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Journeys of Discovery: Conflict

Wednesday 7 June 2023, 7.30pm
Royal Festival Hall

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1
Shostakovich Symphony No.8

Vasily Petrenko Conductor
Nobuyuki Tsujii Piano

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Tchaikovsky’s effusive concerto is paired with a symphony that pulls no punches.

Tchaikovsky laboured long and hard on his First Piano Concerto, revising it three times. The result was a work that has stood the test of time, shooting its arrow direct to the heart. All sentiments are there: fury, serenity, joy, and – of course – passion.

Shostakovich’s response to the unfathomable losses of the Second World War was to write a work that did not shy away from the ugliness and chaos of the indiscriminate suffering that had been unleashed. As is so often the case with his music, listening to the Eighth Symphony offers a catharsis, moving from unrelenting pressure to finding final release.

‘All that is dark and evil rots away, and beauty triumphs,’ wrote the composer. And yet the hallmark of Shostakovich is his ambiguity. After the pain and suffering, can anything ever be the same again?

‘It was one of those rare performances where player and music seem one – a definition of virtuosity.’
The Observer on Nobuyuki Tsujii


Eye icon website large print programmes

Large print versions of the programme for this concert are available on request. Please email your request to Doran Crowhurst crowhurstd@rpo.co.uk at least one full week before the performance.


Ticket information

Tickets from £10.

Groups of just 6+ save up to 35% 

RPO Club members save 50% on up to two tickets per London season and receive a host of other benefits. For more information please contact Jo Thomson (Friends' & Groups' Manager) on 020 7608 8840

Student tickets £8, book via Student Pulse.


Tickets for RPO Brent Members

A limited number of tickets are available for this performance at a special price for RPO Brent Members for price bands B - E.
Members should click on the link above to be transferred to the Southbank Centre’s website. Click buy tickets and then in the top right hand corner click on the link which says ‘Have a promo code?’. Insert your promo code which was emailed to you and then select one of the yellow seats.

Tickets are limited so if the offer is not applied that may be because there are no longer any tickets available for this offer.

Find out more about the RPO Brent Membership and sign up here.