive performances from Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO

Chris Garlick, 21st January

Jurowski took a full-on approach in the first movement, grinding through the discords without shame and only pulling back in those rare moments in the score where everyone is catching their breath.

****1

Beth Taylor’s commanding Sea Pictures with the London Philharmonic

Nick Boston, 26th November

The dream team of Edward Gardner and the LPO are joined by Beth Taylor for a glorious evening of Elgar at the Royal Festival Hall.

*****

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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