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Santtu conducts Scheherazade

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Booking for Friends of the Philharmonia opens at 10am on Thursday 4 November. General booking opens Thursday 11 November.

Principal Conductor Santtu Matias-Rouvali conducts the Philharmonia

Artists

Santtu-Matias Rouvali – conductor
Alexandre Kantorow – piano

Programme

Ravel Boléro Listen

Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 Listen

— Interval —

Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade Listen

This afternoon’s programme gives every member of the orchestra a well-deserved moment in the spotlight.

A quiet but inexorable snare drum rhythm opens Ravel’s Boléro. It ushers in a haunting melody that’s passed around the orchestra, slowly building to a roof-raising climax.

Alexandre Kantorow triumphed in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019, and Gramophone described him as ‘the real deal, a fire-breathing virtuoso.’ Saint-Saëns’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 2 demands every ounce of virtuosity he can muster, but there’s poetry too in the opening movement, and a carefree playfulness in the central Scherzo.

In Scheherazade, Rimsky-Korsakov said he wanted to evoke the ‘fairytale wonders’ of The 1001 Nights. A tender, graceful solo violin melody represents Scheherazade herself, and Rimsky-Korsakov deploys all the colours of the orchestra as she tells her bewitching tales of princes and princesses, sailors and storms.

Need to know

Prices & Discounts

£13 – £65

Multi-buy offer available; under-18s and concessions discounts available

Student tickets

£8

Available through Student Pulse.
Limited availability.

Running time:

2h, including a 20 minute interval

Recommended age

From 7+

Programme notes

Read the programme notes here. Free printed programmes will be available at the venue.

Box office

Philharmonia Box Office: 0800 652 6717
Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm

Southbank Centre strongly encourages visitors to wear a mask at all times throughout your visit, unless when eating or drinking. They also ask to social distance from their staff where possible. Find more details on their website.

Following updated government guidance, Southbank Centre no longer requires visitors to present an NHS Covid Pass or proof of a negative test to enter their site.

Venue

Royal Festival Hall

Royal Festival Hall

Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London
SE1 8XX

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