Simon Rattle & Berlin PhilharmonicBarbican Centre/Southbank Centre, 10th to 15th February
London may soon be seeing a lot more of Simon Rattle, if rumours about him taking over the LSO in 2018 are true. But for now you are advised to grab any opportunity you can to hear the conductor in his dynamic partnership with the Berlin Philharmonic—one of the finest orchestras in the world. In February, Rattle celebrates his 60th birthday with no fewer than five concerts. The spotlight is on Jean Sibelius: a complete symphony cycle plus the Violin Concerto mark the 150th anniversary of the Finnish composer’s birth. The visit will also include Gustav Mahler’s mighty Symphony No 2, reuniting the conductor with soprano Kate Royal and his own wife, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená.
Shostakovich Symphony No 11Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 11th February Famously described as “a film score without a film,” Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No 11 is an arresting portrait of the Winter Palace massacre of 1905. Is it also an encoded anti-Stalin protest? Decide for yourself at Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s unusual event, combining narration, analysis and visual elements with a complete performance of this many-layered work.
Minimalism Unwrapped: Steve ReichKings Place, London, 14th February Kings Place’s year-long Minimalism Unwrapped festival turns its attention to the hypnotic, rhythmic cycles of Steve Reich. Still edgy nearly half a century on, Reich’s music will be championed here by the London Sinfonietta, whose relationship with the composer goes back a long way. Learn more on the study day, or attend the evening concert for a rare chance to hear Four Organs as well as Reich’s iconic Clapping Music.
Shostakovich Symphony No 11Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 11th February Famously described as “a film score without a film,” Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No 11 is an arresting portrait of the Winter Palace massacre of 1905. Is it also an encoded anti-Stalin protest? Decide for yourself at Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s unusual event, combining narration, analysis and visual elements with a complete performance of this many-layered work.
Minimalism Unwrapped: Steve ReichKings Place, London, 14th February Kings Place’s year-long Minimalism Unwrapped festival turns its attention to the hypnotic, rhythmic cycles of Steve Reich. Still edgy nearly half a century on, Reich’s music will be championed here by the London Sinfonietta, whose relationship with the composer goes back a long way. Learn more on the study day, or attend the evening concert for a rare chance to hear Four Organs as well as Reich’s iconic Clapping Music.
