The best classical music in London: autumn 2017
From Beethoven's revolutionary Eroica to Mendelssohn's sweetly lyrical melodic Violin Concerto: these are the must-see concerts coming to London this autumn
This is Rattle, Barbican Centre
It starts with a Fanfare by Helen Grime, and Elgar's Enigma Variations, and ends with the musical equivalent of a fireworks display – three spectacular pieces by Stravinsky, and in between comes music familiar and unfamiliar: Sir Simon Rattle's new life as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra will, in short, be as varied as his plans for those musicians, their audience, and anyone else in London who will listen.
Read more ...Puccini's La Bohème, Royal Opera House
At the Royal Opera House, the massive 2017/18 season opens with a new production of La Bohème by Richard Jones, one of a handful of directors working today whose new insights are never to be missed, even if he himself occasionally misses the point.
Read more ...Opera: Passion, Power and Politics at the V&A
In an international first this autumn, the Victoria and Albert Museum is collaborating with the Royal Opera House to bring London the world’s only grand-scale exhibition of opera. Spanning genre and medium, period and place, Opera: Passion, Power and Politics looks set to be a grandiose celebration of a 400-year-old art form.
Read more ...London Piano Festival 2017, Kings Place
Is there anyone who doesn't wish they could play the piano – or play it better? This enviable talent will be demonstrated by some of the finest performers at the keyboard during the second London Piano Festival at Kings Place. Chopin, Liszt, Brahms... the list is dazzling.
Read more ...Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, Barbican Hall
Brimming with sweetly lyrical melody and flashes of virtuosic magic, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto from 1844 has become one of the most popular in the repertoire. There’s an opportunity to find out why when the very lyrical German violinist Veronika Eberle plays it with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican.
Read more ...Leningrad Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall
When his own city of St Petersburg, with its long artistic lineage, was besieged by the Nazis in 1942, Dmitri Shostakovich responded in music with his Symphony No 7 – it was relayed across the city by loudspeaker in defiance of the occupying troops. This October it will be played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under principal guest conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
Read more ...Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall
The gifted British cellist Jacqueline du Pré lives on in her landmark recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto and in the memories of older concert-goers. And although it is 30 years since her death, her name alone galvanises music-lovers, who have a special chance to remember her at a gala concert.
Read more ...Beethoven's Eroica, Royal Festival Hall
Revolutionary zeal was coursing through Beethoven when he wrote his Third Symphony in 1804, which he proudly dedicated to Napoleon. But before a note could be played he heard his hero had declared himself Emperor, and flying into a rage, the composer tore the title page off the symphony’s manuscript. Opinion is divided on whether practical and financial considerations simply outweighed idealism in Beethoven’s change of heart, but whatever the reason, the music remains truly revolutionary.
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