What does it mean to be human? What is our place in the world? What are we dreaming of?
These are fundamental questions that humans have pondered for centuries and composers have attempted to answer through music.
This season, join us on a journey through the facets of the human character with music as our guide. Prokofiev will invite you to feel the ecstasy of the first flush of love, Mahler will transport you to a space beyond this world, Berlioz will immerse you in a psychedelic dreamscape and Grieg will guide you through our planet’s breath-taking landscapes.
At the Royal Albert Hall, we bring you Mahler’s three choral symphonies. From the titanic ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ (23 October) to the illumination of the soul in the ‘Resurrection’ (30 March) and the nature-infused Symphony No.3 (27 April), Mahler’s ambition was to create symphonies that would embrace the whole world – I think he achieved this.
A kaleidoscope of sounds greets you at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, from Berlioz’s wild and unpredictable Symphonie Fantastique (10 May) and the delirium of Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy (8 February), through masterpieces such as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (featuring the Ode to Joy and conducted by special guest Sir Andrew Davis, 22 March) and Elgar’s Cello Concerto (23 April), to moving personal journeys from Jennifer Higdon’s musical memorial to her brother in blue cathedral (10 May) and inner conflicts woven into Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (7 June).
As live performances have filled concert halls and thrilled audiences once again over the last year, we have all been reminded of the enduring power of music. It can stir the deepest emotions, inspire ideas and creativity, conjure lifelike scenes and take us on magical odysseys, all from the comfort of your auditorium seat. Each listener’s experience is unique, and that’s what makes orchestral music so very special. There is so much to relish within these concerts and we can’t wait to share them with you.
Vasily Petrenko, RPO Music Director
Full details and tickets on www.rpo.co.uk