On Sunday 27 April, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returned to the Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre to continue our 2025 series, Lights in the Dark, conducted by Music Director Vasily Petrenko. The programme traced a journey through struggle, reflection and defiance, highlighting Shostakovich's powerful Symphony No.7. We were joined by baritone Roderick Williams OBE for Kurt Weill’s Four Walt Whitman Songs.
Read on to see photos and reviews from the evening.
All photos © Mark Allan
The afternoon opened with Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia, a rousing tone poem that has long stood as a symbol of national resistance. With its stately brass proclamations and sweeping strings, the piece set a tone of solemn dignity and quiet triumph. Next came Four Walt Whitman Songs by Kurt Weill, in a rich and expressive performance by Roderick Williams. Setting verses by the iconic American poet, the songs span tenderness, grief and quiet exultation.
After the interval came the centrepiece of the programme: Dmitri Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No.7, Leningrad. Written during the Nazi siege of the composer’s home city, the symphony stands as a towering testament to resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity.
The performance was part of Southbank Centre's Multitudes festival, where world-class orchestras join forces with some of the most ambitious and exciting artists, performers and creatives practising today. To visually interpret this powerful symphony, a three-channel video installation by filmmaker Ilya Shagalov and art director Kirill Serebrennikov accompanies the orchestral performance, bringing Shostakovich’s music into the modern era through cutting-edge technology.
"Blistering, multi-hued interpretation of Shostakovich’s cinematic masterpiece." Guardian ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Fastidious control of dynamics, textural balance and slow-burning energy." The Times ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"A beautiful reflection on the work that really is perception-altering" Bachtrack ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to everyone who attended the concert, and we sincerely hope you enjoyed it. Our next appearance at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall will be on Wednesday 25 June as we perform Florence Price's Piano Concerto in One Movement with pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, alongside Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.4.
All photos © Mark Allan.