Composer

Led by the highly qualified conductor Pierre Bleuse and the penetrating sound of mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova, the evening concert of this happening explores a multitude of musical and philosophical themes. Central to it is the play of contrasts: light and dark, revelation and concealment. Thomas Larcher tackles the sense of time: sometimes it seems to slow down, and sometimes it seems to go faster. In Debussy's ‘poème dansé’, the ballet is contained in the music, even without dancers on stage. With Berio, the rather floaty wanderings then give way to expressive vocal fireworks, and to top it all off, Andrew Gourlay reduces Wagner's grandeur to its essence, in a version without vocals. As a listener, you rediscover what rustles at the margins and remains hidden from the naked eye.

Happening: Evening concert 'Parsifal'

Queen Elisabeth Hall

Beethoven and Schubert pushed the boundaries of the piano sonata, redefining the genre in ways that still resonate today. In turn, Paul Lewis—one of the most sought-after pianists of his generation—has redefined how we hear and understand their music. In his highly anticipated return to our series, this beloved pianist will trace the ongoing evolution of the sonata, pairing a bold new work written for him by Austrian composer Thomas Larcher with Beethoven’s early Op. 10, No. 1—lauded by his contemporary Carl Czerny for its “profound sentiment and delicacy”—and Schubert’s expansive, haunting final sonata, composed just weeks before the composer’s death. Following an acclaimed international tour performing and recording the complete Schubert piano sonata cycle, Lewis believes that “Schubert’s sonatas express with directness and sincerity some of the most fundamental elements of human experience: longing, consolation, despair, joy, loss, nostalgia, and hope. In our time, his music is as essential and poignant as ever.” Expect an evening of music that won’t just move you—it will reshape the way you listen.

EPSG:4326

Paul Lewis, Piano

Richardson Auditorium

Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream captures the spirit of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy. Internationally renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein joins the Orchestra for a World Premiere by Thomas Larcher, whose music has been called “one of this century’s wonders” (The Times). Robert Schumann’s Second Symphony brings the concert, conducted by Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, to a soaring conclusion.

Alisa Weilerstein, Thomas Larcher & Schumann

David Geffen Hall

Angela Meade (“the most talked about soprano of her generation” – Opera News) and renowned Mahler interpreter Anna Larsson join forces with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra for three performances of Mahler’s extraordinary and utterly overwhelming “Resurrection” Symphony, conducted by Music Director Rafael Payare with the debut of the San Diego Symphony Festival Chorus. One of the most spectacular and immersive pieces of orchestral music ever written, its performances here in our new hall are a marvelous way of marking our storied past and looking forward to a tremendous new history to come, as well as celebrating the growth and development of the San Diego Symphony. Mahler was born and raised in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and we begin this program with music by Austria’s leading composer of today, Thomas Larcher. His new piece, Time, co-commissioned by the SDSO and premiered by Rafael Payare in 2022, displays Larcher’s wonderful and highly attractive command of vivid symphonic color and exciting drama.

Resurrection

Jacobs Music Center

Olivier Patey plays the solo in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. The Concertgebouw Orchestra and Klaus Mäkelä pair the work with contemporary music by Betsy Jolas and Thomas Larcher.

Klaus Mäkelä and Clarinettist Olivier Patey

The Concertgebouw

Olivier Patey is the soloist in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. The Concertgebouw Orchestra and Klaus Mäkelä pair the work with Mahler’s unfinished Tenth Symphony and Thomas Larcher’s Second.

Mäkelä conducts Mozart, Mahler and Larcher

Gustav Mahler lets a child look at the skies in his Symphony no. 4. Thomas Larcher's Symphony No. 2 is a memorial of lives lost in flight over the Mediterranean Sea. Johanna Wallroth is the soprano soloist in Mahler's symphony, and Klaus Mäkelä is conducting.

Klaus Mäkelä Johanna Wallroth

Oslo Concert Hall

The renowned Emanuel Ax performs one of Beethoven’s early piano concertos, the Piano Concerto No. 2, an astonishing piece of music shot through with the composer’s deep knowledge and love of the Mozart concertos, but also overflowing with new ideas and sometimes wild musical surprises. Plus, experience a US premiere called Time (co-commissioned by the SDSO) by Thomas Larcher, one of Europe’s leading composers, whose atmospheric music is both beguiling and poignant.

Emanuel Ax Plays Beethoven

The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

Thomas Larcher’s Still, originally composed in 2002, plays with the concept of the ‘video still’, a ‘frozen’ image from a video film, and the process of transforming it or leaving it unchanged. Timothy Ridout prefaces the piece as soloist in Britten’s string arrangement of his Lachrymae, leaving the Britten Sinfonia and Larcher to occupy the programme’s second half with Shaker Loops, a quintessential masterwork of American minimalism.

Composer

Thomas Larcher

Events

Upcoming events

Jul 7, 2026

Britten Sinfonia With Thomas Larcher · Britten Sinfonia

Past events

Mar 28, 2026

Happening: Evening concert 'Parsifal' · Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

Nov 6, 2025

Paul Lewis, Piano · Princeton University Concerts

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Lachrymae by Britten

Britten Sinfonia

Conductor in Shaker Loops by Adams

Britten Sinfonia

Conductor in Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten by Pärt

Britten Sinfonia

Conductor in Still by Larcher

Britten Sinfonia

About

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