‘Dreaming, hearing loss and saying goodbye’. So reads the evocative subtitle for Richard Ayres’ Three Pieces about Ludwig van Beethoven, premiered by Aurora Orchestra behind closed doors at last year’s BBC Proms. Aurora’s first post-pandemic appearance at Southbank Centre offers the first opportunity for a live audience to experience this radiant, intensely personal work, described The Times as “Stupendous… Unbearably poignant, yet also indefatigably stoic.”
Beethoven’s own voice is heard in his monumental Violin Concerto, performed here with soloist Nicola Benedetti. Nicholas Collon conducts a performance that sees Aurora’s memorised performance approach – with players performing without sheet music or music stands – applied to a concerto for the first time. An unmissable highlight of London’s return to orchestral music-making.
‘Marvellous… Playing from memory, Aurora created an organic sense of community, dynamism and inspiration.’ The New York Times
This concert is generously supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation, Nicholas & Margo Snowman, Richard & Helen Sheldon and the Aurora Patrons & Friends.