BBC Symphony Orchestra
Associate Orchestra
The backbone of the BBC Proms and one of the UK's finest orchestras, the BBC SO performs a thrilling, distinctive range of music, from works at the heart of classical music to contemporary premieres.
Events
Oramo conducts Mahler's Fourth Symphony
Sakari Oramo conducts Mahler’s playful Fourth Symphony – and plays the violin too, as Kurt Weill retells the myth of Orpheus in his own, utterly original style.
Hough plays Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto
Stephen Hough plays Beethoven and Sakari Oramo conducts Mahler’s First Symphony. Genius, pure and simple, from the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Slobodeniouk conducts Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet
From the depths to the stars; from romance to tragedy: Dima Slobodeniouk pairs Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with Lili Boulanger’s mighty shout of hope and praise.
BBC Symphony Orchestra: Elder conducts Mahler
Goodnight, Vienna: Sir Mark Elder conducts Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, as the BBC Symphony Orchestra brings its season to an unforgettable close.
Nil Venditti conducts Clyne, Puccini, Respighi and Say
Nil Venditti, Jess Gillam and the BBC Symphony Orchestra travel from the West of Ireland to the shores of the Bosphorus, in music by Ottorino Respighi, Giacomo Puccini, Fazil Say and Anna Clyne.
Lintu conducts Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony
Shostakovich’s shattering Eighth Symphony is the climax of a gripping all-Russian programme from BBC Symphony Orchestra guest conductor Hannu Lintu and viola phenomenon Timothy Ridout.
Mozart's Requiem
Dark fire and glittering ice: Mozart’s Requiem crowns an evening of deep emotions and natural wonders from Sakari Oramo and pianist Martin Helmchen.
Oramo conducts Adès, Coleridge-Taylor and Sibelius
Sakari Oramo conducts Sibelius’s Lemminkaïnen Legends – a stirring counterpart to the brilliance of Thomas Adès’s Violin Concerto, played by Christian Tetzlaff.
Puccini's 'La rondine'
Ermonela Jaho stars in Puccini’s bittersweet romance, his opera La Rondine, incorporating music that has not been heard this century.
MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio
Sir James MacMillan conducts a starry performance of his huge, life-affirming Christmas Oratorio – music that speaks to listeners of all faiths and none.
Clemens Schuldt conducts Strauss and Phibbs
Clemens Schuldt and the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Shakespearean classics, Strauss at his most sumptuous, and a new British concerto for cellist Guy Johnston.
Julia Wolfe: unEarth
US composer Julia Wolfe’s major new work unEarth receives its UK premiere at the Barbican, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, National Youth Voices, and Danish soprano Else Torp.
Oramo conducts Beethoven's Fourth Symphony
Music that glitters, sings and dances for joy, as Sakari Oramo pairs two newly minted classics with Beethoven’s brightest symphony.
Oramo conducts Stravinsky and Lindberg
Love, death and pomegranates: Sakari Oramo rediscovers Stravinsky’s epic retelling of the myth of Persephone.
Rustioni conducts Bernstein and Rachmaninoff
Rachmaninoff, Bernstein and Davóne Tines – a fresh perspective on America’s past, present and future from Daniele Rustioni and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Montero plays Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto
Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, and a UK premiere from Julia Adolphe. Big emotions and natural wonders from Kristiina Poska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Yeol Eum Son plays Bartók's Third Piano Concerto
A magical bird, a dream of England, and the sheer magic of pianist Yeol Eum Son, as Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra bring a blaze of colour to the Barbican.
BBC Symphony Orchestra: Oramo conducts Vaughan Williams
England’s dreaming: Sakari Oramo rediscovers rare and wonderful British masterpieces by Vaughan Williams, Doreen Carwithen and Malcolm Arnold.
Wigglesworth conducts Debussy and Berg
Poetry unlocks the imagination, as Ryan Wigglesworth and soprano Sophie Bevan plunge into the wild, wondrous sonic universe of Claude Debussy and Alban Berg.
Pierre Boulez – Pli selon pli
An evening-long tribute to the limitless creative mind of Pierre Boulez, culminating in a rare performance of his five-movement epic masterpiece Pli selon Pli.
Pierre Boulez – The Second Piano Sonata
Boulez’s shattering Second Piano Sonata, and two works for solo clarinet, performed by Tamara Stefanovich, the talented musicians of the Guildhall School and introduced by BBC Radio 3’s Kate Molleson.
Pierre Boulez - The Man and the Music
Musicologist Professor Jonathan Cross talks to former members of the BBC SO as well as former Radio 3 Controller Sir Nicholas Kenyon – about their personal experience of working with Pierre Boulez.
BBC Symphony Orchestra: Stasevska conducts Ravel
For sheer sonic splendour, it’s hard to top Janáček’s Sinfonietta – but when Dalia Stasevska and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet perform Bartók and Ravel with the BBC SO, they’ll give it their best shot.
Chan conducts Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony
Conductor Elim Chan and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor: a dream-team joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Shostakovich, Britten and the UK premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s ravishing Moondog.
Symphonic Electronics: Shiva Feshareki and Stockhausen
Vintage Stockhausen plus a new adventure from British-Iranian composer and sonic explorer Shiva Feshareki – the world premiere of her Barbican commission for the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Symphonic Electronics: Continents, Computers and Electronic
Continents, computers and electric dreams: Tristan Murail’s non-electronic orchestral classic Gondwana charts a course to new worlds with electronics sound from Steven Daverson and Misato Mochizuki.
Symphonic Electronics: Iridescence
The UK premiere of Juste Janulyte’s Iridescence by the BBC Singers opens a portal into the expanding musical universe of symphonic electronics – 'symphonic' in the ancient Greek meaning 'harmonious'.
Hindoyan conducts Barber's Violin Concerto
Big skies and new worlds: Domingo Hindoyan conducts three musical salutes to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, including Barber’s glorious Violin Concerto.
Paul Huang plays Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto
Grand passions and big tunes from Mendelssohn, Korngold and Augusta Holmès, as conductor Marie Jacquot makes her debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Hrůša conducts Beethoven and Shostakovich
The Year 1905: Shostakovich’s monumental symphony meets Beethoven at his brightest. Unchained energy from conductor Jakub Hrůša, pianist Jonathan Biss and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Oramo conducts Mahler's Tenth and The Lark Ascending
An evening-long meditation on life and the hereafter, devised by Sakari Oramo and featuring the UK premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s astonishing final masterpiece Hush.
BBC Symphony Orchestra: Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
A tribute to Sir Andrew Davis: Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.
Discover
Composer Focus – Episode 5: Jean Sibelius with Sakari Oramo
In the final episode, host Edward Seckerson is joined by BBC Symphony Orchestra conductor Sakari Oramo to discuss his fellow countryman Jean Sibelius, and the themes of nature and Finnish national identity woven throughout his music.
