Wagner, Strauss & Tchaikovsky: Last Songs
The Philharmonia Orchestra’s 80th birthday celebrations continue with a concert showcasing the huge range of emotions an orchestra can express in sound.
Composed when he was 84, Richard Strauss’ serene Four Last Songs speak of gratitude for a life well lived, the riches of creation, and the joy of human love.
Strauss, who conducted the Philharmonia himself in its early days, wrote to soprano Kirsten Flagstad that the piece ‘should be at your disposal for a world premiere … with a first-class conductor and orchestra’. And it was with the Philharmonia that she gave that first performance in 1950.
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha follows in these illustrious footsteps. ‘The South African has a sumptuous, plush sound … Hear [her] live and it’s as if you’ve died and (sins allowing) gone straight to Heaven.’ (The Times).
Wagner evokes a much stormier kind of love in his Prelude and Liebestod. These two orchestral passages from his opera Tristan and Isolde are a musical embodiment of intense and passionate longing – the medieval lovers of the opera’s title can be united only in death.
Tchaikovsky’s final symphony crowns this evening’s programme. At the height of his compositional powers, Tchaikovsky overturned many of the conventions of the symphony.
The second movement, which at first sounds like a graceful waltz, in fact has an unsettling five beats in a bar; the third reaches its climax with a blaze of brass and percussion which would have made the perfect triumphant finale; but the actual finale ends with a devastating descent into silence.
Performers
Philharmonia Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård conductor *
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha soprano
Repertoire
Wagner: Prelude & Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Strauss: Four Last Songs
Interval
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6 (Pathétique)
Need to know
* Please note change of conductor from originally advertised
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.