Archive for category: News

Further details on our sensational 2023/24 Season are now here. Check out our fantastic Firebird Concerts for a night out to remember…

Firebird Chamber Platform: The Avalon Trio

Tuesday 14 November 2023
St George’s Hanover Square

Haydn Piano Trio no. 39 in G, Hob. XV/25 Gypsy Rondo
Rachmaninoff Trio Élégiaque no.1 in G minor, Op. Post.
Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50

Violin Louis Solon
Cello Seb Williams
Piano Benji Lock

The second in the Firebird Chamber Platform series presents this wonderful instrumental combination performing music from three of the greatest names from the 18th and 19th centuries.

‘We are delighted to announce details of our 2023/24 Concert Season and look forward to seeing you all at the concerts.’

Marc Corbett-Weaver, Artistic Director

Garden of Fire

Sunday 28 January 2024 
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG

Ruth Gipps Cringlemire Garden: Impression for string orchestra, Op. 39
Mozart Piano Concerto no. 9 in E flat, K. 271 (‘Jeunehomme’)
Mozart Voi avete un cor fedele, K. 217
Haydn Symphony No. 59 in A, Hob. I:59 ‘Fire’

Conductor George Jackson
Piano Harris Tsz-Chun Leung
Soprano Sian Dicker

This concert is alive with the verve of youth from the classical masters and the dextrous piano playing of Harris Tsz-Chun Leung. We also feature exquisite music from British composer Ruth Gipps. 

Clarinet Fair

Tuesday 27 February 2024 
St George’s Hanover Square

Mendelssohn Die Schöne Melusine (The Fair Melusine)
Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622
Beethoven Symphony no. 2 in D, Op. 36

Clarinet Jonathan Leibovitz
Conductor Michael Thrift

Featuring Mozart’s sublime concerto for clarinet with the vibrant playing of Jonathan Leibovitz alongside masterworks from the classical and romantic world under the baton of Michael Thrift.

European Classics: Emperor

Tuesday 30 April 2024 
St George’s Hanover Square

Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat, Op. 72 The Emperor
Dvorak Symphony no. 8 in G, Op. 88

Conductor George Jackson
Piano George Harliono

Beethoven’s vast and heroic fifth piano concerto may not be associated with any emperor, yet it stands proud as one of the most admired works in the repertoire. Talented pianist George Harliono returns to perform this magnificent work.

Firebird conductors Michael Thrift and George Jackson

Firebird for Schools

Thursday 16 May 2024 
St George’s Hanover Square

Programme to include:
Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf.

Conductor Michael Thrift

As part of our ongoing commitment to presenting tailor-made concerts for schoolchildren, London Firebird Orchestra introduces young people to the magical world of the orchestra with a selection of well-known classical works.

Forests & Fantasy

Tuesday 11 June 2024 
St George’s Hanover Square

Revich Olario Prelude
Gershwin/Frolov Fantasy on themes from Porgy and Bess
Revich Olario Choriner Wald (the Forest of Chorin)
Massenet Méditation from Thais
Bizet/Sarasate Carmen Fantasy
Sibelius Symphony no. 2 in D, Op. 43

Violin Yury Revich Olario
Conductor Michael Thrift

Firebird and conductor Michael Thrift bring orchestral favourites from around the world with a welcome return by the amazing violinist and composer Yury Revich Olario.

Tuesday 19 September 7.30pm 
St George’s Hanover Square, London

Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85
Ralph Vaughan Williams Symphony no. 5 in D

Conductor George Jackson
Cello Maciej Kułakoswki 

Music by Elgar and Vaughan Williams – two of the greatest British composers – give a distinctive ‘Englishness’ to the next Firebird concert…

When you imagine the quintessential English landscape park or garden the works of Capability Brown probably spring to mind with places such as Stourhead in Wiltshire. 

But this was not just an English phenomenon – it was part of a European-wide movement which was sweeping away the formal symmetry of the gardens of the earlier centuries.

The inspiration for this new wave of landscape was inspired by the idealistic paintings of the likes of Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain (pictured).

It took until the 20th century before the spirit of Englishness was truly captured in a musical sense, and the two works in this concert demonstrate this with real beauty and passion.

