Composer

Bruckner and Volkov, Prokofiev and Gringolts: two superb musicians, two stupendous works.
Prokofiev’s music can be on the gnarly side, often as spiky and unpredictable as the composer himself. But his Violin Concerto No.1 is downright romantic, especially in its dreamy opening movement. Described as ‘sensational’ by reviewers, violinist Ilya Gringolts has been universally acclaimed for his performance of this concerto. Ilan Volkov, in his first concert as our new Principal Guest Conductor, is equally renowned for his performances of Bruckner’s symphonies. Here he leads one of the composer’s finest, noble in construction, and with a touching tribute to Wagner at its centre. A stirring and uplifting experience is guaranteed.

Bruckner's 7th Symphony

Symphony Hall in Birmingham

Step into a magical world of romance, wonder, and timeless storytelling with Cinderella, presented by Classical Arts Entertainment and performed by the United European Ballet Company. This enchanting production brings the beloved fairytale to life through graceful choreography, vibrant characters, and breathtaking theatrical design.

EPSG:4326

Cinderella by the United European Ballet Company

Weill Center for the Performing Arts

Witches, ghosts, and fantastical creatures are coming to the Opéra Comédie for a grand family event filled with thrills and festivities. From the incandescent passion of Khachaturian's Sabre Dance to the mysteries of Revueltas's Sensemayá , from the spirits of earth and fire invoked by Holst to the breathless chase in Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin , each piece in this program opens a new door to the strange and the wondrous. Between frenetic dances, triumphant marches, and ghostly waltzes, the Orchestra summons the dark forces of the great repertoire… Come in costume!

Halloween Concert

Opéra Comédie

KONTRAST - Black and White

The Royal Danish Academy of Music

The newly restored banquet hall at the North Norwegian Art Museum is perfect for chamber music, and here we will hear three pieces for three different ensembles.

Prokofiev, Hartmann and Françaix

Nordnorsk kunstmuseum

Five musicians from the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra perform Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony alongside works by Prokofiev and Fauré in dialogue with sculptor Ossip Zadkine's visual works at the KMSKA museum.

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra X KMSKA LAAT

Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen (KMSKA)

The Cardinal Quintet is a Manchester-based wind quintet, made up of recent graduates of the Royal Northern College of Music. Since then, Kaoruko, Cara, Connor, Esmé and Anna have enjoyed playing in a variety of concerts and venues across the North West, including the RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester Cathedral, and St Ann’s Church. They were winners of the 2025 RNCM Fewkes Chamber Music Prize and the 2025 June Emerson Launchpad Chamber Music Prize. Valerie Coleman’s Red Clay and Mississippi Delta vividly depicts the bluesy dialect of the Mississippi delta region, home to her mother’s family.

Cardinal Quintet - Relaxed Performance

Leeds Conservatoire

Join us as we bring back Sergei Prokofiev’s classic symphonic tale Peter and the Wolf! The story follows a young boy named Peter who, with the help of his friends – a bird, a duck and a cat – catches a wolf, saves him from hunters and takes him to the zoo. Beautifully narrated by local Twin Cities artist Lady Midnight, this story will teach students about the instrument families as each animal is portrayed by a different instrument playing each animal’s unique theme.

Peter and the Wolf

Orchestra Hall Minneapolis

The programme opens with the world premiere of Concerto for Orchestra by the composer Petr Wajsar, a work commissioned by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Elias Grandy a Lukáš Vondráček

Rudolfinum

The concert's conductor is Réne Bjerregaard and the soloist is Teresa LaCour. Program: Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain; Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1; Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 1

Amateur Symphony Orchestra Autumn Concert 2026

Koncertkirken

Mantziussalen

Northern Spirits: Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Lesher Center for the Arts

Members of the Minnesota Orchestra join pianist Simon Trpčeski for an afternoon of chamber music on the Orchestra Hall stage.

Brahms, Prokofiev and Tabakova

A few years ago, Benjamin Grosvenor claimed he wasn’t really all that talented. His stellar career, however, which has made him one of the most sought-after pianists around the world today, tells a different tale. Time and again, international reviewers have praised his brilliant technical abilities, which are combined with an instinct for sound and the courage to delve deep into the realms of lyricism. This makes him the perfect choice of soloist for Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a bravura signature piece combining daredevil keyboard acrobatics with intimate contemplation. Where Rachmaninov plunged straight into the maelstrom of grand emotions, Sergei Prokofiev chose serious retrospection. His dark-hued Symphony No. 6, a masterwork of pain and wistfulness, reflects the horrors of World War II. The Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, chief conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, opens the gates to a deeply touching world of melancholy.

