As Hitler’s armies surrounded the city of Leningrad, and bombs rained down on a starving population, Dmitri Shostakovich sat down and – somehow - composed his Seventh Symphony. Written for massed battalions of musicians, this is music from the front line – a roar of defiance from an unbreakable city – and Vasily Petrenko’s recording was described by one critic as ‘devastating’. It’s a stupendous climax to a concert that’s all about struggle and resistance: whether it’s Sibelius defying Russian imperialism with a mighty hymn to his native Finland, or the poet Walt Whitman’s pleas for tolerance, set to music by the exiled Kurt Weill. Singing them today is the fabulous British baritone Roderick Williams: a born communicator at the heart of a truly epic programme.

Three quartets unite to perform the Chamber Symphony enlargement of Shostakovich’s 8th quartet, crowning a programme including Firsova’s ardent, deftly-plotted Quartet No 4.

‘I am the new Bacchus, pressing out glorious wine for the human spirit’ declared Ludwig van Beethoven. True, he wasn’t known for his modesty – but until you’ve heard his incredible Seventh Symphony in full, heart-pounding flight, you’ve never known just how intoxicating music can be. This is music that demands total commitment, body and soul and we can expect the young British conductor Adam Hickox to raise the roof tonight. First, though, he joins the RPO’s own Principal Trumpet Matthew Williams in the delightfully operatic concerto by Beethoven’s great friend Hummel – and ventures deep into the dark heart of the German forest in the Overture to Weber’s supernatural shocker Der Freischütz. The perfect opener to an evening of music to set the pulse racing.

Splicing classic Baroque works with a reminder that the harpsichord is no mere museum piece, Mahan Esfahani has opened up inspiring new territories.

The much-loved British pianist performs glorious music by three iconic composers in a feast of colour and contrast, from intimacy to elemental fire.

Three beautifully-conceived 21st century works inspired by the visual arts, culminating in a celebration of Balkan folk tunes herald the return of Ellie Consta’s pioneering Her Ensemble.

The Bach Choir and the Philharmonia Orchestra join forces for an evening of British music full of gripping stories and stunning landscapes.

The internationally acclaimed young violin and piano duo offer a feast of seductively gorgeous music, bringing to life the agony and ecstasy of French romanticism.

A runaway hit at its 1724 premiere, Louise Alder stars in Giulio Cesare - arguably Handel’s most popular operatic creation – a drama teeming with passion and political skulduggery.

Performed by one of its outstanding interpreters, Boulez’s uncompromising Livre pour quatuor is at the heart of a centenary tribute to the composer referencing Webern, Bach, and impassioned Debussy.

A Russian in exile, an Englishman in despair, and a Puerto Rican take on fantastical fandangoes: a welcome visit from the RLPO under its charismatic Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan.

Star pianist Yunchan Lim joins the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for this exclusive Royal Albert Hall performance. As the youngest-ever winner of the Gold Award at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, he has since enjoyed invitations from leading ensembles and venues worldwide, resulting in dazzling performances that have been lauded by audiences and critics alike. His performances combine a prodigious technique with a depth and musical maturity far beyond his 20 years. Yunchan performs Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto, a work in which Chopin took the piano and transformed it into the ultimate vehicle for the Romantic imagination, filled with a passion for his Polish homeland.  

In the second half of this concert, Music Director Vasily Petrenko transports us to the Alps on an epic musical journey that celebrates the glory of nature. Written for a vast orchestra of over 100 players, Richard Strauss’ thrilling tone poem takes us from sunrise to sunset on an expedition through shimmering glaciers and flowering meadows, where we will feel the full force of nature as the mountains are battered by a powerful storm. This is music that demands a grand setting, and they don’t come much grander than the magnificent Royal Albert Hall.   

Kindly supported by RPO President, Aline Foriel-Destezet 

Experience Opera North up close in this concert performance of a rare Verdi masterpiece that bristles with high emotion and political intrigue.

Heralded as one of the world’s finest musicians, legendary violinist Maxim Vengerov takes to the Royal Albert Hall stage with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a performance that is not to be missed. His distinguished career as both a violinist and conductor already spans more than four decades, and his glittering collection of awards, from Grammys to Classical BRITs, gives just a hint of the magical performance that this great master will treat us to. Described as ‘a virtuoso at the peak of his powers’ (The Guardian), Maxim is the perfect soloist for Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, a piece suffused with the atmosphere of his Finnish homeland, a nation which was still yearning for independence. 

Music Director Vasily Petrenko concludes this concert with Stravinsky’s dramatic musical illustration of the Russian fairytale, The Firebird. The ballet music, as you might expect, is extremely theatrical, from its menacing opening that foretells the trouble ahead to the ethereal strings that conjure the magic of the enchanted Firebird. 

Kindly supported by RPO President, Aline Foriel-Destezet 

Spearheaded by France’s flagship contemporary music group, the new, the nearly new, and a 20th century classic are stitched into a programme that explores slavery and the Caribbean experience.

Don’t be misled by the title: for Tchaikovsky, ‘Pathétique’ meant ‘full of emotion’ and when he composed his autobiographical final symphony… well, let’s just say that he didn’t hold back. Soaring romance, desperate tragedy and brilliant celebration: it’s all here, in a symphony that leaves no heartstring untugged, right up to its devastating and unforgettable conclusion. If you’ve heard our guest conductor Antonello Manacorda in action at the Royal Opera House, you’ll know that he aims straight for the heart of everything he conducts. So expect elegance and joy in Mozart’s exuberant Overture to The Magic Flute, and pure energy when he joins RPO Artist-in-Residence Johan Dalene to play the piece with which Dalene shot to fame in 2019: the powerful Violin Concerto by Carl Nielsen. It’s possible that no one alive plays it better.

Our Shostakovich cycle began with the Quartet No 1, and ends, inevitably, with No 15, staring death resolutely in the face, a work heart-stopping in its searing intensity.