Paavo Järvi conducts Bacewicz, Haydn, and Beethoven — With Roman Simovic, Olivier Stankiewicz, Rebecca Gilliver, and Daniel Jemison

Celebrated maestro Paavo Järvi headlines a spectacular concert with the world-class London Symphony Orchestra, featuring instrumental masterpieces by Bacewicz, Haydn, and Beethoven!

Grażyna Bacewicz (1909 - 1969) is one of the most celebrated Polish composers and violinists. Progressive in musical style and prolific in composition output, Bacewicz viewed her music as falling into three periods—the first “youthful, very experimental”; the second “wrongly referred to as neo-classical, though, in fact, it’s atonal”; and the third “absolutely avant-garde in nature." Her Concerto for String Orchestra (1948) belongs to the second period, featuring an exhilarating Allegro, a melancholy Andante, and a vibrant Vivo finale.

“Since God has given me a cheerful heart, He will forgive me for serving Him cheerfully,” once stated the great Joseph Haydn—a quotation that perfectly encapsulates the mood of his Sinfonia Concertante in B-flat Major. Combining solo instruments with a full orchestra, Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante has an upbeat and spirited tone, as radiant melodic fragments are playfully passed around the orchestra in each movement. The program finishes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major, lighthearted, full of life, and charmingly mercurial. Listen out for the solo bassoon of the Allegro vivace e con brio and the repeated, metronomic notes of the Allegretto scherzando – they certainly do not disappoint!