Basingstoke: Santtu and Víkingur Ólafsson

Programme

To open our season in Basingstoke as we celebrate our 80th birthday, our Principal Conductor Santtu has chosen music by his compatriot Sibelius. Finlandia is perhaps the composer’s best-known work and has become an enduring emblem of Finnish national pride.   

The drama and grace of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto are in the more-than-capable hands of soloist Víkingur Ólafsson. A remarkable interpreter of music from Bach to Glass, Ólafsson is the Philharmonia’s Featured Artist this season.  

After the interval comes Stravinsky’s popular Firebird Suite. The Firebird was Stravinsky’s first collaboration with the impresario Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, a partnership that gave birth to some of the definitive music of the early 20th century. The tale of a huntsman prince, a magical bird, an evil monster and 13 enchanted princesses is based on stories from Russian folkore. It’s the perfect showcase for Stravinsky’s masterly orchestration skills and harmonic and rhythmic originality. “Mark him well,” said Diaghilev, “he is a man on the eve of celebrity.”