London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

The quiet intensity of Edmund Finnis’ Cello Concerto paves the way for Bruckner’s monumental, visionary Ninth Symphony.

Bruckner may have left his Symphony No 9 incomplete, but it still serves as a summation of his life, heard here in its first three movements. The overwhelming Adagio is the work’s emotional, even religious, heart, while the pounding Scherzo is among the most inspiring of anything Bruckner conceived.

The concert begins with the Cello Concerto of Edmund Finnis, a former LSO Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Composer. The composer describes the work as ‘the most lyrical, intense and emotionally direct music that I have written so far’. Over 20 minutes, Finnis runs the musical gamut of introspective beauty to outward, unrelenting energy. Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason is renowned for playing of expressive beauty and power – ideal qualities for Finnis’ shimmering tableaux.

The concert will finish at approximately 9pm, including a 20-minute interval (timings subject to change).

Programme

Edmund Finnis Cello Concerto (LSO co-commission)
Anton Bruckner Symphony No 9 (ed Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs, Urtext Edition)

Performers

London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello