2011-12 season

We are delighted to be able to bring you our complete season so that you can plan your year of concert going and make a series booking in one easy transaction.

Video Gallery

This series of videos explores the many faces of the LSO, from a day in the life of our musicians and conductors, why the LSO is a desirable asset for any film composer and why supporting young talent is so important, to reminiscences from some of the personalities who have worked with the Orchestra for many years.

> Watch the videos

How to book

• Online: Click on the links on the right to browse the season, download a PDF or browse our Digital Season Guide
• By phone: Call +44 (0)20 7638 8891
• In person: At Advance Box Office, Level G, Silk Street Entrance
• By post: Download a booking form and send it to:
  LSO, Freepost KE7766, London EC2B 2RR

The more you buy the more you save

As part of our continuing commitment to our regular concert goers, we’re offering you bigger discounts than ever before.

• Book 3–4 concerts save 15%
• Book 5+ concerts save 20%

Please note, the concerts on 15 Dec, 23 Feb, 11 May and 15 Jul are excluded from the above discounts; however, you can still save 20% on any of these by booking 8+ concerts.

An introduction to the season

Valery Gergiev in 2011/12
Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky
Whether your taste is for Stravinsky ballets or Tchaikovsky symphonies, Valery Gergiev’s programming brings together some of the most inspiring pieces ever written for the orchestra and provides an accessible and authoritative guide to two of the great Russian composers. In the first part of the season Gergiev completes his LSO Tchaikovsky Symphonies cycle with Symphonies 4, 5 and 6 (‘Pathetique’), and in May 2012 he starts his exploration of Stravinsky.

21 Sep, 25 Sep, 24 Nov, 27 Nov, 30 Nov, 21 Feb, 23 Feb, 11 May, 13 May, 15 May and 15 Jul


UBS Soundscapes: LSO Artist Portrait
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Some musical forms seem immortal. They stand the test of time, and in spite of the most radical changes in taste and style, reinvent themselves to flourish in new musical worlds. The violin concerto, pitting a single virtuoso soloist against the might of the symphony orchestra, has been one of the most enduring forms in Western classical music. German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, the LSO’s Artist Portrait this season, is one of the most striking violinists of her generation, a true pioneer in championing the work of contemporary composers, commissioning new violin music from the leading composers of our time and devising violin projects.

27 Nov, 30 Nov, 19 Feb and 20 Feb


Sir Colin Davis 2011/12
Beethoven Piano Concertos and Nielsen Symphonies
Beethoven’s piano concertos are among the great favourites of the piano concerto repertoire and the roll-call of soloists who are identified with these works is a history of performance in our time. Having started her retrospective of these works in May 2011, Japanese pianist Mitsuko Uchida continues to explore their beauty with the LSO and Sir Colin Davis. Her interpretations of the Beethoven concertos complement Sir Colin Davis’ acclaimed cycle of Nielsen symphonies which he completes in October and December 2011.

2 & 4 Oct - Nielsen Symphony No 1
4 & 6 Dec - Nielsen Symphony No 2
11 & 13 Dec - Nielsen Symphony No 3


A Choral Century
The tradition of choral music writing has reinvented itself in the last century. With its powerful and supremely imaginative music, Britten’s War Requiem was one of the turning points that gave hope to the genre in the 20th century. Beyond these shores, Honegger lived a large part of his life in Paris and celebrated his fellow countrywoman Joan of Arc; Einhorn explored the same subject in the present day with his score to the 1928 silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc.

9 & 11 Oct: Britten War Requiem
4 Nov: Honegger Joan of Arc at the Stake
6 Nov: Einhorn Voices of Light
19 & 21 Apr: Weber Der Freischütz
11 May: Stravinsky Mass

21st Century People
The LSO has always worked with musicians that define their generation and this season it will be celebrating the birthdays of Steve Reich and Sofia Gubaidulina, and welcoming back composers with whom it has had a long association: Thomas Adès, Henri Dutilleux, André Previn and Pierre Boulez.

12 & 15 Oct: Steve Reich 75th birthday
24 & 27 Nov: Sofia Gubaidulina 80th birthday
30 Nov: Wolfgang Rihm
10 & 15 Jan: Thomas Adès
19 Feb: André Previn and John Harbison
29 Apr & 8 May: Pierre Boulez conducts
15 Jul: Henri Dutilleux


Chamber Music at LSO St Luke’s
LSO St Luke’s, seven minutes walk from the Barbican, is the perfect venue for chamber music. Ever since the doors opened in 2003, BBC Radio 3 have programmed 20 lunchtime concerts a year there.

Beethoven Piano Sonatas cycle 2011
8, 15, 22, 29 Sep
6, 13, 20, 27 Oct
3, 10, 17, 24 Nov


UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica
Enjoy the intimate, informal environment at LSO St Luke’s in a series of eclectic evenings that complement the main season at the Barbican from smaller ensembles.

