Freddy Kempf performs Grieg

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be joined by one of the most successful pianists, the exceptionally gifted Freddy Kempf, for a thrilling concert. The centrepiece of tonight’s programme is without doubt one of the most popular works ever written for piano, Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Its dramatic opening leads into rich lyrical melodies and passages of show-stopping virtuosity.

Sibelius was the musical voice of Finland, expressing his compatriots’ Romantic spirit, and their deep affinity with their land and folklore, clearly heard here in his Karelia Overture. Ravel’s magical fairy-tale music of his Mother Goose Suite, though childlike and appealing, possesses an extraordinarily beautiful delicacy and poignancy. Originally written for piano, the Suite is made up of five movements, all of which are based on the enchanted stories. The Orchestra closes the concert with one of the most dynamic works from the beginning of the twentieth century, Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, performing the most commonly played 1919 version of the Suite and painting a picture of the Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird, from the ‘Infernal Dance’ of King Kashchei to its shimmering finale.