In his first year as Conductor Emeritus of the LSO, Sir Simon Rattle explores music from Brahms to Gershwin, including the premiere of a long-awaited commission by John Adams.
At the heart of his season are two concert performances of the searing, magnificent opera Jenůfa, the third instalment of the LSO and Rattle’s cycle of Janáček’s operas, following critically acclaimed performances of The Cunning Little Vixen and Katya Kabanova.
‘I’ve loved Janáček’s operas since I was a teenager,’ says Rattle. ‘Indeed it was playing, aged 17, performances of The Cunning Little Vixen at the Royal Academy of Music that made me realise I wanted to be an opera conductor. When we first started playing these operas together, I realised that this is music that suits the LSO so perfectly, with their virtuosity, passion, and their sense of humour and refinement.’
‘This is music that suits the LSO so perfectly, with their virtuosity, passion, and their sense of humour and refinement.’
‘Janáček’s operas are some of the very few that move at the speed of theatre,’ Rattle says. ‘He has such a profound understanding of people’s psychology. Of course we’re not performing in a theatre, but there is something very powerful about having the Orchestra right there, because so often the Orchestra is saying what the singers are just unable to say – and in a concert performance we have this in close-up.’
2023/24 Season Concerts
Jenůfa – A Woman’s Tragedy
Gritty. Human. Transcendental.
Thursday 11 January 2024 • 7pm
Janáček’s searing, magnificent opera explores a woman’s limited options in a suffocating small town.
Jenůfa – A Woman’s Tragedy
Gritty. Human. Transcendental.
Sunday 14 January 2024 • 7pm
Janáček’s searing, magnificent opera explores a woman’s limited options in a suffocating small town.
Half Six Fix: Shostakovich 4
Defiant. Mercurial. Sarcastic.
Wednesday 28 February 2024 • 6.30pm
Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute concert. Sir Simon Rattle conducts and introduces Shostakovich’s defiant Fourth Symphony.
The Sound of Fury – Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony
Defiant. Mercurial. Fiery.
Thursday 29 February 2024 • 7pm
Shocking, dissonant, savagely ironic: Shostakovich’s Fourth was a statement of rebellion against Stalin’s dictatorship.
Sir Simon Rattle – Listening to America
Exuberant. Memorable. Irresistible.
Sunday 3 March 2024 • 7pm
A new work by John Adams is flanked by Gershwin’s most seductive tunes, featuring Spotlight Artist Kirill Gerstein.