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Gerstein plays Busoni’s Piano Concerto

BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo

Kirill Gerstein

Expect epic visions and piano playing that’s out of this world when Kirill Gerstein and Sakari Oramo champion Ferruccio Busoni’s stupendous Piano Concerto, as well as music by Grazyna Bacewicz. 

'Joy and pain interweave in the light of the world…Thousands of years flash by with glory and strength, revealing that which is indestructible'. Extraordinary claims; but then extraordinary is the only word for the heaven-storming choral finale of Ferruccio Busoni’s colossal Piano Concerto: a masterpiece on the scale of a symphony, composed in 1904 by one of Mahler’s greatest fans. 

Every performance is a major occasion, demanding a pianist with outsize charisma and fingers of steel. Kirill Gerstein has both – and when he recorded this concerto with Sakari Oramo, Gramophone described the results as 'sublime'. Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra open with the supercharged Second Symphony by Grazyna Bacewicz: the dazzling, neglected Polish composer whose music Oramo’s determined to bring into the daylight. 

This performance will finish at approximately 9.30pm. 

Produced by the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Digital programme

Hall

Location
The Barbican Hall is located within the main Barbican building. Head to Level G and follow the signs to find your seating level. 

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
​​​​​​​The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.