Breaking New Paths

Cologne Philharmonie

With the concert series »Bock auf Klassik?!«, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne invites everyone under the age of 29 to an evening that brings classical music to life in a new way: accessible, vibrant and surprisingly different. For just 8 euros, you can enjoy great works, a personal introduction to the evening’s programme, and afterwards a musical finale with a DJ, free drinks and a relaxed atmosphere in the foyer.

Bock auf Klassik?!

The ECSO opens its 2026–27 season with an evening designed to thrill. Shadows & Spirits embraces the dramatic and the mysterious, pairing two works that pulse with dark energy and theatrical flair.

Concert competition winner violinist Isabella Diaz takes center stage for Prokofiev’s blazing Violin Concerto No. 1, a work of fierce rhythmic momentum and soaring Armenian melody. Prokofiev’s writing is unabashedly cinematic, moving from brooding intensity to exhilarating virtuosity, and Juilliard student Diaz brings all of it to life with commanding stage presence and technical brilliance.

ECSO Concertmaster Stephan Tieszen conjures one of music’s most beloved supernatural scenes: Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre, in which Death himself plays violin as skeletons rise and dance at midnight. This iconic tone poem is hauntingly beautiful and irresistibly fun, the perfect curtain-raiser for a season full of discovery.

An evening of drama, dazzle, and just a hint of the otherworldly. Don’t miss it.

Opening Night

The Garde Arts Center, Inc.

Bring the whole family to the San Francisco Symphony’s first Music for Families concert of the new season—a vibrant exploration of the animal kingdom through music! Experience music from Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee,” Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals, and more, as prowling cats, lumbering elephants, chirping birds, buzzing bumblebees, and all your favorite animals come to Davies Symphony Hall. Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser conducts this engaging concert with the SF Symphony—the perfect outing to spark musical curiosity in all ages!

Music for Families

Davies Symphony Hall

Pavel Berman and Maria Meerovitch

Teatro La Fenice

Celebrated as Ib Andersen’s greatest work, Romeo & Juliet captivates audiences with its exquisite beauty and expression of human emotion. From youthful romance to devastating loss, Romeo & Juliet remains the eternal symbol of love at its most pure form. Set to Prokofiev’s iconic score and performed live by The Phoenix Symphony, this is a story of passion, conflict, and fate.

Romeo & Juliet

Phoenix Convention Center

This concert focuses on friendship and all the emotions that surround them. From the feuding Montages and Capulets, the matchmaking skills of Emma Woodhouse, to the deep set magical bond of Hermione, Ron and Harry…

Chetham’s Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensembles

Stoller Hall, Manchester

Carlos Miguel Prieto returns to the podium for a compelling program of 20th-century orchestral works. The evening opens with Revueltas’s Suite from Redes, rich in rhythmic vitality and cinematic color, followed by Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a work of lyricism and sharp-edged brilliance featuring violin soloist Aubree Oliverson. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 brings the program to a powerful close, its sweeping drama and emotional intensity offering a monumental conclusion under Prieto’s leadership.

Prieto Returns: Shostakovich No. 5

Orpheum Theater

Step into a magical world of elegance, romance, and timeless storytelling with Cinderella, one of the most beloved fairy tales brought to life through the beauty of classical ballet.

Cinderella by The United European Ballet Company

Performing Arts Center

Women's Choir in the Foyer

Teatro Massimo di Palermo

Having won First Prize at the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, Eric Lu has since achieved the rare distinction of becoming one of only two pianists – alongside fellow Leeds laureate Radu Lupu – to have claimed two of the four major international piano competitions. This remarkable feat was confirmed with his First Prize victory at the XIX International Chopin Piano Competition in 2025. Reflecting his most recent win, Eric includes two pieces by Chopin in his programme.

Eric Lu

The timeless art of the recital lives on thanks to present-day virtuosos. Experience the musical journeys curated by this season's thrilling performers.

