BBC NOW 2026-27 Season Sibelius 6 & 7

This programme traces a journey from Romantic drama to Nordic quality under the baton of Pietari Inkinen, with Anna Geniushine as soloist. Wagner’s Overture to Tannhäuser opens the concert with a powerful depiction of inner conflict. As Wagner described it, the overture stands as a complete musical argument in itself, from the solemn tread of the Pilgrims’ Chorus to the intoxicating swirl of the Venusberg.

Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor follows, a work of rhapsodic imagination and vivid colour. Tender lyricism alternates with dazzling virtuosity, evoking Nordic landscapes and mythical figures.

After the interval, Sibelius’s Sixth and Seventh Symphonies offer a vision of symphonic form reimagined. These distilled, continuous works unfold as profound emotional statements, culminating in the transcendent power of the Seventh Symphony.