London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle

The press was delighted without reservation by the London Symphony Orchestra’s concert at the Elbphilharmonie with new music director Sir Simon Rattle in January 2018. When this exceptional conductor makes another guest appearance at the Elbphilharmonie together with his British elite orchestra, he also picks up a thematic thread: after Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, this time the same composer’s Music for Strings, Percussion und Celesta, written in 1937, is on the programme. Popular from the outset, this work is a classic example of sophisticated design. It demands extreme rhythmic precision and tonal refinement from the musicians, while in Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony the musicians have the chance to shine with the full, meaty sound of a perfectly attuned ensemble.