Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

This spring concert opens with Kodály’s enchanting Dances of Galánta – a musical tour of the composer’s native Hungary, featuring the folk melodies that helped form its musical identity. Liszt’s poetic and dramatic Piano Concerto No.1 finds a wonderful soloist in rising star Shunta Morimoto, who won the Hastings International Piano Competition in 2022, performing alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Closing the concert is one of the most instantly recognisable pieces of symphonic music – Beethoven’s Symphony No.5. Opening with four imposing notes, this Fate motif that dominates the whole Symphony – a work which changed the landscape of classical music and remains an audience favourite to this day.