Bella Hristova & Gloria Chien

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

One of today’s most inspirational pianists joins this elite German radio orchestra for a concert that exudes wit, melodic beauty and mercurial charm.

“The melodies fly so thick here that you have to be careful not to step on one,” deadpanned Brahms to his publisher when writing his joyful, sunny symphony. It could well apply to this whole concert. It is Brahms at his most joyful and easy-going, and Prokofiev channelling the spirit of Haydn for an affectionate, livewire pastiche – soulful, tuneful and occasionally laugh-out-loud.

NDR Radio Philharmonic, Hanover

Cadogan Hall

Arielle Beck was named Revelation Instrumental Soloist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2026. She embodies a new generation of prodigies; after winning First Prize at the International Jeune Chopin Competition (with Martha Argerich as president) at the age of 9, she got into the Paris Conservatoire when she was 14, making her one of the most promising young pianists of her generation. Her virtuosic recital, mixing German and French Romanticism with Russian music, is perfectly fit to her talent and maturity.

Arielle Beck

Opéra National De Lyon

Monday Lunchtimes 2026

Royal Northern College of Music

Ferro / Prokofiev / Stravinsky

True to its mission of promoting and raising awareness of classical music, the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie tours the Occitanie region in various formations.

Bassoon Quartet

Salle Ferdinand Buisson

A perfect introduction to the orchestra, follow the spirited strings of brave Peter to the mischievous purr of the clarinet cat in a tale where every instrument brings a character to life. A timeless musical fable that unfolds in a thrilling chase of wit and courage.

Peter & the Wolf

Martin Woldson Theater

With " At the Heart of the Orchestra ," the audience is invited to a rare experience: sitting directly on stage, among the musicians, to feel the music from within. The vibrations of the strings, the breath of the winds, the strike of the percussion… everything is perceived differently when you're up close. A powerful, vibrant, unforgettable moment. A total immersion in the beating heart of the orchestra.

At the heart of the orchestra

Le Corum

Program: W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni Overture, K. 527; Jesse Jones: Concerto for Mandolin, "Tunebook"; K. Husa: Fantasies; S. Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25, "Classical". Running time 1 hour and 40 minutes including intermission. Pre-concert chat with Maestro Pirard and Jacob Jolliff one hour before the concert.

Fantasies

Ithaca College

Conductor Karina Canellakis leads a trio of thrilling works that demonstrate the world-building power of the modern orchestra. Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s 2003 tone poem The Kingdom of Silence evokes a vibrant realm of mystery and magic. Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti brings her signature passion and precision to Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a boldly cosmopolitan showpiece that boasts traditional Russian folk tunes as well as clickety-clackety castanets and other Spanish signifiers. Symphonic Dances, the ailing Rachmaninoff’s spectacular swan song, represents the composer’s late period at its opulent best. Rich in eccentric colors, it conjures up entire galaxies of expression.

Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances

Newly appointed Music Director Designate Paolo Bortolameolli opens the 2026-27 season and a new era in the Phoenix Symphony’s history with Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, a triumph of power, lyricism and irony. Premiered war-torn Soviet Union in 1945 with victory over Nazi Germany within reach, Prokofiev’s popular symphony is famous for its sweeping melodies, rhythmic drive and rich orchestration. The curtain rises with Mikhail Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla, a dazzling opening to the new season. Featured prominently in the 1996 film “Shine,” Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is one of the most technically challenging works in the repertoire. Russian pianist Olga Kern, Gold Medalist of the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, who performed all of Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos in 2012 for the Phoenix Symphony’s Rachmaninoff Festival, is soloist in the concerto that’s respected and even feared by pianists.

Paolo Conducts Rachmaninoff & Prokofiev

A triptych of fire and dreams! For its first major symphonic concert of the season, the Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie welcomes back its music director, Roderick Cox, whose conducting is precise and incandescent. His rapport with the musicians promises an exceptional evening.

Opening concert

Magnificent and intimate. Artistic Partner Richard Goode invites you along on his lifelong exploration of Mozart. With a feather touch, he inhabits different characters — at times sweet, then moody — removing any and all sense of distance between you and the stage. In the hands of one of the world's leading experts, you'll feel like you've been transported back to 1786 for a private salon performance of one of the greatest concertos of all time.

