LSO Live

Sir Simon Rattle is joined by virtuosic soprano Barbara Hannigan for a modernist programme that showcases the immense capabilities of the London Symphony Orchestra. At the heart of this concert is The Rite of Spring. Once decried, it is now a cornerstone of orchestral repertoire and considered by many to be the greatest work of the 20th century. Its elemental nature is best summed up by Stravinsky, who, in an unaccustomed moment of humilty, said that he didn’t feel he was the composer of the piece, but simply the vessel through which it passsed. Sir Simon Rattle says: ‘I’ve been conduting it since I was 19...it’s one of those pieces that reminds you what the shock of the new is about and it’s still one of the great challenges and one of the great thrills to perform.’

Recorded in January 2016, this beautiful programme of French music was chosen by Music Director Designate Sir Simon Rattle and features world class soloists Leonidas Kavakos and Julia Bullock.

Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO are joined by revered French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in a concert film that brings together music by Anton Bruckner and Olivier Messiaen: two composers as united in their devotion to the Catholic faith as they are divergent in their approaches to writing music.

The LSO’s Principal Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas celebrated his 70th birthday in 2015 with a concert focusing on British and Russian music, but with a nod to his native USA. He’s joined by the sensational young Chinese pianist Yuja Wang in Gershwin’s popular Concerto. Michael Tilson Thomas gave the US premiere of Colin Matthews’ Hidden Variables, an LSO commission during Matthews’ time as an Associate Composer with the LSO.

This film captures Rattle's very first performance as Music Director; a programme in which British composers took centre-stage. The world-premiere of Helen Grime's Fanfares, which became the first movement of the work Woven Space, opened the concert before violinist Christian Tetzlaff took to the stage to perform the concerto written for him in 2010 by Harrison Birtwistle. Two more works close to Rattle's heart followed: Thomas Adès' Asyla and the pocket-sized Symphony No 3 by the late Oliver Knussen. Finally, Rattle's stunning interpretation of the Enigma Variations brought the concert to a close and then the audience to its feet, filling the Barbican Hall with rapturous applause.