Philharmonia Orchestra

Weber's evocative overture to his fairytale opera Oberon opens the programme. Beethoven's last piano concerto is his most brilliant and powerful, set in his 'heroic' key of E flat. From the stunning first moments, when the piano bursts in with a virtuoso passage of arpeggios and trills, the mood of Olympian power is never far away. The two extrovert outer movements are balanced by the most inward-looking slow movement, which moves into the finale with a simple but magical transition. Schumann's Rhenish Symphony, the last of his four to be written, is the finest product from his final great period of happiness in 1850. Its five grand and lyrical movements were completed in less than six weeks and were a great success when first performed.

Dohnanyi has a way of conducting these works with a brilliant clarity and penetration of vision that at its best can convey an ongoing sense of discovery. - Boston Globe.

The Philharmonia Orchestra is Anvil Arts' Orchestra is Partnership.