Music with a story to tell

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding give a concert certainly epic in its scope. Internationally-acclaimed pianist Alexandre Kantorow returns to the Philharmonie to perform one of Beethoven’s most virtuosic concertos, and orchestral soloists get a chance to shine in Strauss’s monumental Also sprach Zarathustra, a tone poem which was inspired by a mysterious ancient prophet and famously used as part of the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Grammy Awards-winning Cécile McLorin Salvant is a masterful storyteller who likes to weave together legendary landscapes, ancient fairy-tales and contemporary narratives into compelling musical journeys. Ogresse explores the depths of feminine desire, between creativity and destruction, and demonstrates the incredible breadth of McLorin Salvant’s sources of inspiration, from her family’s Haitian roots to her original training as a classical singer.

Frogs, gnats, thunder, fire, water turned into blood… Enjoy a thrilling depiction of the Seven Plagues of Egypt and the Israelites’ daring escape across the Red Sea in Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt. Its brilliant choral writing makes it the ideal showcase for the Monteverdi Choir, performing under the direction of Peter Whelan and accompanied by the English Baroque Soloists.

Personal crises can lead to great art. Rachmaninoff wrote his gloriously lyrical Piano Concerto N° 2 while recovering from a nervous breakdown, while Berlioz mined his own romantic despair to create the unforgettable Symphonie fantastique, in which a young artist is driven mad by love. Both works have proved enduringly popular since their premieres, and no doubt the Luxembourg Philharmonic will make them shine once more on 22.03.