Viennese Masters | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

They called it 'Beethoven’s Tenth' – and Brahms spent ten years writing his First Symphony. The result is one of those pieces that you just have to experience live – an epic voyage from tragedy to triumph crowned with a once-in-a-lifetime tune worthy of Ludwig himself. For Vasily Petrenko, it’s more than worthy to stand alongside Beethoven’s darkest, most personal piano concerto, performed tonight by a soloist of unique authority and insight, the great Turkish pianist Fazil Say. And to kick things off, what better choice than one of the symphonies that Beethoven’s teacher Haydn wrote specially to delight the British public: a little miracle of energy, imagination and wit?