Share

Prepare to be inspired by four of Scotland’s most exciting young classical musicians as they perform alongside the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the magnificent setting of Glasgow City Halls!

Sometimes art imitates life so closely that you can almost feel its breath. “With passion and desire” wrote Tchaikovsky on the slow movement of his Fifth Symphony, and the whole piece is a struggle between love and despair, told in elegant waltzes, bittersweet songs and melody after sweeping melody. Gemma New is always a popular guest conductor here in Scotland, and she knows exactly how to get to the heart of a masterpiece – whether Lera Auerbach’s fiery retelling of the myth of Icarus, or the shadows, secrets and burning truths of Shostakovich’s powerful First Violin Concerto. Rosanne Philippens is the soloist today: a violinist who believes that every note should convey emotion, and forge a connection.

Imagine...a journey from darkness to light. Struggles between love & despair inspire a pulse-raising masterpiece that stirs the soul. Sometimes art imitates life so closely that you can almost feel its breath. “With passion and desire” wrote Tchaikovsky on the slow movement of his Fifth Symphony, and the whole piece is a struggle between love and despair, told in elegant waltzes, bittersweet songs and melody after sweeping melody. Gemma New is always a popular guest conductor here in Scotland, and she knows exactly how to get to the heart of a masterpiece – whether Lera Auerbach’s fiery retelling of the myth of Icarus, or the shadows, secrets and burning truths of Shostakovich’s powerful First Violin Concerto. Rosanne Philippens is the soloist today: a violinist who believes that every note should convey emotion, and forge a connection.

Sometimes art imitates life so closely that you can almost feel its breath. “With passion and desire” wrote Tchaikovsky on the slow movement of his Fifth Symphony, and the whole piece is a struggle between love and despair, told in elegant waltzes, bittersweet songs and melody after sweeping melody. Gemma New is always a popular guest conductor here in Scotland, and she knows exactly how to get to the heart of a masterpiece – whether Lera Auerbach’s fiery retelling of the myth of Icarus, or the shadows, secrets and burning truths of Shostakovich’s powerful First Violin Concerto. Rosanne Philippens is the soloist today: a violinist who believes that every note should convey emotion, and forge a connection.

Sometimes art imitates life so closely that you can almost feel its breath. “With passion and desire” wrote Tchaikovsky on the slow movement of his Fifth Symphony, and the whole piece is a struggle between love and despair, told in elegant waltzes, bittersweet songs and melody after sweeping melody. Gemma New is always a popular guest conductor here in Scotland, and she knows exactly how to get to the heart of a masterpiece – whether Lera Auerbach’s fiery retelling of the myth of Icarus, or the shadows, secrets and burning truths of Shostakovich’s powerful First Violin Concerto. Rosanne Philippens is the soloist today: a violinist who believes that every note should convey emotion, and forge a connection.

Scotland’s most esteemed violinist – the peerless Nicola Benedetti – joins charismatic Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev for an end-of-Season celebration full of romance and adventure.

The orchestra throws down a challenge, and the piano strides forward with one of the grandest tunes Tchaikovsky ever wrote. Seabirds wheel and soar, and jet-streams trace fabulous patterns across the blue Pacific sky. And in the silence of dawn, a young artist walks out on a lifelong voyage: a tale of struggle and joy, turmoil and triumph. Three very different composers, and three different openings – but each one is just the start of an adventure, told today by the BBC SSO and conductor Tito Muñoz, who created such a buzz at City Halls in 2022. Pianist Alim Beisembayev is the soloist; this 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition winner has been described as “positively luminous”.

“God, what beauty!”. Once upon a time in Finland, Sibelius saw a flight of swans and felt his imagination take wing. That’s the story behind the unforgettable horn theme that crowns his Fifth Symphony: music as astonishing, and as inevitable, as nature itself. Those vaulting horns are a spine-tingling way to end the season. So what could be more natural than Ryan Wigglesworth inviting Stefan Dohr, a legend among living horn players, to perform another Scandinavian masterpiece: the playful, utterly original concerto that our Composer in Association (and master-storyteller) Hans Abrahamsen wrote especially for him. Ludwig van Beethoven ties it all together, with wit, splendour and irrepressible life-force. You’d expect no less.

The in-demand conductor Karina Canellakis returns after making her Edinburgh International Festival debut in the 2023 Closing Concert. She leads this monumental programme with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the BBC SSO, characterised by thrilling sounds and ideas of love, divine or human.