Name: American Classics
Start: 2024-09-25T19:30:00
Location: Royal Albert Hall

Get ready for an exhilarating musical journey across London as the city's top orchestras present an array of concerts highlighting the genius of Leonard Bernstein. From Esther Yoo's enchanting violin performance in 'Serenade' at Cadogan Hall to 'American Classics' at Royal Albert Hall, and the festive 'Christmas Swing' at the Barbican Centre, there's something for every music lover to enjoy. Don't miss out on this spectacular celebration of Bernstein's timeless contributions to music.

Celebrate Leonard Bernstein with Vibrant Concerts at London's Premier Venues

London is set to come alive with the timeless melodies of George Gershwin and other American classics! The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will sweep you off your feet with 'American Classics' at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris on September 25, 2024. Then, join Claire Booth and Jâms Coleman at Wigmore Hall on November 29 for a delightful cabaret program. As the holidays approach, don’t miss 'Christmas Swing: Gershwin, Bernstein, and Tchaikovsky' at the Barbican Centre on December 18 and 19, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. And mark your calendars for May 5, 2025, when the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Holst, Gershwin, and Martin at the Barbican.

Celebrate Gershwin in London: From American Classics to Christmas Swing

This autumn, London will host an array of orchestral performances celebrating the brilliance of Samuel Barber among other legendary composers. From Joyce DiDonato’s enchanting performance at the Royal Festival Hall to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s American Classics at the Royal Albert Hall, and the Kensington Symphony Orchestra’s season opener featuring Barber's works at St John’s Smith Square, music lovers are in for an unforgettable treat.

Celebrating Samuel Barber: Musical Masterpieces in London

Eric Lu

Julian Ovenden

Michael Seal

Anna-Jane Casey

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

A trumpet sounds an ominous fanfare, the orchestra cries out, and Mahler’s Fifth Symphony thunders into life. But that’s just the beginning – and, after all, this is Mahler! 68 minutes later, the whole orchestra is punching the sky in triumph. It’s an epic struggle from darkness to light, as powerful as any Hollywood blockbuster and every bit as colourful, filled with horn calls, dark visions and, of course, Romantic music’s most passionate love letter – the famous Adagietto that Mahler wrote for his young wife Alma.

Mahler x Korngold

Royal Albert Hall

‘In this realm, time becomes space…’ From CS Lewis to Terry Gilliam, Wagner’s Parsifal has been an inspiration to the very greatest creative artists. Vasily Petrenko conducts a symphonic suite that weaves all the power and beauty of Wagner’s five-hour masterpiece into one sumptuous orchestral tapestry: music that glows from within, sounding more radiant than ever in the Royal Festival Hall.

Wagner x Taneyev

Royal Festival Hall

A clarinet soars upwards – and immediately, you can picture the skyscrapers of jazz-age Manhattan. There’s nothing quite like Rhapsody in Blue, and few living pianists play Gershwin with more flair than our soloist today, Japanese jazz legend Makoto Ozone. And with RPO Conductor-in-Residence Kevin John Edusei conducting, there are endless pictures to be painted and stories to be told. High in the mountains of Transylvania, György Ligeti hears a shepherd blow his horn, and gypsy fiddles flash around the campfire. And far from his Hungarian homeland, composed in the USA, Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra sets out to put a great orchestra through its paces and ends up by punching the air with glee. This is music that loves life – and believe us, you can feel it.

Makoto Ozone plays Gershwin

Cadogan Hall 

Back by demand: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Film Music Gala at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the exhilarating music from your favourite action and adventure films.

Join us on an epic journey through sensational soundtracks, depicting the action-packed thrills of Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park; the fantasy and magic of Star Wars, Harry Potter and E.T.; the rousing heroic adventures of Batman, Gladiator and The Great Escape, and the sweeping, iconic landscapes of The Lord of the Rings, Dances With Wolves and Avatar. To name just a few!

Film Music Gala: Action and Adventure - Matinee

Some composers think bigger, but it takes a special sort of genius to create a whole new musical universe. Everything about Scriabin’s Third Symphony is larger than life, from the enormous orchestra to the galactic ambition of Scriabin’s inspiration – music that he described as ‘ecstatic’, ‘drunken’ and even ‘divine’! If you like Mahler, you’ll love ‘The Divine Poem’, and for Vasily Petrenko, it’s a passion – a musical experience that doesn’t come around every day.

Hisaishi x Scriabin

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s sensational Symphonic Rock show is back! For one night only, join us at the Royal Albert Hall for an exhilarating evening of classic rock anthems, performed by the Orchestra and its rockin’ rhythm section, which promises to raise the roof of this iconic venue.

