Vienna: Santtu and Víkingur Ólafsson

Programme

We visit one of the most iconic concert halls in the world, the Musikverein in Vienna.

Beethoven didn’t think up the ‘Emperor’ title to his Piano Concerto No. 5 himself, but it’s easy to understand what may have inspired it when you hear the majestic sweep of the opening movement. Then comes a beautiful, graceful central Adagio, leading into a brilliant finale.

After hearing a new piece by Gabriela Ortiz, the Philharmonia’s Featured Composer this season, we close the concert with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5. Arguably the composer’s most popular symphony, it’s a 30-minute masterclass in orchestral writing. Transport yourself to a serene Finnish landscape and prepare yourself for the goosebumps moment in the final movement: Sibelius’s famous depiction of swans in flight, evoked by glorious horn writing.