Britten, Fauré and Dvorák | London Symphony Orchestra

Innocence, experience and simply fabulous sounds. Sir Simon Rattle conducts a concert of music that showcases the LSO at its most dazzling, and its most delicate.

Benjamin Britten knew that young listeners have high standards, and when he wrote The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra he let his imagination catch fire. The result is a brilliantly original showpiece for a great orchestra at the top of its game; a spectacular opening to a concert drenched in colour.

So Sir Simon Rattle conducts Fauré’s haunting suite from Pelléas et Mélisande; music in soft pastels and deep shadows, written to accompany a tale of doomed love in a fairytale kingdom. Its lovely Sicilienne is one of those melodies you never forget. And then he cuts loose with a selection of Dvorák's Slavonic Dances: sometimes wistful, sometimes uproarious, but always gloriously tuneful. Sir Simon simply adores this music, and you’ll hear why.