Hear the genre-defining hits of Meat Loaf, Guns N’ Roses, Bonnie Tyler, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Tina Turner, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones and many more as you’ve never heard them before – each performed with the Orchestra’s signature symphonic twist, and accompanied by a host of backing vocalists, as well as a spectacular light show and effects.

Conducted by Pete Harrison and featuring a special guest presenter.

Symphonic Rock

Tchaikovsky never held back. He asked for his Fifth Symphony to be performed con desiderio e passione –‘with desire and passion’ – and when guest conductor Cornelius Meister joins the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, we can promise exactly that. With its heartfelt melodies and blazing colours, we love playing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth as much as you love hearing it, and there’s no more stirring way to finish a season packed with music at its most uninhibited. But that’s not all: the evening opens with a delightful new miniature from Composer-in-Association Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away). And Clara-Jumi Kang brings all her world-class insight to Britten’s powerful Violin Concerto, written on the eve of World War II. Strong emotions, stunningly played.

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5

A big anniversary calls for an even bigger celebration and, as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra turns 80, that’s exactly what we’re hosting tonight – live from the spectacular surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall, where the RPO is proud to be Associate Orchestra.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at 80

An entertaining one-hour exploration, featuring insights and a complete performance. This concert has no interval.

In 1788, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his last symphony. We’re still not quite sure how he did it: creating a masterpiece so perfect that for more than two centuries, it has shared a name with the king of the gods. But why is it considered to be a masterpiece? Here to answer that question (and more) are multi-award-winning writer and historian Leah Broad, Vasily Petrenko (conducting the RPO for the first time at Cadogan Hall) and the full Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with an entertaining guide to what makes Mozart tick. They’ll take the Symphony apart and show you how it works. And then they’ll put it back together, concluding the evening with a full performance. Whether you’re a hardcore Mozart fan or a total newbie, it’s an experience that never fails to inspire.

Mozart Revealed

Cadogan Hall

Get ready for another unmissable evening of soul music with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as the Royal Albert Hall is filled with the seminal sounds of the iconic Motown label, as well as other sensational soul artists of the era.

This get-up-and-dance concert features songs by the artists who brought gospel, blues and soul music to new heights such as: Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Jackson 5, Martha Reeves and, the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin.

Symphonic Soul: A Celebration of Motown and More

In the darkest days of the Second World War, the 70-year-old Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a symphony that sounded like a vision of peace. From misty opening to visionary finish, the Fifth Symphony is Vaughan Williams doing what he does best: spacious, eloquent and rapturously beautiful. But it’s got drama, too, and this evening conductor Adam Hickox places it alongside two powerful and atmospheric 20th-century landscapes by Vaughan Williams’ contemporaries. Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture is bold and defiant – the work of a woman who spoke with her own voice in communist Poland. And RPO Artist-in-Residence Liya Petrova explores the fire and ice of Sibelius’ mighty Violin Concerto: a gripping showcase for the ‘gorgeous sound’ (Sunday Times) of this award-winning violinist.

Sibelius Violin Concerto

Join the RPO for an evening delving into deep space in high definition.

Grammy® award-winning American composer Eric Whitacre’s symphonic work Deep Field was inspired by the world’s most famous space observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and its greatest discovery – the iconic Deep Field image.

After the interval, the RPO presents Anne Nikitin’s score to Lightroom’s critically acclaimed The Moonwalkers. Narrated and co-written by Tom Hanks, The Moonwalkers provides an insight into the impending return of crewed surface missions to the moon by going behind-the-scenes of the Artemis programme, including interviews between Hanks and Artemis astronauts. Shown on a big screen in the Royal Albert Hall, this will be the first chance to hear Anne Nikitin’s original soundtrack, performed live in concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Accompanying the evening’s music, our big screen will feature two specially created films. This concert offers audiences their first opportunity to experience The Moonwalkers outside its original Lightroom setting, in a specially curated edition featuring original NASA footage, Andy Saunders’ Apollo Remastered images, and a pre-recorded narration by Tom Hanks – transporting you to the lunar surface. Opening the evening, Eric Whitacre’s music is paired with Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of Our Universe, combining Hubble’s breathtaking imagery with bespoke animations.

The Moonwalkers: Live in Concert

A sparkling programme filled with timeless American classics, from the captivating sounds of Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man to John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme. Originally composed for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, our performance will celebrate its 40th anniversary and coincide with the Games in Paris this year. Plus Gershwin’s jazz-inspired Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, as well as music from the much-loved musical West Side Story.

American Classics

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