On Tour in Berlin

The Concert Sofia Gubaidulina ’s Concerto puts the viola in the spotlight in a work that slowly builds to an intense, uplifting conclusion, paving the way for Anton Bruckner ’s monumental, visionary symphonic statement. The Music Austrian composer Bruckner may have left his Symphony No 9 incomplete, but it still serves as a summation of his life, heard here in its three-movement form. The overwhelming Adagio stands as the work’s emotional, even religious, heart, while the pounding Scherzo is among the most bombastic and inspiring of anything Bruckner conceived. Sofia Gubaidulina ’s Viola Concerto unfolds as a deeply spiritual journey, balancing earthly darkness with moments of radiant transcendence. Written for the instrument whose ‘mysterious and veiled tone’ she described as an enigma, the work gradually builds towards an intense, uplifting conclusion of striking emotional power. The Performers LSO Principal Viola, Eivind Ringstad is the ideal soloist for Sofia Gubaidulina’s mysterious and ethereal Viola Concerto. Completed by Sir Antonio Pappano who summons the Orchestra’s full might for the symphonic second half.