Europe Tour: Freiburg

'When you conduct an orchestra as magnificent as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, you think big,' says Vasily Petrenko, who has served as chief conductor of the storied London ensemble since 2021.

Fittingly, the program chosen for the RPO’s return to Freiburg focuses on milestones in music history – foremost among them Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, an epic struggle from darkness into light. Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto is likewise considered titanic, a work of singular, eruptive power – all the more compelling when this showpiece for a virtuoso pianist reveals its hidden lyrical depths and nuanced tonal colours in the hands of Jan Lisiecki. The program’s arc is completed by Beethoven’s Fifth – a work that, like few others, embodies a sense of new beginnings, perseverance, and a triumphant climax. It is music that demands that both orchestra and conductor truly 'think big.'