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Symphonie Fantastique
The music
- David Sawer Sphinx (world premiere)* (20’)
The performers
- Edward Gardner conductor
- Augustin Hadelich violin
Berlioz claimed that his Symphonie fantastique depicted an opium dream, but really he was just high on the sound of a supersized orchestra going for broke.
Sex and drugs and symphony orchestras: Hector Berlioz claimed that his Symphonie fantastique depicted an opium dream, but really he was just high on the sound of a supersized orchestra going for broke. Love, witchcraft, severed heads – it’s all here, in psychedelic colours, and you’d better believe that it’s a hard act to follow. That’s why Edward Gardner and the superb violinist Augustin Hadelich are setting the scene with Britten’s powerful Violin Concerto, and with the world premiere of Sphinx by David Sawer – a British composer whose raw imagination can give even Berlioz a run for his money.
Wed 26 Feb 2025, 7.30pm
London, Royal Festival Hall
Tickets £14 - £70
Tickets on sale from
Members: Wed 17th April 2024, 11.00am
Non-members: Tue 23rd April 2024, 11.00am
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Read or download the concert programme
*Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with support from the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust.
Part of
Augustin Hadelich is one of the best violinists in the world.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag
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