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Christmas Tales

BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

,Barbican Hall
BBC Symphony Chorus on the Barbican stage, with BBC SO branding around the edges

Celebration and contemplation as the BBC Symphony Chorus performs music inspired by frozen landscapes and Christmas heroes.

Before the red-cloaked, bushy-bearded St Nicholas squeezes himself down your chimney, discover the legends behind the 3rd-century bishop who would go on to inspire the Santa Claus myth. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus reunite for Benjamin Britten’s captivating cantata, recounting Nicholas’s life from birth to death.

As a child one Christmas Eve, Gerald Finzi climbed a local hill and heard the church bells ring out over his beloved Gloucestershire. This inspired his Christmas Scene, imagining Christ’s nativity in an idyllically frozen, picture-postcard English countryside setting. It is performed here in its 1956 chamber orchestra arrangement. From frozen Finland, Jean Sibelius’s Rakastava (The Lover) opens this wintry concert, based on folk stories from Karelia – borderlands between modern Russia and Finland.

Tagged with: Classical music BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC Symphony Orchestra Multibuy - Sep–Dec 2021

This performance will end at approximately 9.30pm, including a 20 minute interval.

Produced by the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Programme*

Jean Sibelius Rakastava
Gerald Finzi In Terra Pax (1956 chamber orchestra version)
Benjamin Britten Saint Nicolas

* Please note this programme has changed from as originally advertised, to allow more space between musicians and ensure everyone can perform safely and comfortably. All bookers have been contacted. (Mon 1 Nov 2021)

Performers

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo conductor
Ailish Tynan soprano
Robin Tritschler tenor
Benson Wilson bass-baritone
BBC Symphony Chorus
Neil Ferris assistant conductor
Finchley Children's Music Group trebles

Digital Programme

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