Romeo & Juliet Forever: Pekka Kuusisto conducts
As long as teenagers fall in love, the story of Romeo and Juliet will never go out of fashion.
Pekka Kuusisto brings together three composers’ takes on Shakespeare’s story, from the ‘Sinfonia’ that opens Bellini’s 1830 opera The Capulets and the Montagues, to Bernstein’s 1957 Broadway triumph West Side Story. Bellini’s trumpets and drums foretell a fatal battle, Tchaikovsky frames his yearning love theme with music full of anxiety and violence. And Bernstein captures the febrile energy and passion of adolescence in memorable numbers including ‘Somewhere’ and ‘Mambo’.
“Until you’ve heard Martin Fröst, you really haven’t heard the clarinet”, according to The Times. Well now’s your chance – the extraordinarily talented Fröst is the soloist in a new concerto, Weathered, by our Featured Composer Anna Clyne. The concerto is in five short movements, each describing a different material being weathered – worn down, re-shaped, damaged, but perhaps also rendered more beautiful and more precious.
Need to know
Prices & Discounts
£15 – £70
Multi-buy offer available; under-18s and concessions discounts available; discounted tickets for students via Student Pulse (limited availability)
Running time:
1 hr 30 mins, including a 20 minute interval
Recommended age
From 7+
Programme notes
Free printed programmes will be available at the venue. Digital programme notes available here.
Box office
Philharmonia Box Office: 0800 652 6717
Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm
Before the event
After the event
Insights Talk
Teddy Prout, the Philharmonia’s Director of Learning & Engagement, in conversation with Anna Clyne and Martin Fröst
Free, no ticket required
