Aaron Copland's third symphony is a vast and beautiful work depicting sprawling landscapes, forceful intensity and the power of human resilience. Composed in the final days of World War II, it channels the spirit of a nation looking toward brighter horizons. The final movement features the composer's inspirational Fanfare for the Common Man, culminating in a triumphant finale of hope for the future. George Walker's Sinfonia No.5 "Visions" was the composer's final work and stands as a protest against racial violence. Written as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 Charleston church shooting, this unrelentingly modernist piece is suffused with anger. Despite it's restless energy and jagged harmonies, the music encourages reflection and captures Walker's richly communicative musical language and groundbreaking legacy. Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra bring two American masterworks to life in this new recording from LSO Live. Pappano brings out the rich colors and emotional depths of Copland's Symphony No.3 and Walker's Sinfonia No.5, celebrating the indomitable spirit of the music and the enduring legacy of these pivotal composers.

On this album, the London Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano capture two British masterpieces that continue to astonish and inspire. Journey through the cosmos with Gustav Holst's beloved Planets suite. From the relentless energy of Mars, the Bringer of War to the jubilant optimism of Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, the work remains one of the most visionary creations of the 20th century. The voyage concludes in mystery with Neptune, the Mystic, featuring the voices of Tenebrae in a wordless, otherworldly chorus. Arnold Bax's Tintagel closes the album with a sweeping portrait of Cornwall's rugged coastline. Inspired by a visit to the legendary castle in 1917, Bax's symphonic poem evokes windswept cliffs, ancient history and mythology in music that surges like the sea itself.

Tchaikovsky's final symphony, known as the "Pathetique", is a work of haunting beauty and emotional depth-a journey from darkness to fragile light. From it's doom-laden opening to the desperate, fading sorrow of it's final notes, this is music that doesn't just tell a story, it feels one. Tchaikovsky never revealed the symphony's hidden narrative, but with it he created new, intensely personal possibilities for the musical form. With Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda leading the London Symphony Orchestra, this recording captures the full force of Tchaikovsky's vision. Noseda's deep connection to the Russian musical tradition brings out the symphony's vivid colors, sweeping melodies, and aching vulnerability. The album then journeys further into the heart of Russian history with Mussorgsky's Prelude to Khovanshchina, an atmospheric piece that evokes the break of dawn over the Moscow River, as the city slowly stirs to life.

The culmination of an extraordinary 9-year collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor, Gianandrea Noseda, LSO Live proudly presents Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 1-15. A complete symphony cycle offers not only a comprehensive journey through a composer's artistic evolution but also a unique glimpse into history, revealing the world as they experienced it. Few composers embody this more than Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), whose career was profoundly shaped by the political pressures of Soviet Russia. His symphonies are known for walking the line between outward conformity and hidden defiance, often infused with irony and coded resistance. Renowned for his mastery of Russian repertoire, Noseda brings a rare depth of understanding to this recording, shaped in part by his work alongside musicians who personally knew Shostakovich. This new interpretation of the complete symphonies showcases his signature dynamism, insight, and flair-earning it's place among the most definitive recordings of our time.

The culmination of an extraordinary 9-year collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor, Gianandrea Noseda, LSO Live proudly presents Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 1-15. A complete symphony cycle offers not only a comprehensive journey through a composer's artistic evolution but also a unique glimpse into history, revealing the world as they experienced it. Few composers embody this more than Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), whose career was profoundly shaped by the political pressures of Soviet Russia. His symphonies are known for walking the line between outward conformity and hidden defiance, often infused with irony and coded resistance. Renowned for his mastery of Russian repertoire, Noseda brings a rare depth of understanding to this recording, shaped in part by his work alongside musicians who personally knew Shostakovich. This new interpretation of the complete symphonies showcases his signature dynamism, insight, and flair-earning it's place among the most definitive recordings of our time.

Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO build upon their stunning performances of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fourth and Sixth Symphonies with a magnificent interpretation of his beloved Fifth and enigmatic Ninth. Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.5 reaches for hope amid the turmoil of war. This sophisticated and deeply original work moved audiences at it's 1943 premiere-it's bittersweet melodies and transcendent climax offering a vision of future peace. By the time he wrote his final symphony in 1957, Vaughan Williams had witnessed the true devastation of two world wars and the years that followed. The Ninth is a powerful final statement, balancing darkness with warmth, and unease with resilience. Together, these two symphonies reflect a lifetime shaped by conflict and change. Side by side, they form a portrait of a composer who could embrace both light and shadow, hope and uncertainty, with equal mastery.

London Symphony Orchestra Leader Roman Simovic steps back into the solo spotlight with a new recording of one of the cornerstones of the violin repertoire: Ysa�e's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin. Written in 1923, Eug�ne Ysa�e's set of sonatas represent a musical snapshot of that moment in the evolution of violin playing. An acclaimed violinist himself, each of the sonatas was written for one of Ysa�e's contemporaries: Joseph Szigeti, Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, Mathieu Crickboom and Manuel Quiroga. What results is a creative love letter to the violin, challenging and embracing the technical and lyrical possibilities of the instrument throughout the six stylistically unique sonatas. This new recording of the Sonatas joins a collection of acclaimed recordings with Roman Simovic on LSO Live. Renowned for his brilliant virtuosity and musicality, he has performed as a soloist with many of the most distinguished orchestras and conductors around the world and has been serving as Leader of the LSO since 2010.

LSO Live presents the fourth album in the Panufnik Legacies series. Composer Jack Sheen steps onto the podium to lead the London Symphony Orchestra in new music by some of the most exciting early-career composers of today. The works on this recording are all written by alumni of the LSO Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Composers' Scheme, which offers six composers each year the opportunity to write for a world-class symphony orchestra, guided by renowned composer Colin Matthews with support from composer Christian Mason. The Panufnik Legacies IV contains world premiere recordings of compositions by Jack Sheen, Dan Stern, Ryan Latimer, Benjamin Graves, Daniel Fardon, Amy Bryce, Daniel Kidane, James Albany Hoyle, Grace-Evangeline Mason, Cassie Kinoshi, Joel Jarventausta, George Stevenson, James Chan and Joe Bates.

Jenufa is pregnant, but she isn't married. In her isolated mountain village this means disgrace, or even death. The composer pondered his characters' predicament for many years. The opera he eventually completed is a blazing vision of human suffering and redemption, rooted in the rhythms of everyday life. Jenufa brings together a remarkable cast, including Agneta Eichenholz's heartbreaking portrayal of a vulnerable young woman and Katarina Karneus' achingly powerful Kostelnicka. The third in a series of Janacek operas presented by Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO, this next installment follows the critically acclaimed Katya Kabanova, released in 2024, and The Cunning Little Vixen, released in 2020.

For her debut concerto album, violinist Veronika Eberle revisits a work that has endured more than two centuries, and shares a fresh interpretation featuring new cadenzas by composer Jorg Widmann. "May listeners hear the Violin Concerto-in all it's stark radicalism, it's brazen beauty and it's love of experimentation-in a new way with these cadenzas: as contemporary music of today." (Jorg Widmann) Not only is Beethoven's Violin Concerto a particular favorite of Veronika, it has been central to her career to date-most notably alongside Sir Simon Rattle, who has been Veronika's long-time supporter and collaborator. When she was just 16, Sir Simon introduced her at the 2006 Salzburg Easter Festival, where she performed this very concerto to a packed Salzburg Festpielhaus. On this album, the pair reunite to bring this sublime masterpiece to life, and to celebrate the work that first brought Veronika to international attention.

