Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

All Ages • 1h 37m

Sir John Eliot Gardiner leads the London Symphony Orchestra, his Monteverdi Choir and three talented actors from the Guildhall School in Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed as part of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. To mark the celebrations, Gardiner produced a special version of the work, featuring some cuts to the original movements, in order to focus ‘on the world of the fairies and the human lovers.’

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

All Ages • 1h 25m

The 'dazzling diamonds' of Anton Webern’s Six Orchestral Pieces and Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring open and conclude this tremendous programme, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan brings her phenomenal coloratura voice to bear on three bravura arias from Ligeti’s opera Le grand macabre and three extracts featuring Marie, the doomed heroine of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck.

Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette

All Ages • 1h 36m

In this groundbreaking take on William Shakespeare’s bittersweet tragedy, Hector Berlioz combines the playwright’s influence with all the musical drama of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies. The Bard proved to be one of the enduring influences on Berlioz throughout his life. The composer described his first encounter with Shakespeare’s work as a ‘thunderbolt’ that changed his life – and musical imagination – forever.