12 Oct: Steve Reich at 75
8 Nov: Terje Isungset & LSO Wind Ensemble
1 Feb: Michael Tilson Thomas & LSO Chamber Ensemble
17 May: LSO Chamber Orchestra – Stravinsky

Barbican Hall

2011

September
> Wed 21 Sep: XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition Winners' Concert
> Sun 25 Sep: Gergiev/Friere

October
> Sun 2 Oct: Davis/Uchida
> Tue 4 Oct: Davis/Uchida
> Sun 9 Oct: Britten War Requiem
> Tue 11 Oct: Britten War Requiem
> Sat 15 Oct: Steve Reich at 75
> Sun 16 Oct: LSO Discovery Family Concert
> Thu 27 Oct: Film music of Dimitri Tiomkin
> Sun 30 Oct: Znaider/Ashkar

November
> Fri 4 Nov: Joan of Arc at the Stake
> Sun 6 Nov: Voices of Light
> Wed 9 Nov: Zhang/Davies
> Thu 24 Nov: Gergiev/Draugsvoll
> Sun 27 Nov: Gergiev/Mutter
> Wed 30 Nov: Gergiev/Mutter

December
> Sun 4 Dec: Davis/Uchida
> Tue 6 Dec: Davis/Uchida
> Sun 11 Dec: Davis/Uchida
> Tue 13 Dec: Davis/Uchida
> Thu 15 Dec: Gardiner/Monteverdi Choir

2012

January
> Fri 6 Jan: National Youth Orchestra
> Tue 10 Jan: Pappano/Tamestit
> Sun 15 Jan: Adès/Hodges/Spence
> Tue 24 Jan: Tilson Thomas/Friere

February
> Thu 2 Feb: Tilson Thomas/von Otter
> Thu 9 Feb: Järvi/Daniels
> Wed 15 Feb: Pappano/Kavakos
> Sun 19 Feb: Previn/Mutter/Bashmet
> Mon 20 Feb: Anne-Sophie Mutter Chamber Recital
> Tue 21 Feb: Gergiev/Matsuev
> Thu 23 Feb: Gergiev/Chang

March
> Thu 15 Mar: Ticciati/Maltman
> Sun 18 Mar: LSO Discovery Family Concert
> Sun 25 Mar: Frübeck de Burgos/Ibragimova

April
> Sun 1 Apr: Bychkov/Stotijn
> Thu 12 Apr: Harding/Angelich
> Thu 19 Apr: Weber Der Freischütz
> Sat 21 Apr: Weber Der Freischütz
> Sun 29 Apr: Eotvos/Tetzlaff

May
> Tue 8 May: Eotvos/Znaider/Davislim
> Fri 11 May: Stravinsky Festival
> Sun 13 May: Stravinsky Festival
> Tue 15 May: Stravinsky Festival
> Sun 27 May: Tilson Thomas/Bronfman
> Thu 31 May: Tilson Thomas/Bronfman/Shaham

June
> Sun 3 Jun: Tilson Thomas/Shaham
> Sun 10 Jun: Haitink/Pires
> Thu 14 Jun: Haitink/Pires
> Thu 21 Jun: Noseda/Denoke

July
> Sun 1 Jul: LSO Discovery Family Concert
> Sun 15 Jul: Gergiev/Fleming

UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica
LSO St Luke's

2011
> Wed 12 Oct: Steve Reich at 75
> Tue 8 Nov: Terje Isungset & LSO Wind Ensemble

2012
> Wed 1 Feb: Michael Tilson Thomas & LSO Chamber Ensemble
> Thu 17 May: Stravinsky Festival: LSO Chamber Orchestra

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts
LSO St Luke's

Beethoven Piano Sonatas cycle

> Thu 8 Sep: Barry Douglas
> Thu 15 Sep: Llyr Williams
> Thu 22 Sep: Barry Douglas
> Thu 29 Sep: Khatia Buniatishvili
> Thu 6 Oct: Llyr Williams
> Thu 13 Oct: Nicholas Angelich
> Thu 20 Oct: Shai Wosner
> Thu 27 Oct: Shai Wosner
> Thu 3 Nov: Nicholas Angelich
> Thu 10 Nov: Elisabeth Leonskaja
> Thu 17 Nov: Elisabeth Leonskaja
> Thu 24 Nov: Barry Douglas

The Nash Ensemble presents Brahms

> Thu 2 Feb: Clarinet Quintet
> Thu 9 Feb: String Sextet
> Thu 16 Feb: Piano Quintet in F minor
> Thu 23 Feb: Piano Quintet in C minor

Nicola Benedetti and friends

> Thu 1 Mar: with pianist Alexei Grynyuk
> Thu 8 Mar: with cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk
> Thu 15 Mar: Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Maxim Rysanov (viola), Leonard Elschenbroich (cello) and Alexei Grynyuk (piano)
> Thu 22 Mar: solo recital