Inspired by a time of war, protest, and a nation on the brink, Shostakovich's Symphony No.11 reflects upon the tumult and tragedy of the 1905 Russian Revolution. Shostakovich was believed to have said the Eleventh Symphony was 'about the people', and the beginning of the work captures the sombre repression felt by many at the time. The work is sometimes dubbed as a 'film score without the film', and this is truly evident as the music unfolds. It begins to embody a spirit of courage-of struggle for a just cause. Eventually, the symphony takes on an overwhelming intensity as it depicts the workers' uprising that ensued-one that the composer's own father and uncle were a part of and, miraculously, survived. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda is known for his mastery of Russian repertoire, and his Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov recordings on the LSO's own label have attracted glowing reviews. This album is the next in a revered cycle of Shostakovich's complete symphonies with Gianandrea Noseda, which already comprises nine of the fifteen symphonies.

While living in Paris at the turn of the century, Maurice Ravel was commissioned to write a ballet by the impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, Serge Diaghilev. The result was music of fluid, delicate beauty - a languid drama of danger and desire. The plot of Daphnis et Chloe is adapted from a second-century Greek erotic pastoral, and tells the captivating story of love and longing between the humble goatherd Daphnis and shepherdess Chloe. When Chloe is abducted by pirates, Daphnis calls upon higher powers to aid his pursuit. These forces of nature are mirrored in the score through Ravel's characteristic lush orchestration and vivid melodies. Interjections from a wordless chorus - sung in this performance by award-winning British ensemble, Tenebrae - perfectly capture the celestial might of the God, Pan, as he comes to the lovers' rescue. Known for it's rich harmonic textures and expansive scoring, Daphnis et Chloe is one of Ravel's largest and most loved orchestral masterpieces. Join the London Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano, on this dreamlike musical journey through Greek mythology, where passion, nature and divinity intertwine.

A stinging critique of capitalist society, 'he Seven Deadly Sins brings into sharp focus the perpetual battle between money and morals. Created by the trail-blazing duo of the Weimer Republic, Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht, the satirical ballet-chante The Seven Deadly Sins was to be the pair's final collaboration. Hitler had come to power, and the Jewish Weill and Marxist Brecht had both left Germany in haste. Weill was to come to terms with capitalist America more readily than Brecht, writing a series of popular musicals for Broadway with other collaborators. But, in The Seven Deadly Sins, Brecht's pen is still dripping with venom as he excoriates the continent's sleazy, materialistic values, the biblical septet of vices here given a contemporary twist. The story tells of daughter Anna (Magdalena Kozena), who is sent away from her family, tasked with bringing back enough money to build a house on the Mississippi River. Through seven years and seven cities-from Memphis and Los Angeles to Philadelphia and San Francisco-Anna encounters the seven deadly sins, and is forced to make her choice between what is profitable and what is right. Sir Simon Rattle, the London Symphony Orchestra and a star-studded line-up of soloists bring this shamelessly entertaining work to life alongside a collection of Weill's other most memorable works, including Death in the Forest and Little Threepenny Music.

Today, Miklos Rozsa is best known for classic film scores like Ben-Hur and Lust for Life. Living in America, yet yearning for his native Hungary, Rozsa took a momentary step away from Hollywood to write a violin concerto that sings, dances and positively smoulders. This rare performance of his Violin Concerto shows that even without the pictures, his music can hold an audience spellbound. Taking centre stage for this recording is London Symphony Orchestra Leader, Roman Simovic, who joined the Orchestra in 2010. His virtuosity and musicality have taken him throughout all continents, performing as soloist with world-leading orchestras and conductors. The accompanying work on this album is by Rozsa's fellow Hungarian, Bela Bartok, whose passionate Violin Concerto No.2 was known simply as his Violin Concerto throughout his life. His other concerto, written two decades earlier, was only published after the composer's death. The London Symphony Orchestra frequently invites it's members into the solo spotlight, and this album joins the ranks of other widely lauded recordings by principal players of the LSO.