Richard Goode Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25

University of Minnesota

Shepherd of The Valley Lutheran Church

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

The heir of a fictional kingdom suffers from overwhelming sadness; but when Fata Morgana, a witch, inadvertently trips and falls, he suddenly doubles up with laughter. The offended witch curses the prince, forcing him to embark on a quest for happiness in the form of three oranges. His epic journey is replete with transformed princesses and wild card games, with an angry cook and monstrous rat for good measure. Drawing inspiration from a whimsical commedia dell’arte piece by Carlo Gozzi, the composer wrote a sarcastic and poetic libretto. Prokofiev’s lively style is undeniably catchy, placing the orchestra at the centre as a legitimate character. His musical landscape is eclectic, unpredictable, sweeping everything up in frenzy. This lively burlesque, satirical, and fantasy piece is directed by Laurent Pelly, and led by the sharp hand of internationally renowned conductor Dmitry Matvienko.

The Love for Three Oranges

Opéra National de Lyon

Conunova & Stravinski

Klosterkirken

With its iconic four-note opening and themes of sorrow and delight threaded throughout, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is a cornerstone of our musical pantheon. The pioneering symphony kicks off the YSO’s year-long celebration of the German composer, Beethoven. Paired with this masterwork is Sergei Prokofiev’s First Symphony, which is infused with unexpected harmonies. The concert concludes with Christopher Theofanidis’ Bassoon Concerto that was written specifically for our esteemed guest soloist Martin Kuuskmann. Beethoven lives on!

Beethoven’s Fifth

Appell Center for the Performing Arts

Violinist Stefan Jackiw draws his life motto from the myth of Sisyphus: “There is scarcely any passion without struggle.” It’s a reminder that just because he can make it sound effortless to play the violin, that doesn’t mean it is. Jackiw’s interpretation of Mozart will set you up beautifully for the tension and power of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6.

Søndergård, Mozart and Prokofiev

Under the baton of Polish conductor Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, three composers from a time of upheaval are brought together in a program where music becomes a spark of freedom. Composed at the pivotal moment of his return to the Soviet Union, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet emerged from the tension between personal artistic ambition and political constraint, carried by expressive melodies and a strikingly modern tone.

Romeo, Juliet and the Struggles of an Era

Église Sainte Suzanne

Maison de la culture Ahuntsic

Place des Arts

The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie brings together the finest music students in Germany – tomorrow’s orchestral professionals. In this concert at the Philharmonie Berlin, they perform Joseph Haydn’s radiant and festive Symphony No. 99, said to have been the composer’s favourite, alongside Sergei Prokofiev’s dramatic Sixth Symphony, haunted by the aftermath of the Second World War. Opening the programme, conductor John Storgårds also plays the solo part in Sebastian Fagerlund’s Helena’s Song, in which the Finnish composer reworks a key scene from his opera Höstsonaten for violin and orchestra.

Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and John Storgårds

Berliner Philharmoniker

The multi-talented Iván López Reynoso – a graduate in violin, piano, choral direction and conducting as well as an accomplished countertenor, and currently Principal Conductor at the Atlanta Opera – is equally at home with orchestras in Europe and his native Mexico.

Prokofiev. Schubert

The chamber concerts are a unique opportunity to experience the most intimate moments of classical music and get closer to the members of the symphony orchestra. The concerts are composed for the occasion by the musicians themselves according to personal taste and according to which works they find challenge and highlight their interplay.

Chamber Concert: String Quartet

Aarhus Music Hall

Shostakovich’s enigmatic musical reply to ‘just criticism’ sits alongside the fluid, lyrical melodies of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto.

On Tour in Tokyo

NHK Broadcasting Center

The chamber concerts offer a unique opportunity to experience the most intimate moments of classical music and to get closer to the members of the symphony orchestra. The programs are put together for each occasion by the musicians themselves, according to personal taste and to the works they feel challenge and showcase their ensemble playing.

String Quartet

Musikhuset Aarhus

On Tour in Kyoto

Kyoto Concert Hall

Celebrate opening night with beloved stories reimagined through music that bridges tradition with innovation. Violinist Elena Urioste joins us to perform The Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter, a bold reinterpretation of Vivaldi's iconic violin concertos. The second half of the evening pairs Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, two extraordinary works that transform Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy of love and loss into unforgettable orchestral storytelling.

