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Classical music

Browse concerts from the Barbican Classical Music programme featuring leading orchestras and soloists from around the world.

Highlights

IMage of Gurdain + Murad Ali on stage
Event
Classical music Contemporary music

Tabla solo by Gurdain Rayatt + Murad Ali Khan

Experience rhythm to the soul-stirring expression of melody 

Gurdain Ryatt tabla
Milind Kulkarni harmonium
Murad Ali Khan sarang
Ojas Adhiya tabla
Chiaroscuro Quartet
Event
Classical music

Consone Quartet X Chiaroscuro Quartet: Mendelssohn’s Octet

Two leading string quartets join forces to present a powerful evening of classical quartets by Haydn and Beethoven, culminating in Mendelssohn’s gorgeous Octet.

Joseph Haydn String Quartet in G major, Op 33, No 5
Ludwig van Beethoven Quartet in D major Op 18 No 3
-Interval-
Felix Mendelssohn Octet in E flat major, Op 20
Consone Quartet
Chiaroscuro Quartet
An image of Ermonela Jaho posing surrounded by a blue circle against a blue background
Event
Classical music

Puccini's 'La rondine'

Ermonela Jaho stars in Puccini’s bittersweet romance, his opera La rondine, incorporating music that has not been heard this century. 

Giacomo Puccini La rondine
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Carlo Rizzi conductor
Ermonela Jaho Magda de Civry
Iván Ayón-Rivas Ruggero Lastouc
Nicola Alaimo Rambaldo Fernandez
Ellie Neate Lisette
Juan Franciso Gatell Prunier
Jessica Robinson Yvette/ Georgette / Fleury
Julieth Lozano Rolong Bianca / Gabriella / Mariette
Joanna Harries Suzy/ Lolette / Rorò
Robert Lewis Gobin
David Shipley Périchaud
William Thomas Crébillon / Il maggiordomo
BBC Singers
Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra violin players
Event
Classical music

Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Experience the next generation of orchestral talent in this concert conducted by Julian Clayton, in a richly varied programme spanning impressionistic colour, sparkling virtuosity and symphonic power.

A person sat by a river bank with headphones on
Event
Classical music Contemporary music

The Hermes Experiment: Let Us Be a Mighty River

A collaboration between The Hermes Experiment and five international sound artists, this immersive concert-installation responds to the climate emergency.

The Hermes Experiment:
Héloïse Werner voice
Oliver Pashley clarinet
Alina Bzhezhinska harp
Marianne Schofield double bass
Sonic essayists
Sandeep Bhagwati
Monthati Masebe
Bint Mbareh
Kathy Hinde
Martha Hincapié Charry
Hanna Grześkiewicz curator
Kathy Hinde live installation
Bint Mbareh voice
Martha Hincapié Charry movement
Violist Antoine Tamestit in front of a black background imitating playing his instrument without the actual instrument being there. His eyes are closed.
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

Tchaikovsky faces his demons in the fate-filled Fourth Symphony, before the ravishing pastoral music of English composer Vaughan Williams with soloist Antoine Tamestit.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikosvky Symphony No 4
Ralph Vaughan Williams Flos Campi for Viola & Chorus
Ralph Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Antoine Tamestit viola
Julia Sitkovetsky soprano
Ashley Riches bass-baritone
London Symphony Chorus
Marian Consort dressed in black
Event
Classical music

The Marian Consort: The Language of Flowers

Acclaimed choral ensemble Marian Consort pays tribute to flowers and gardens both actual and allegorical, with music from the late Renaissance to the present day.

Rodrigo de Ceballos Hortus Conclusus
Amy Bryce Madrigals for Plants
Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla Missa Ego flos campi – Kyrie and Gloria
Sebastián de Vivanco Veni dilecte mi
Benjamin Britten Flower Songs
Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla Missa Ego flos campi – Credo
Tomás Luis de Victoria Vidi speciosam
Sebastián de Vivanco Sicut lilium
Leo Chadburn Flower Dictionary
Francisco Guerrero Ego flos campi
The Marian Consort vocal ensemble
Sir Antonio Pappano standing on the podium on the Barbican stage, facing the audience and talking into a microphone
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra: Half Six Fix – Vaughan Williams

Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, showcasing two works by Vaughan Williams. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.

Ralph Vaughan Williams Flos Campi for Viola and Chorus
Ralph Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Antoine Tamestit viola
Julia Sitkovetsky soprano
Ashley Riches bass-baritone
London Symphony Chorus
Antoine Tamestit facing the camera, holding a viola upright and facing forwards, in front of the side of his face
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

Thea Musgrave paints with radiant colours, Walton gives flight to the viola, and Vaughan Williams dreams of London.

Thea Musgrave Phoenix Rising
William Walton Viola Concerto
Ralph Vaughan Williams A London Symphony (Symphony No 2)
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Antoine Tamestit viola
Image of Adrian Scarborough
Event
Classical music

A Christmas Odyssey

Following the success of their festive 'Live from London' collab in 2024, Adrian Scarborough (History Boys, Gavin and Stacey) joins the BBC Singers on a Christmas journey of carols & literature.

Arcadi Volodos sitting at the piano
Event
Classical music

Arcadi Volodos in Recital

The Russian born master pianist Arcadi Volodos returns to the Barbican for a journey to the heart of the Romantic spirit.

Franz Schubert Sonata in A major D959
Robert Schumann Davidsbündlertänze Op 6
Franz Liszt arr. Volodos Hungarian Rhapsody No 13 in A minor, S. 244/13
Arcadi Volodos piano
Black and white image of Ute Lemper sat backwards on a chair with her hand on her chin
Event
Classical music Contemporary music

Ute Lemper: Rendezvous with Marlene

Based on the true story of their remarkable phone call, Ute Lemper channels Marlene Dietrich in this show where she'll sing some of Marlene's most beautiful songs and share captivating secrets.

A painting of a young woman and donkey
Event
Classical music

Academy of Ancient Music: Handel's Messiah

Laurence Cummings and Academy of Ancient Music perform Handel’s Messiah – a Christmas tradition that they’ve made their own.

George Frederic Handel Messiah
Academy of Ancient Music
Nardus Williams soprano
Reginald Mobley alto
Thomas Walker tenor
Ashley Riches bass
Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord
Sir Antonio Pappano conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, facing the Orchestra on the conductor's podium, with both hands raised in the air
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

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Relive the golden age of Hollywood and beyond with music by some of cinema’s most brilliant and influential composers.

Miklós Rózsa Prelude, The Mother’s Love and Parade of the Charioteers from ‘Ben Hur’; Movements 2 & 3 from Violin Concerto
Bernard Herrmann Scène d’amour from ‘Vertigo’
David Raksin Laura; Love is for the Very Young from ‘The Bad and the Beautiful’ Suite
Max Steiner Opening Title Sequence from ‘Gone with the Wind’
William Walton Selections from ‘Henry V’ Suite
Nino Rota ‘The Godfather’
Ennio Morricone ‘The Mission’, Music from ‘Cinema Paradiso’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in America’
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Roman Simovic violin
An image of Roderick Williams surrounded by a green circle against a green background
Event
Classical music

MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio

Sir James MacMillan conducts a starry performance of his huge, life-affirming Christmas Oratorio – music that speaks to listeners of all faiths and none.

James MacMillan Christmas Oratorio
BBC Symphony Orchestra
James MacMillan conductor
Rhian Lois soprano
Roderick Williams baritone
BBC Symphony Chorus