LSO Live marks the beginning of it's 25th anniversary year with the release of Mendelssohn's Elijah, recorded live in concert with Sir Antonio Pappano earlier this year. From it's first performance, Elijah received roof-raising applause. It is one of the three greatest oratorios in musical history, bringing the sacred to life in glorious song. The life of the Biblical prophet is told in a series of dramatic episodes. We follow the fortunes of the steadfast, open-hearted Elijah, and encounter ministering angels and the vengeful queen Jezebel. The London Symphony Chorus and four electrifying soloists give voice to the oratorio in English, as in it's first premiere. Gerald Finley breathes life into the role of Elijah, and the Orchestra ramps up the drama without losing sight of the stillness at the heart of the storm.

Sir Colin Davis's recording of Dvorak's Symphony No 9 was the first title recorded and released on LSO Live, immediately establishing the label's international reputation. In celebration of it's 25th anniversary, LSO Live presents a remastered edition of Dvorak's Symphonies Nos 6-9, recorded with Davis in the label's early years. As one of the leading figures of nationalism in music, Dvorak's symphonies exude the essence of his Czech homeland. The influence of his native Bohemia shines out from every one of the symphonies, which are full of drama and laced with rich folk melodies. These recordings are paired with works by Smetana and Janacek, who also drew on the mythology and pastoral beauty of their beloved country. Janacek's "Sinfonietta" showcases the Czech musical tradition through dancing strings and celebratory brass, while Smetana's six tone poems that form "Ma vlast" depict aspects of Czech myth and natural wonders, including the river Vltava as it flows through the countryside and into Prague. The release of this album in 2024 also marks the 200th anniversary of Smetana's birth, the 120th of Dvorak's death, and the 170th of Janacek's birth.

This album combines three of Britten's enduringly popular, yet vastly distinctive works. Sir Simon Rattle leads us on an unexpected journey through this diverse collection of masterpieces. Written shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Sinfonia da Requiem meditates in part on the political populism which had, for the second time in just a few decades, plunged the world in to an existential crisis. In this piece, Britten's rich, yearning harmonies reveal a sombre and dramatic warning of the cost of conflict. From the darkness of war, we move towards the light with Britten's choral Spring Symphony. With it's mysterious reimagining of traditional English folk song and verse, the work depicts the gradual reawakening of the natural world when winter ebbs away, and spring begins to triumph. Britten let his imagination catch fire in The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. This brilliantly original showpiece is one of the composer's best-known pieces, and draws the album to a close.

In 1781, the Zong - a British slave ship - left Ghana with twice the number it was designed to carry, bound for Jamaica. The ship's owners claimed that drinking water was running low, and ordered the crew to throw more than 130 living enslaved people overboard. Over 200 years later, Jamaica has become a place of significance for Witter-Johnson. As a young child, she often spent her six-week summer holiday visiting extended family in Jamaica, taking trips to a favorite beach on the south coast. It was here that she witnessed a terrible fatal accident at one end of the beach, yet at the other end, a baptism and celebration was taking place. Witter-Johnson explores this spectrum of events tied together by their central themes of ancestry, family and the ocean, noting that even amidst the darkness of death, there is still room for joy. Combining alternative R&B with classical, and with influences from soul, hip hop and reggae, Ayanna Witter-Johnson is the definition of an eclectic soul. Th

The second release in LSO Live's cycle of Janacek opera recordings, Katya Kabanova tells a story of love, entrapment and, ultimately, tragedy. Captured live at the Barbican in January 2023 under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, the cast includes the superb tenor Simon O'Neill and, appearing in one of her signature roles as seen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Amanda Majeski as Katya. Young, sensitive and desperate for love, Katya is trapped in a remote country village with a bored husband and his snobbish family with no way out - until a summer thunderstorm changes everything. Uncompromisingly honest, and pulsing with intensely human emotion, the story of Katya Kabanova is written in music that cuts straight to the chase. The LSO's concert stagings of classic operas always make headlines: and this one was no different.

