Barbican Presents
Barbican Presents brings some of the greatest international classical artists, orchestras and ensembles to London, in a stimulating and eclectic mix of classical, contemporary, and Baroque music.
Barbican Members enjoy 20% off tickets and pay no booking fees across the Barbican Presents season (subject to availability). Find out more.
Events
ECHO Rising Stars: Magnus Holmander (clarinet)
Magnus Holmander does things with the clarinet that seem almost unbelievable – and in this ECHO showcase concert, he won’t hold back.
Jeremy Denk plays Bach
A set of preludes and fugues for keyboard, one in each key. It all sounds so rational, but in truth this is music of unparalleled imagination, fantasy, ingenuity and beauty from J S Bach.
Hélène Grimaud: Memory
Grimaud can find a world in a drop of dew. She matches the virtuosity of Schumann with pieces by Satie, Silvestrov, Debussy and Chopin: little universes linked by the concept of recollected time.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra & LSO: The Jungle
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Wynton Marsalis paints a musical portrait of New York City with The Jungle, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
ECHO Rising Stars: João Barradas (accordion)
The classical accordion is undergoing a 21st century renaissance – and Portuguese-born ECHO Rising Star João Barradas is in the vanguard.
Budapest Festival Orchestra and Sir András Schiff
Sunlight, shadows, and evening songs as Sir András Schiff reaches the end of his Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle with the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
Budapest Festival Orchestra and Sir András Schiff
Fischer and his crack Budapest orchestra, famous for their virtuosity and exuberance, present a revelatory programme pairing Beethoven’s sunniest Piano Concerto with Dvořák’s autumnal Sixth Symphony.
Gardiner conducts Beethoven: Symphony Nos 8 and 9
Beethoven’s Ninth is the summit of any Beethoven cycle; some might say of classical music itself. All the more reason to pair it with the uproarious Eighth – pure comedy, delivered with a punch.
Gardiner conducts Beethoven: Symphony Nos 6 and 7
Birds sing, horns call and streams flow: there’s no experience more refreshing than Beethoven’s lovely Pastoral symphony. And there’s none more exuberantly physical than his unstoppable Seventh.
Gardiner conducts Beethoven: Symphony Nos 4 and 5
Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Beethoven Symphony cycle reaches its halfway point with the most famous four notes in the history of music.
Gardiner conducts Beethoven: Symphony Nos 2 and 3
If Beethoven’s Second Symphony is the sound of a young artist stretching his wings, the Third – the Eroica – is the moment when his genius takes flight.
Gardiner conducts Beethoven: Symphony No 1
From the anarchic chords that open his First Symphony, Beethoven’s symphonies are more than just music: they’re acts of revolution.
New York Philharmonic: Mahler Symphony No 2
Mahler’s Resurrection opens on the brink of the abyss and finishes at the end and rebirth of all existence. Every performance is special, but how much more so when the orchestra is Mahler’s own?
New York Philharmonic: Mahler Symphony No 1
See a small piece of music history, as Jaap van Zweden makes his first London appearance as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic.
The English Concert: Handel’s Rodelinda
Lucy Crowe and Iestyn Davies are the devoted partners Rodelinda and Bertarido, heading a cast packed with exactly the sort of vocal star-power that Handel would have expected.
ECHO Rising Stars: Noa Wildschut
Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky are the cornerstones of this showcase recital from the young Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut.
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jansons
Following the sad news of Mariss Jansons's passing in December 2019, we have been unable to secure a replacement conductor and therefore regretfully have to cancel this performance.
Discover
Barbican Sessions: Isata Kenneh-Mason
Isata Kanneh-Mason plays Brahms's Op 118, No 3 'Ballade' in our Fountain Room
Listen: Classical Music on Spotify
Follow our regularly updated Classical Music playlist for a sample of the music you'll hear across our programme.
Barbican Sessions: Satu Vänskä
In an empty Theatre, Satu Vänskä, Principal Violinist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, performs JS Bach's ‘Allemande’ from Partita II in D minor.
Listen: Contemporary Classical on Spotify
Discover music from across the Contemporary Classical spectrum – from Judith Weir and George Benjamin to Nils Frahm and Max Richter.
Barbican Sessions: Jess Gillam
In an empty Level G foyer, Jess Gillam performs her ECHO Rising Stars commission: Edmund Finnis's A Spiral Ascending, Kurt Weill's Je ne t'aime pas and Astor Piazzolla's 'Nightclub 1960' from Histoire du Tango with Leif Kaner-Lidström and Sam Becker.
