Vasily Petrenko conducts Prokofiev

London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will hearken back to its home country, Sea Preludes from Benjamin Britten's first major opera, Peter Grimes. Its plot takes place on the British coast, the subject is the epic of a British poet and, above all, it is the work of the most important British composer of the twentieth century. The impact of his "sea music" speaks of the psychic storms and the calm of the characters of the musical drama with cinematic eloquence and Shakespearean depth. Towards the end of World War II, when Britten composed his psychological drama, Sergei Prokofiev also composed his Symphony No.5 in B flat major. It was January 1945, and the premiere audience in Moscow heard the echoes of artillery fire punctuating the first movement. But even before that, it also heard actual cannon fire announcing that the Soviet army had crossed the border river Vistula and entered Germany. The two compositions will be separated by the popular Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor by Edvard Grieg, which will be performed by the internationally acclaimed Czech pianist Lukáš Vondráček. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by its new Music Director, Vasiliy Petrenko.