Since the London Symphony Orchestra's foundation in 1904, the music and spirit of Sir Edward Elgar have lived in the Orchestra's blood. Elgar conducted the LSO during it's very first 1904-5 season of concerts, and the Orchestra's first Principal Conductor, Hans Richter, was a devoted champion of the composer's music both at home and abroad. Combining a remastered collection of the LSO's finest Elgar recordings, this album demonstrates the enduring significance of the composer's work for the LSO, and showcases performances by conductors Barry Tuckwell, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Sir Colin Davis and Sir Antonio Pappano. The album features critically acclaimed, award-winning recordings of Elgar's Symphonies Nos 1-3, alongside orchestral favorites including Elgar's "Enigma" Variations, Cello Concerto, Imperial March and Pomp & Circumstance Marches.

In 1781, the Zong - a British slave ship - left Ghana with twice the number it was designed to carry, bound for Jamaica. The ship's owners claimed that drinking water was running low, and ordered the crew to throw more than 130 living enslaved people overboard. Over 200 years later, Jamaica has become a place of significance for Witter-Johnson. As a young child, she often spent her six-week summer holiday visiting extended family in Jamaica, taking trips to a favorite beach on the south coast. It was here that she witnessed a terrible fatal accident at one end of the beach, yet at the other end, a baptism and celebration was taking place. Witter-Johnson explores this spectrum of events tied together by their central themes of ancestry, family and the ocean, noting that even amidst the darkness of death, there is still room for joy. Combining alternative R&B with classical, and with influences from soul, hip hop and reggae, Ayanna Witter-Johnson is the definition of an eclectic soul. Through her work with the LSO, she forged a friendship with LSO Principal Percussionist, Neil Percy, which became the starting point for the recording. "His enthusiasm for my music moves me to tears and was the catalyst behind our first collaboration and subsequent commission, Forever. The organic development of this project is something I will treasure forever, because above all, I have felt the fullest support in expressing myself exactly as I am, and that goes beyond words." This album showcases Witter-Johnson's special partnership with the LSO Percussion Ensemble, where her choice of rhythms and harmony and use of percussion all have symbolic meaning in relation to the songs' deep inspiration.

Conducting Bruckner, says Rattle, is a lifelong quest for some "extraordinary vista, some wonderful moment which leads you out of this world". This certainly rings true for Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, the opening theme for which is said to have come to him in a dream, played by an angel. This huge, glowing mountain-range of sound is all at once majestic, reverent and terrifying. This edition of the symphony by Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs was first performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle in September 2022, and the recording completes a set of three albums which also features Cohrs' editions of Bruckner's Fourth and Sixth symphonies. Making use of Bruckner's discarded fragments and lesser-known material through his many revisions, this set of albums is a must-listen for lovers of Bruckner's music, and gives us a glimpse into the composer's untold musical thoughts.

In a continuation of his symphony cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda conducts two curious and contrasting symphonies by Dmitri Shostakovich-the Sixth and Fifteenth. Following the success of his Fifth Symphony, all eyes were on Shostakovich to create a work that would measure up to it's predecessor. The Sixth was originally intended as an immense musical monument to Lenin, to be woven with heroic melodies and folk songs. Instead his audiences were surprised to hear a quite different result-a contemplative, restrained first movement that morphs puzzlingly into a ferocious ending. The Fifteenth is another of Shostakovich's musical enigmas, with inexplicable quotes from music by Rossini, Glinka and Wagner dotted throughout, alongside references to his own music from his younger years. Written in 1970-71 when the composer's health was declining, this final symphony is one of fond reflection. Together these unconventional works showcase Shostakovich's range as a composer-from wild exhuberance to quiet introspection.

