Oh To Believe in Another World

Join us for a powerful, political evening bringing together Kentridge’s film and Shostakovich’s subversive Symphony No.10, with both works sharing themes of freedom against totalitarianism and oppression.

Oh To Believe in Another World is an animated film to ‘illuminate and honour’ Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No.10, which premiered a few months after the death of Stalin and expresses the violence and dread of Russia’s years under the dictator’s regime.
Using collage, puppets and masked actors, artist William Kentridge creates a dream-like ‘Soviet museum’ to accompany the symphony, featuring a cast of characters including Lenin, Stalin and Shostakovich himself.

South African visual artist and filmmaker William Kentridge works in many disciplines, including drawing, sculpture, textiles, dance and opera – a 2022 retrospective at the Royal Academy simply called him a ‘global creative powerhouse.’ Much of his work addresses the politics of oppression in his native South Africa and around the world.

To complement Shostakovich’s symphony, conductor Marin Alsop has chosen Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

Bernstein was a huge admirer of Shostakovich, both as a composer and on a personal level. Commissioned by the Dean of Chichester Cathedral, these hopeful and life-affirming psalm settings are a plea for peace. And at their commissioner’s request, there’s more than a dash of West Side Story about their upbeat rhythms and youthful energy.

Kentridge’s film is a retrospective look at the four decades of the 1920s – 1950s, from the perspective of 1953 when Stalin died and the first performance of the symphony was presented. Set inside what appears to be an abandoned Soviet museum, which in fact is made of cardboard, on the table in the artist’s studio, we move through the different halls of the museum, encountering Lenin, Trotsky, Mayakovsky and Stalin.

William Kentridge (born Johannesburg, South Africa, 1955) is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. He creates works of art that are grounded in politics, science, literature and history, yet maintaining a space for contradiction and uncertainty.

Presented by the Southbank Centre and Philharmonia Orchestra

Oh To Believe in Another World was commissioned by the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and the world premiere took place in Luzern, Switzerland in June 2022.

Performers

Philharmonia Orchestra

Marin Alsop conductor

boy treble to be announced

Philharmonia Chorus

Repertoire

Bernstein: Chichester Psalms

Interval

Shostakovich: Symphony No.10 with film by William Kentridge (Oh, To Believe in Another World)

Need to know

Age guidance

For ages 12+. Under-14s must be accompanied by an adult

Event information

The Clore Ballroom, Level 2, Royal Festival Hall at 9.30pm: Insights Talk. Join us for a discussion of the concert with Southbank Centre Artistic Director Mark Ball, conductor Marin Alsop, Philharmonia Orchestra Director of Learning and Engagement Teddy Prout, and Managing Director of The Office performing arts + film Laurie Cearley, with a video message from William Kentridge. Free

For your visit

This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.

Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.

A concrete building with flags on the roof, with the London Eye and Big Ben in the background

A lively crowd cheers with raised hands, while a performer in a white hat and suit plays guitar, against red lighting.

A guitarist performing on a dark stage at the Royal Festival Hall, lit up by multiple spotlights.

Pianis Víkingur Ólafsson is seated at a grand piano while playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations on the stage of Royal Festival Hall

Organist Carol Williams plays the Royal Festival Hall organ whiich is illumiated with bold colours

The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.

Getting here

Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.

The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.

We’re cash-free

Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.

We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.

All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.

All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.

On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.

From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.

Other places to eat and drink whilst you’re here