The overture to Nielsen’s joyful and exuberant opera Maskarade is the perfect start to our celebrations, filled as it is with all the fun and drama of a masked ball. Despite being considered the “national opera” of Denmark and acknowledged by Denmark’s Ministry of Culture in 2006 as one of the nation’s 12 greatest musical works, the piece is rarely performed outside of the composer’s home country.

Beethoven’s lyrical Fourth Piano Concerto opens with a quiet invitation from the soloist to join them, and the Orchestra, on a musical journey like no other. Lise de la Salle is the perfect guide for this piece that was nearly eclipsed by Beethoven’s other works, but was championed by none other than Felix Mendelssohn, whose own Violin Concerto we hear on Saturday 29 June.

For the second half of tonight’s concert, we welcome to the stage Tama Matheson who will bring to life some of the incidental music which Edvard Grieg wrote for Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. Regular RPO audience members may remember Matheson’s unique 2022 rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in which he embodied Shakespeare and retold the story live on stage.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Cadogan Hall were saddened to hear of the untimely passing of Sir Andrew Davis who was due to conduct this performance.

We are incredibly thankful to Adam Hickox for graciously stepping into Sir Andrew’s role for this concert. Following successful debuts with leading orchestras around Europe and his recent appointment as Principal Conductor of The Gylndebourne Sinfonia, British conductor Adam is fast building a reputation for his impressive and elegant performances and mature interpretations of a wide range of repertoire.