Open Rehearsal: Mitsuko Uchida plays Beethoven

Programme

How does a conductor communicate their interpretation of a piece with an orchestra and the soloist as they prepare for a performance?

Our Open Rehearsals give you access to this creative process and allow you to see the Philharmonia at work. Learn more about the pieces and start to listen to your favourites with a fresh pair of ears.

In this rehearsal we see revered pianist Dame Mitsuko Uchida as the soloist in Beethoven’s joyous Second Piano Concerto, and Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to London for the first time since stepping down as our Principal Conductor.

Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of Beethoven. Her 2021 performance with the Philharmonia and Esa-Pekka Salonen garnered five-star reviews and was acclaimed as ‘playful yet profound, creating the kind of communal moments of close listening we’ve all been missing.’ (The Guardian).

Lemminkäinen is the colourful hero of the Kalevala, an epic of Finnish folklore. He makes an ideal subject for Sibelius, a leading light in the movement for Finnish independence. Sibelius chose four contrasting legends for this suite – our hero seduces 1000 brides before their menfolk chase him off; an unearthly cor anglais solo depicts the swan who guards Tuonela, the island of the dead; Lemminkäinen is killed by his nemesis but restored to life by his own mother; then the final movement traces his triumphant return from his adventures.

The starter of this musical feast is Beethoven’s overture for his only opera. It encapsulates the opera’s journey from prison and despair to hope and freedom, in music full of drama and emotion.