London Philharmonic Orchestra

Shostakovich’s vision of war
Jurowski conducts Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Lindberg

7:30 PM, ​ ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, LONDON

Magnus Lindberg: Chorale
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

Vladimir Jurowski: conductor
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet: piano
London Philharmonic Orchestra

In 1943, at the height of the war, Dmitri Shostakovich began work on his Eighth Symphony, a musical canvas in which he attempted to confront and understand the catastrophic violence and suffering Russians were being forced to witness daily. In the Symphony’s chilling Allegro is Shostakovich’s vision of the machine of war; the music driven forward by tension, not through tunes but through mechanical and demonic rhythms.

To open the season, Vladimir Jurowski also conducts Prokofiev’s scurrying Third Piano Concerto and Chorale – a luminous masterpiece after Bach by new Composer in Residence Magnus Lindberg, one of the greatest orchestral craftsmen alive.

Concert generously supported by the Sharp Family.