Demons, seascapes and green English fields – from Elgar’s Cello Concerto to Stravinsky’s The Firebird.

With a burst of flame and a cascade of sparks, the magical Firebird leaps into life. When Igor Stravinsky composed his great ballet, he didn’t just imagine a world of enchanted princesses, courageous heroes and green-clawed demons – he let us hear it too. That is our final destination tonight as conductor Elena Schwarz and the RPO set out on a fantastic musical voyage that opens on the storm-tossed seas of Bishop Rock, before sinking into the embrace of Debussy’s ravishing Prélude.

Along the way, the multi-award-winning young cello virtuoso Zlatomir Fung joins us for Elgar’s autumnal-but-evergreen Cello Concerto. You may already know and love it, but you’ve never heard it played like this.