Timeless stories and iconic composers

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

The world premiere of Stravinsky’s first ballet, The Firebird, made him famous overnight. For our Season Opening celebrations, the creativity of video artist Tal Rosner adds thrilling dimension to Stravinsky’s luminous score. Van Cliburn Competition gold medalist Vadym Kholodenko’s technical brilliance will dazzle in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Søndergård Conducts Stravinsky’s Firebird

Celebrate National Day with Zitong Wang, Third Prize Winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition, as she takes on Prokofiev’s whimsical yet barnstorming Piano Concerto no. 3. Described by Chopin Courier as “one of the most captivating personalities”, Wang ignites the stage with dazzling virtuosity and electrifying energy under the baton of Yuan Ding, Principal Resident Conductor of China National Opera House. The programme opens with Chinese composer Yao Chen’s Garden: Unearthing the Way Home, a poetic soundscape inspired by the art of garden-making, offering a journey of spiritual renewal. Rachmaninov’s brooding and dramatic First Symphony crowns the evening with sweeping intensity and symphonic grandeur.

National Day Concert: Zitong Wang Plays Prokofiev

Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Peter & the Wolf is a magical new production of Sergei Prokofiev’s much-loved musical masterpiece, featuring live music and dance.

The Cockpit

Liadov conjures magical landscapes while Shostakovich navigates political turmoil translated into music, plus Bruce Liu performs Prokofiev’s dazzling Piano Concerto No 3.

On Tour in Shanghai

Shanghai Oriental Art Center

Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5 was begun in 1937, a year after Stalin condemned the composer’s opera Lady Macbeth as ‘muddle instead of music’. On the surface, the Fifth falls back into Soviet line with its clear sense of structure and abundance of tunes. But there’s an underlying menace to the opening movement, a brooding darkness to the Largo, while the surging finale is surely nothing short of Shostakovich at his most bitingly ironic.

On Tour in Jiangsu

Jiangsu Grand Theatre

Kabalevsky’s witty and sparkling Colas Breugnon Overture bursts open the season with swagger and wit. Pianist Mackenzie Melemed brings grandeur and brilliance to Amy Beach’s richly romantic Piano Concerto. Prokofiev’s searing music from Romeo and Juliet closes the night, where love, violence, and heartbreak blaze across one of the orchestra’s most vivid scores.

Romeo and Juliet

Lose yourself in Elgar’s dark yet lyrical Cello Concerto. Written in the aftermath of World War I, this melancholy piece will break your heart and leave you breathless—an “autumnal” meditation to welcome fall.

Elgar’s Cello Concerto & Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5

Salt Palace Convention Center

Conducting the concert is Eduardo Strausser: this Brazilian conductor, music director of the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, has already collaborated with prestigious ensembles, including the Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie. The concert opens with Lumina by Nina Shekhar, an American composer born in 1995, who explores the contrasts between light and darkness, between vibrant timbres and opaque textures – a tribute to light. Next comes the young South Korean prodigy Sarang Seohyun Kim, the youngest laureate, at 14 years old, of the Tibor Varga International Competition. She performs Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 , a luminous work of radiant classicism. Finally, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 7 (1952) offers a farewell imbued with gentle melancholy, in which the Russian composer tenderly revisits classical forms. From Mozart to the present day, a program that celebrates musical heritage in all its diversity.

Heritage Concert

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra plays in Vara Konserthus together with conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste and pianist Peter Jablonski.

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra plays in Vara Konserthus

Vara Concert Hall

An exceptional programme of flute music from the last century, from dreamy Dohnányi, to mysterious Liebermann, to Prokofiev at his most spirited.

Prokofiev Sonatas: Elizaveta Ivanova and Sanja Bizjak

LSO St Luke's

Liadov conjures magical landscapes while Tchaikovsky navigates anguish and triumph, plus Bruce Liu performs Prokofiev’s dazzling Piano Concerto No 3.

On Tour in Beijing

National Centre for the Performing Arts

We are honored to return to the David Geffen Hall stage for a deeply meaningful performance of John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls. This marks a historic moment for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus: it is our first time performing this profound "memory space" in song since we won a Grammy Award for the world-premiere recording. Joined by the New York Philharmonic and led by Gustavo Dudamel, we invite you to experience this powerful tribute to the human spirit.

