Booking opens for Season Tickets only on Monday 9 May 2022

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General booking opens Monday 30 May 2022

Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony

MESSIAEN The Sermon to the Birds: Act II, Tableau 6 from Saint-François d’Assise (c.44 mins)

BEETHOVEN Symphony No.6 ‘Pastoral’ (c.46 mins)

Soloists to be announced

Ryan Wigglesworth, conductor

‘I have always admired St Francis…he spoke to the birds, and I’m an ornithologist.’ For the dazzling, colourful score to his gargantuan opera based on the life of the saint, bird-lover Olivier Messiaen interweaves orchestral twitterings and chirpings into a tapestry of sound as glorious as the dawn chorus. Here’s a very rare chance to experience part of this extraordinary work with the BBC SSO’s Chief Conductor, Ryan Wigglesworth, at the helm. And is that a cuckoo we hear? Beethoven wasn’t above introducing the sounds of nature into his music, most famously in his popular Sixth Symphony. This ode to the natural world has a bracing, invigorating energy that’s bound to fill you with the joys of spring.

**Due to logistics of staging Messiaen’s The Sermon to the Birds, the balcony is currently off-sale for this performance. Extra seating may become available at a later date.