Name: London champions
Start: 2025-05-30T20:00:00
Location: Hessischer Rundfunk

Noa Wildschut

Ivor Bolton

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

London has always been a musical metropolis, no question. But those who once shaped its music scene rarely bore typically British names. This was ultimately no disadvantage, however, as these new "London Masters" produced some of the finest works. Johann Christian Bach was one of them, Joseph Haydn another. Haydn wrote his last symphonies in London, and they set new standards not only there. His Symphony No. 103 is considered one of his most modern, indeed visionary. It has an opening that is hard to forget: a solo timpani intrada – an unprecedented effect for the London audience and still breathtaking in its impact today. Before Haydn, Johann Christian Bach had already set the tone in London, and Mozart revered the "London Bach" like almost no other composer colleague – they had met there in 1764. Conductor Ivor Bolton is not from London, but from near Manchester. However, he studied in the capital and worked there in the 1980s with historically informed performance ensembles before forging a career in Munich, Salzburg, and Madrid. He regularly brings this vibrant, spirited approach from the world of early music to the world of classical symphony orchestras – so it's not just the famous timpani roll that will have a special effect.