For her debut concerto album, violinist Veronika Eberle revisits a work that has endured more than two centuries, and shares a fresh interpretation featuring new cadenzas by composer Jorg Widmann. "May listeners hear the Violin Concerto-in all it's stark radicalism, it's brazen beauty and it's love of experimentation-in a new way with these cadenzas: as contemporary music of today." (Jorg Widmann) Not only is Beethoven's Violin Concerto a particular favorite of Veronika, it has been central to her career to date-most notably alongside Sir Simon Rattle, who has been Veronika's long-time supporter and collaborator. When she was just 16, Sir Simon introduced her at the 2006 Salzburg Easter Festival, where she performed this very concerto to a packed Salzburg Festpielhaus. On this album, the pair reunite to bring this sublime masterpiece to life, and to celebrate the work that first brought Veronika to international attention.

History, heritage, and fate combine in this recording from Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra, bringing together the music of Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, brimming over with drama and emotional intensity, charts a course from darkness to a final, life-affirming glimmer of optimism. Composed in 1888 and conducted by Tchaikovsky for it's November premiere that year, the symphony makes use of a recurring main 'Fate theme' to bring together the work's four movements. Rimsky-Korsakov dug deep into Russian legends and folk tales for his opera. "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh". Follow the mythical, magical story of the 'Russian Atlantis' in this orchestral suite, told through the composer's glittering orchestral palette.

The air shimmers and glows, and somewhere in the mists, a solitary horn gives a lonely call. The stuff of fairytales? The truth is, it's impossible to write about Bruckner's majestic Fourth Symphony without letting the imagination soar; he never wrote anything more colorful, or more poetic. In Germany, they call it the 'Romantic' symphony, and it's easy to hear why. Sir Simon Rattle loves Bruckner's Fourth, and on this new recording from LSO Live, he conducts the work in all it's splendor: music that never gets any less stirring, and has never sounded so fresh. He is aware, too, that Bruckner's inspiration burned so brightly that he ended up with more ideas than he could actually use. "There is much wonderful music which remains almost entirely unplayed" he says. On this album he steps inside Bruckner's workshop, bringing to light some of the music that didn't make the final cut. This edition of the symphony and it's discarded Scherzo and Finale by Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs was published in 2021. The world premiere performance with Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO is a must-listen for lovers of Bruckner's music, and gives us a glimpse into the composer's untold musical thoughts.

The London Symphony Orchestra's cycle of Brahms symphonies was Bernard Haitink's first set of recordings on the LSO Live label, originally released individually throughout 2004-05, and then as a boxed set in 2005. This collection of remastered recordings is now available on SACD, and digitally in spatial audio. Bernard Haitink's revelatory Brahms recordings with the LSO have demonstrated why fresh new interpretations of his major works are so important, and why the composer's music is still so relevant today. After struggling for years to come to terms with his fear of comparison to Beethoven, Brahms finally completed his First Symphony at the age of 43. It was hailed as a triumph and the remaining three symphonies followed relatively easily. His Symphony No.2 overflows with a relaxed, pastoral beauty, while the Third Symphony contains some of the most dramatic music Brahms was to compose. Finally, loaded with German Romanticism and including variations on a Bach cantata, Brahms' final symphony is a remarkable example of his mastery of symphonic composition. A rich, warm work that builds on a sense of movement and intensity right up to the final bars. Along with the symphonies, this release also includes Brahms' Double Concerto, Tragic Overture and Serenade No.2.

Celebrating the union of classical and jazz, LSO Live's latest release encapsulates the very best of the two genres with an irresistible selection of works by Bernstein, Stravinsky and Golijov, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Argentinian tango and jazz course through Golijov's vibrant Nazareno. Superstar piano duo Katia and Marielle Labeque are flanked by brass, percussion and cellos in this special arrangement for two pianos and orchestra by Gonzalo Grau. LSO Principal Clarinettist Chris Richards steps into the spotlight in Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto. The work is an era-defining amalgamation of jazz and classical, reflecting back the variety of a rapidly changing world, at turns frenetic and agitated, mournful and bluesy. This fluidity extends into Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs - an exuberant display of contrasting musical ideas, harmoniously intertwined together.