Philharmonia Orchestra

Béla Bartók: Kossuth
Béla Bartók: Piano Concerto No.1
Interval
Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, complete

Esa-Pekka Salonen has chosen to open Infernal Dance with a programme featuring two of Bartók's most extraordinary works. The choral tone poem Kossuth was Bartók's first major orchestral work and a dramatic statement of intent - it celebrates the life of its eponymous hero, one of Hungary's most vivid national legends. The ballet-pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin - profoundly influenced by Stravinsky's Petrushka and Firebird - is raw, dangerous, exotic and elemental... frenzied music, percussive, sensuous and violent, telling a shocking story of desire and death. This evening's performance features the full ballet score which is rarely performed.

Royal Festival Hall at 6pm - pre-concert talk. Admission free.

Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor
Yefim Bronfman piano
Philharmonia Voices