The London Philharmonic often host concerts at reasonable prices and it’s worth keeping an eye out on their ‘what’s on’ or registering for email updates.

This evening we were treated to a concert at the Royal Festival Hall.  The ticket price was £12.  As we met on the balcony before the concert overlooking the Thames, glass of bubbles in hand and looking out at the twinkling lights of Londontown opposite, the week seemed already like a long way away.  What a wonderful way to spend a Friday evening.

Faultless performance that kept us all enthralled with every note.

17 May 2013 7:30pm

JTI Friday Series

Stravinsky Jeu de Cartes
Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2
Shostakovich Symphony No. 6

Vladimir Jurowski conductor
Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin

Prokofiev’s second Violin Concerto is said to represent the composer’s focus on a ‘new simplicity’, but it’s a warm, heartfelt piece nonetheless as the composer’s long-breathed melodies mingle with moments of haunting stillness and thought. Shostakovich, too, had to alter course with his Sixth Symphony. After the Soviet authorities accepted the masked rebellion of his Fifth, Shostakovich felt compelled to be more honest and open; under the surface of the Sixth – first brooding and then bustling – emerges a grotesque picture of persecution ending in a gallop that portrayed, for one commentator, ‘a brazen display of vulgarity.’

Stravinsky: Jeu de Cartes (Card Game) [Ballet in 3 Deals] – Premiere donne (First Deal): Alla breve – Moderato assai – Tranquillo
Stravinsky: Jeu de Cartes (Card Game) [Ballet in 3 Deals] – Deuxieme donne (Second Deal): Alla breve – Marcia – Variazioni 1-5 – Coda – Marcia
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63 – I. Allegro moderato
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63 – II. Andante assai – Allegretto – Andante assai
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54 – I. Largo
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54 – III. Presto