NY Philharmonic - Dudamel Conducts On the Transmigration of Souls

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Star pianist Peter Jablonski returns for a guest performance with the Gothenburg Symphony. This time, one of Prokofiev’s most demanding and playful piano concertos is in his brilliant hands. Beethoven's Eroica concludes. Conductor: Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

Prokofiev with Peter Jablonski

Göteborgs Konserthus

An Evening of Musical Stories celebrates the 90th anniversary of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf in a gala concert supporting Brass for Africa – the charity transforming young lives through music in Uganda, Rwanda, and Liberia.

Actor Hugh Bonneville* narrates this much-loved tale, bringing its characters to life with warmth, wit, and storytelling flair. The piece is conducted by Gabriel Prokofiev, the composer’s grandson, offering a unique personal connection to this timeless work.

The London Musici, under Mark Stephenson, also performs Prokofiev’s effervescent ‘Classical’ Symphony, brimming with elegance and charm.

Distinguished baritone Patrick Dow joins the programme, bringing expressive artistry and a fresh contemporary voice. Musicians from Brass for Africa share joyful musical stories, highlighting music’s power to inspire and uplift communities.

Gala Concert of Musical Stories

Prokof’ev - Peter and the Wolf

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre

After its spectacular debut at the Musikfest Berlin in 2024, the Vienna Philharmonic returns in a new guest appearance, on this occasion with the conductor Tugan Sokhiev. The three-time Grammy award winner Hilary Hahn is the soloist in Antonín Dvořák’s brilliant Violin Concerto which guarantees a buoyant lightness not only in its thrilling final movement thanks to the influence of Czech folk dances. Sergei Prokofiev also selected the artistic form of dance for his musical depiction of the probably most famous love story of all time: the tragedy Romeo and Juliet based on William Shakespeare.

Wiener Philharmoniker

With one hand she snaps a three-beat rhythm, with the other a two-beat rhythm, and on top of that she sings the violin melody: when America’s top violinist Hilary Hahn explains Antonín Dvořák’s Violin Concerto “in a nutshell” on a YouTube video, it becomes instantly clear why she chose this very piece for her long-awaited Lucerne Festival debut. Mischief and joy leap out at you — she loves this concerto, and the spark catches immediately. Hilary Hahn combines lightness with seriousness, virtuosity with poetry. That’s why, many feel, she belongs to a class of her own. Just like the Vienna Philharmonic: the flagship orchestra from the metropolis on the Danube will show everything it can do — passionate drama, delicate nuance, and a melting, luminous sound — when it performs what may be the finest ballet score ever written. Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet recounts Shakespeare’s “most excellent and lamentable tragedy” with flair, wit, and sheer impact. The conductor Tugan Sokhiev has assembled his own selection of the most beautiful numbers. And we love and suffer along with the star-crossed couple, hoping until the last moment — and we may well shed a few tears.

Vienna Philharmonic | Tugan Sokhiev | Hilary Hahn

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

Prokofiev remained hopeful about the future even as the Second World War raged. In his Symphony No. 5, he celebrates the strength of the human spirit through vibrant playfulness and ethereal melodies. But when Chief Conductor Martyn Brabbins first takes the podium to open the season, he does so in the company of the legendary Don Juan — the elegant bon vivant at the heart of a surging tone poem that became the 24-year-old Richard Strauss’s breakthrough as a composer.

Brabbins & Prokofiev

Malmo Live Concert AB

In Verse of Light, the trumpet stands up for human creativity in the struggle between the analog and the digital. The work was written for MSO’s honorary artist Håkan Hardenberger by the orchestra’s Composer in Association, Karen Tanaka.

Season Opening – Brabbins & Prokofiev

Shostakovich’s compositions faced pressure from the totalitarian Stalin regime, but he remained defiant and courageous. His piece Festive Overture, driven by thrilling brass fanfare, was written in three days to celebrate the anniversary of the October 1917 Russian Revolution. It is speculated that the work was influenced by the composer’s sense of relief and celebration after Stalin’s death. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, written for the same anniversary years prior, focuses on the transformation from emotional darkness to light, reflecting his struggles with the regime’s critics. The piece won massive praise, with a standing ovation for over thirty minutes after its premiere.

