Karina Canellakis conducts Beethoven

The music

Elgar Violin Concerto (45’) Listen
• Dai Fujikura New work (UK premiere) (10’)*
Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (36’) Listen

The performers

• Karina Canellakis conductor**
• Christian Tetzlaff violin

Beethoven’s world-famous opening is just the start of a truly epic struggle from tragedy to triumph.

‘Here is enshrined the soul of …’ Elgar never revealed the inspiration behind his Violin Concerto, but the music tells its own story – a tale of whispered secrets and soaring romance that could have been written for the glorious sound of violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Beethoven’s Fifth is a bit more direct: its world-famous opening is just the start of a truly epic struggle from tragedy to triumph. Written as his hearing failed and his world narrowed, the Symphony turned personal loss into defiant purpose, finding meaning through music when almost everything else was gone. And no-one knows what to expect, just yet, from Dai Fujikura’s new piece, though on his current form it should be very striking indeed. A night to remember from the LPO’s dynamic Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis.

*Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra and Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra.

**Karina Canellakis’s position with the LPO is generously supported by Richard Buxton.