Shostakovich & Beethoven
Darkness meets light: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra pairs Shostakovich’s shattering Tenth with Beethoven’s exuberant First Piano Concerto.
The orchestra is conducted by Music Director Vasily Petrenko and joined by pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.
In communist Russia, Soviet officials called it an ‘optimistic tragedy’. Shostakovich simply called it his Tenth Symphony.
Dark, tense, packed with secret messages and featuring at its centre a terrifying scherzo that might or might not be a musical portrait of Stalin himself.
Shostakovich’s Tenth is one of the greatest of all 20th-century symphonies, and few living conductors understand it more intimately than Vasily Petrenko.
‘Shattering’ and ‘thrilling’ were just two of the words that critics used to describe his recording of the Tenth Symphony.
Today, he probes its secrets once again, paired with a haunting Russian ballad for baritone and orchestra from Galina Ustvolskaya, a composition pupil of Shostakovich.
At the centre, we are joined by one of Britain’s best-loved pianists – Benjamin Grosvenor – in a very different masterpiece: the young Beethoven’s exuberant First Piano Concerto.
Performers
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko conductor
Benjamin Grosvenor piano
Yuriy Yurchuk baritone
Repertoire
Ustvolskaya: The dream of Stepan Razin for baritone & orchestra
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1
Interval
Shostakovich: Symphony No.10 in E minor
Need to know
You can buy an exclusive box package for this event. More details of our Royal Festival Hall exclusive box package.
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.
Plan your visit
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.
Access
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.
Food & drink
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.