Abbado & Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor
Interval
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No.5

A world-class partnership rarely heard outside the Lucerne Festival, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra performs a series of concerts at Southbank Centre with conductor Claudio Abbado - 'perhaps the finest of all current orchestras under the baton of the most eminent of all conductors' (The Guardian).

The two Shell Classic International concerts at Royal Festival Hall pair works by Schumann and Mozart with Bruckner's great Symphony No.5.

Abbado inspires his 'orchestral family', created from the world's best players around a core made up of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, to supreme achievements by imparting a heightened awareness more common to chamber music. Not heard in London since 2007, Abbado is known for infusing a deep spirituality into his interpretations. Bruckner's Symphony No.5 offers a unique opportunity to be taken on a spiritual journey, from the emotional battle of the opening movement, through to the finale which concludes with ringing trumpets, timpani rolls and heroic chords.

The second concert presents Mozart's Symphony No.35 (Haffner), a work of refined brilliance and a supreme example of the Classical symphony.

(See also Tuesday 11 October 2011.)

Level 5 Function Room at Royal Festival Hall at 6.15pm - A Bruckner Journey Part 1. Marshall Marcus, Southbank Centre Head of Music, looks at Bruckner's symphonic career up to the Fifth Symphony. Admission free (subject to availability).
(Parts 2 & 3 on 16 & 17 April 2012.)

Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado conductor
Mitsuko Uchida piano