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What’s On
Anne-Sophie Mutter

Myth and Magic – Thomas Adès

Refined. Sharp-Witted. Refreshing.

Thursday 30 May 2024 • 7pm

This event has passed.

The Concert

Igor Stravinsky Orpheus
Witold Lutosławski Partita (for Violin and Orchestra)
Interval – 20 minutes
Thomas Adès Air – Homage to Sibelius (Violin Concerto) (UK premiere)
Igor Stravinsky Agon

Thomas Adès  conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter  violin
London Symphony Orchestra

The concert will finish at approximately 9.15pm (timings are subject to change)

Tickets

£70 £55 £39 £25 £18
+ £4 booking fee per online/phone transaction

Wildcard Tickets

£12/£16 + booking fee as above
Guaranteed entry – your seat will be allocated on the day.
Limited releases throughout the season. Full details

Check for Wildcards

Save on Your Booking

Multibuy Discounts – save up to 40%
Under-18s – £6 tickets
14–25s – discounts for Young Barbican Members
Groups of 10+ – save at least 20%
Access – free companion tickets for Barbican Access Members
Full details below

Threads of the past are woven into a radiant future in four ingenious compositions, presented by Thomas Adès, Anne-Sophie Mutter and the LSO.

The Programme

Stravinsky didn’t attend the premiere of Agon on his 75th birthday, worried that audiences wouldn’t like his new direction. But the composer’s final ballet was greeted with shouts and whistles, its bracing music compared to Champagne. It’s a cool and considered triumph which melds together ingredients from Baroque to jazz with its choreographer George Balanchine stating ‘sounds like this have not been heard before’.

Lutosławski’s delicate Partita also ushers a jazz-like quality and Adès’ arching Air acts as an ‘extended aria’ giving Mutter the freedom to burst through the orchestra and skip like a stone into an icy Finnish lake.

Like Agon, Orpheus was a balletic collaboration between Stravinsky and choreographer Balanchine. Orpheus’ traditional lyre becomes a harp in Stravinsky’s elegant presentation of the Greek legend.

The Performers

His music shapes the sound of the present moment, and Thomas Adès presents a much-anticipated UK premiere in this concert. Air was co-commissioned by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, for whom Lutosławski’s Partita was also written.

Why do we need composers? It’s a compulsion. I have no choice. There is an image in my head which to me is completely real.’ – Thomas Adès

Header Image © Monika Höfler

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Booking and Discounts

Booking Your Tickets

Online at lso.co.uk or barbican.org.uk
By phone on +44 20 7870 2500 (Monday to Friday 12–5.30pm)
In person at the Barbican Centre

£4 booking fee per transaction when booking online or by phone

Refunds and Exchanges

If you can no longer user your tickets, you can exchange them for another LSO concert or Barbican credit voucher (valid for six months). Please inform the Box Office at least 24 hours before the performance (two weeks for group bookings). A per-ticket administration fee applies for all exchange services.

Questions About Your Booking?

Contact the Barbican Box Office at tickets@barbican.org.uk.

Visit the Barbican website for conditions of sale.

The LSO reserves the right to change artists or programmes if necessary. If the event is cancelled, all bookers will receive a refund. All discounts are subject to availability and may not be combined. Box office calls may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance or training purposes.

Multibuy Discounts

Book 2 to 3 concerts and save 10%
Book 4 to 7 concerts and save 20%
Book 8 to 11 concerts and save 30%
Book 12 or more concerts and save 40%

Plus retain your discount for any later bookings within the season.

Multibuy Discounts: Full Details

Wildcards

£12 or £16 (£10 or £15 for Half Six Fix concerts), plus booking fee. You are guaranteed entry to the concert but you won’t know your exact seat until the evening of the performance. Will you be lucky and bag a top-price seat in the stalls? Find out more about Wildcards.

Young People

£6 tickets for under-18s. Discounted tickets are available for selected LSO concerts for 14–25s through Young Barbican, and for full-time students through Student Pulse London.

Groups of 10+

Save 20%, or 30% when booking two or more concerts in the same season, plus additional benefits. Find out more about group booking.

Access Members

Members of the Barbican’s Access Scheme can book wheelchair places priced at the lowest price for that event and book a free companion seat. Join the Barbican Access Scheme.

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