Shostakovich and Brahms – Sir Simon Rattle & Isabelle Faust
Defiant. Mercurial. Fiery.
Thursday 29 February 2024 • 7pm
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The Concert
Johannes Brahms Violin Concerto
Interval – 20 minutes
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No 4
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Isabelle Faust violin
London Symphony Orchestra
The concert will finish at approximately 9.30pm (timings 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
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%
Barbican Access Members – free companion tickets
Full details below
Shocking, dissonant, savagely ironic: Shostakovich’s Fourth was a statement of rebellion against Stalin’s dictatorship.
The Programme
It begins with the engines of industry: mechanical marches, pounding brass. An uneasy second movement, and then a nightmarish vision of life in Stalin’s Russia explodes in a frenzied succession of dance themes.
Shostakovich withdrew his Fourth Symphony before its first performance, after hints that he was treading a fine line with the Soviet authorities. It shines on as an extraordinary vision of thwarted humanity.
Brahms wrote his Violin Concerto with, and for, his friend, the virtuosic Hungarian musician Joseph Joachim, and its foot-stomping finale honours Joachim’s heritage.
The Performers
Isabelle Faust has made an exhaustive study of Joseph Joachim’s approach to this concerto, so her stirring performance is reliably authentic. There are thrills and chills aplenty in Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO’s uncompromising approach to Shostakovich’s masterpiece.
‘If they cut off both hands, I will compose music anyway, holding the pen in my teeth’ – Shostakovich
Generously supported by The Huo Family Foundation
Header Image © Mark Allan
Live streamed by Mezzo and medici.tv
Also with Sir Simon Rattle
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.
Your Visit and Access
Getting to the Barbican
We are based at the Barbican Centre in the City of London. The main entrance to the Barbican is on Silk Street.
What to Expect
From the concert experience to venue facilities, find out what to expect from an LSO concert at the Barbican.
Accessibility
Find maps and guides, and join the Barbican Access Membership Scheme to let us know of your requirements and book access tickets.
