London Philharmonic Orchestra

What is life without the warmth and inspiration of human affection? When virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim bounded into Brahms’s life like an energetic puppy, he utterly overwhelmed the composer, drawing from him a violin concerto that’s at once poised and playful. Bela Bartok - alone, exiled, ill and poor - might well have thought his compositional life over in 1943. His friend the conductor Serge Koussevitsky thought otherwise. He re-energised Bartok with encouragement and a major commission. Eight weeks later Bartok delivered his Concerto for Orchestra - a percussive, irrepressible and playful firecracker of a piece.

Hear it first - visit our online playlist of the music for our concerts. At 6pm until 6.45pm there will be a free performance by Lambeth and Southwark school children marking the culmination of their composition project, inspired by this evening’s repertoire. The music of Wagner is available on the Orchestra’s own label as CDs or downloads.