Prokofiev & Shostakovich

Buddy Holly Hall

Experience the thrill of first love and the heartbreak of warring triad families! Shakespeare’s powerful tale of star-crossed lovers has enthralled audiences for generations and is thoughtfully reimagined in Septime Webre’s acclaimed Romeo + Juliet set in 1960s Hong Kong. Juliet’s father is an unrelenting Shanghainese tycoon who is determined to marry his only daughter off to a wealthy gweilo, unaware that Juliet has already fallen in love with his greatest enemy’s only son. This epic love story captivates with vivid dancing, complex drama, sumptuous cheongsams and iconic scenes from the tragic tale.

Romeo + Juliet

CDHT-CPAA Grand Theatre

Over their first six months as Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows, these aspiring musicians have experienced everything from vast symphonies to more intimate chamber concerts, all while getting to know each other’s playing styles.

Fellows Choice

St James' Church, Sydney

Finland has only 5,5 million inhabitants — a good third fewer than Switzerland — yet it keeps astonishing the music world with a steady stream of outstanding new talent. Central Europe can only marvel. The conductor leading the fabulous Concertgebouw Orchestra when it comes to Lucerne this summer is also a Finn: 40-year-old Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Chief Conductor of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | Santtu-Matias Rouvali | Víkingur Ólafsson

For his recital, our “artiste étoile” Augustin Hadelich has planned something special: he will appear with Seong-Jin Cho, South Korea’s superstar pianist, for the very first time — world-class meets world-class. The program could hardly be lovelier: the delicate, deeply romantic Violin Romance by the American composer Amy Beach; Leoš Janáček’s earthy, passionate Sonata with its wild dance rhythms that tear apart any sense of regular meter; and Sergei Prokofiev’s weightless D major Sonata, written in the midst of World War II yet sounding anything but apocalyptic. The evening opens with Johannes Brahms and his melody-rich G major Sonata, which contains a famous song quotation. Hadelich says he came to understand this composer anew after immersing himself in his chamber music, and in general he considers making music in small ensembles the best training for performing with orchestra and, more broadly, for engaging with people. As he puts it, this is how you learn to listen, to respond, to enter into dialogue. A school for life.

Augustin Hadelich | Seong-Jin Cho

Normally the roles are clear: the orchestra sits onstage, and the audience listens from the hall. That’s where the sound blends best, of course. But it raises an intriguing question: how does the orchestra itself experience a concert, and what does the conductor actually hear? “Mittendrin” gives you the answer. You take your seat right among the musicians, who are spread out a bit more widely than usual so that extra chairs can be positioned to accommodate you as guests. Iván Fischer, a master of imaginative ideas, invented this wonderfully offbeat format at the Konzerthaus Berlin and now brings it to Lucerne. He conducts a suite from Sergei Prokofiev’s enchanting ballet Cinderella, and you watch him from just a few feet away, as if you were part of the orchestra. “What you experience is simply fantastic,” Fischer says. “You notice countless new details — you hear some instruments right up close, others from farther away. And you feel the players right beside you. The balance isn’t as refined as it is in the hall, but the intensity is incomparable! You’ll never forget it.”

Budapest Festival Orchestra | Iván Fischer

Normally the roles are clear: the orchestra sits onstage, and the audience listens from the hall. That’s where the sound blends best, of course. But it raises an intriguing question: how does the orchestra itself experience a concert, and what does the conductor actually hear? “Mittendrin” gives you the answer.

Composer

Sergey Prokofiev

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 12 - Dec 14, 2026

Monday Lunchtimes 2026 · Royal Northern College of Music

Nov 5, 2026

Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2 with Nobuyuki Tsujii · Southbank Centre

Nov 5, 2026

Prokofiev Sonatas: Andreas Brantelid and Julien Quentin · London Symphony Orchestra

Nov 5, 2026

Tchaikovsky Five · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

5 - 7 Nov, 2026

Alexander Soddy – Poulenc / Prokofiev · Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Past events

Nov 3, 2026

Bruckner's 7th Symphony · City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Nov 1, 2026

Cinderella by the United European Ballet Company · Weill Center for the Performing Arts

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