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Elgar’s iconic Cello Concerto is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. Composed in the aftermath of the First World War its contemplative and elegiac mood captures the sprit of a lost age.

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As the perfect foil to this we have a great symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams. An immediate success since its 1943 premiere, many of the musical themes stem from his then-unfinished opera, The Pilgrim’s Progress.

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Cover photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

The latest work from virtuoso violinist Yury Revich Olario are framed by two great 19th century masterpieces in Firebird’s  next concert of European Classics…

Ever since its Leipzig premiere in 1845 after six years in the making, Mendelssohn’s violin concerto has remained among the most prominent and highly-regarded concertos of all time.

It was an innovative work for its day, moving away from the typical classical approach to a concerto in many ways, including having a fully notated cadenzas rather than the soloist improvising or composing their own.

Brahms’s first Symphony of 1876 clearly pays homage to the monumental symphonies of  Beethoven – to which Brahms himself said ‘any ass can see that’. Yet this aspect has occasionally earned the symphony the label ‘Beethoven’s Tenth’.

Conductor Michael Thrift will be setting the scene for this magnificent evening of great music. We are particularly excited to be welcoming back Yury Revich Olario (pictured below) to the stage – not just for his virtuoso performance of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto, but also for the world premiere of his new work Kaleidoscope Symphony no. 1 which we are thrilled to be hosting.

European Classics: Virtuoso

Tuesday 13 June 7.30pm 
St George’s Hanover Square, London

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Yury Revich Olario Kaleidoscope Symphony no. 1
Brahms Symphony No.1, Op. 68

Conductor Michael Thrift
Violin Yury Revich Olario

It’s time for Music & Mayhem this month as we launch 2023 with a bang at our next Firebird concert in our series of European classics…

A much-loved overture by Mozart, one of the world’s most famous symphonies by Beethoven and probably the greatest cello concerto of all time by Saint-Saëns make up this sensational programme on Tuesday 7 February at St George’s Hanover Square.

Although from different generations, both Mozart and Beethoven were associated with the Masonic lodges of Vienna. Both composers were influenced by the fraternal ideal of the Order of the Illuminati, which believed in fighting the abuses of State power, the abuses of religion, and superstition, and in awakening and enlivening the human soul with their music.

Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute is noted for its prominent Masonic elements while the opening of Beethoven’s great 5th Symphony must be one of the best-known compositions in classical music.

The star of the show will be brilliant cellist, Maciej Kułakowski who, at very short notice, has replaced Jamal Aliyev who is unfortunately indisposed, who will perform Saint-Saëns’ dramatic and beautiful Cello Concerto – hugely demanding and bursting all the conventions of its time. No wonder this concerto is considered by many to be the greatest of all cello concertos.

“…of the intelligence and artistry on display there is no doubt.“

BBC Music Magazine (5 star review of the playing of Maciej Lułakowski)

Music & Mayhem

London Firebird Orchestra
Conductor George Jackson
Cello Maciej Kułakowski 

Tuesday 7 February 2023, 7.30 pm

Mozart Overture to Die Zauberflöte, K.620
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.33
Beethoven Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67

With free digital programme

London Firebird Orchestra starts 2023 with a sensational concert of European Classics on 7 February…

Masonic music by Mozart, one of Beethoven’s best-known compositions, and by Saint-Saëns, perhaps the greatest of all cello concertos.

Both Mozart and Beethoven were associated with the Masonic lodges of Vienna, with Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute being noted for its prominent Masonic elements. Beethoven’s 5th Symphony must be one of the best-known compositions in classical music.

By contrast, the Cello Concerto by Saint-Saëns comes from a different world: dramatic and beautiful, demanding and bursting the conventions of its time.

We are delighted to welcome back the great Turkish cellist Jamal Aliyev for what is considered by many to be the greatest of all cello concertos.

‘The tender cello solo … is in my ear still’

Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph (BBC Proms)

European Classics: Magic & Mayhem

Tuesday 7 February 2023 7.30pm 
St George’s Hanover Square, London

Mozart Overture to Die Zauberflöte, K.620
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.33
Beethoven Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67

Conductor George Jackson (pictured above)
Cello Jamal Aliyev