Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff – Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle

In 2014, the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle completed their cycle “Moving to Modern Times” with Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird which the composer set to gorgeous, scintillatingly colorful ballet music in 1909-10. Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker paired this lush score of orientalizing lyricism with another masterpiece of Russian late Romanticism: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s rousing Symphonic Dances, which likewise escorts us into a magical realm of fantasy.

The Berliner Philharmoniker has been a regular festival guest since 1958 and performed much acclaimed concerts every year.

Igor Stravinsky 
L’Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird). Fairy-tale ballet in two scenes

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphonic Dances, op. 45

Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle, conductor