London Philharmonic Orchestra | The King of Instruments

Poulenc Organ Concerto
Berlioz Les nuits d’été
Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 (Organ)

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conductor
Anna Caterina Antonacci soprano
James O’Donnell organ

It has taken eight years to refurbish the grand organ of Royal Festival Hall and the instrument will resound anew in this concert of French music punctuated by two of the greatest masterworks for organ and orchestra ever written. Poulenc’s Organ Concerto is a gregarious romp that spins off the music of the greatest organist who ever lived, Johann Sebastian Bach. The ‘Organ’ Symphony by Saint-Saëns is justly famous for its awe-inspiring majesty and brilliance, worlds apart from the delicate, luminous nocturnal songs by Berlioz that separate the two.