Listening guides for the concert hall
Before the music begins
A free, carefully researched programme note for every concert of four great orchestras: what the music is, where it came from, and what to listen for tonight.
The orchestras
- Berlin Berliner Philharmoniker
- London London Symphony Orchestra
- Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
- Vienna Wiener Philharmoniker
Upcoming
October 2026
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Season Opening: Pappano’s Mahler 2 and Fujikura’s Amber Alchemy Fujikura · Mahler
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Emilie Mayer’s Faust and Beethoven’s Fifth Mayer · Mozart · Beethoven
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Sheku’s Finnis Concerto and Bruckner’s Ninth Finnis · Bruckner
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Mäkelä’s Mahler Seventh Mahler
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Pappano’s Tchaikovsky Fifth, with a Kendall Premiere Liadov · Kendall · Tchaikovsky
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A Fortieth Birthday in Tokyo Beethoven · Hayashi · Mozart
November 2026
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Two Symphonies in D Beethoven · Brahms
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Iván Fischer conducts Mahler’s Fifth Symphony Haydn · Mahler
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Adès’s In Seven Days with Chamayou, and Sibelius’s Fifth Nørgård · Adès · Sibelius
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Dvořák’s Seventh and Bartók’s Bluebeard Dvorak · Bartók
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Mozart’s Shadow, Tchaikovsky’s Fate Mozart · Tchaikovsky
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Adès Conducts Sibelius, Saariaho and His Own ‘America’ Sibelius · Saariaho · Adès
Recent
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Fate in Two Keys Mozart · Tchaikovsky
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Poetry and Pastoral in Taipei Beethoven · Brahms
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Grace and Grandeur Beethoven · Brahms
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Friends and Fate: Elgar’s Enigma and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Elgar · Tchaikovsky
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Ax Plays Williams, and Dvořák’s Sixth Tchaikovsky · Williams · Dvorak
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Italian Nights: Carnegie Hall Opening Night with Jonas Kaufmann Verdi · Cilea · Giordano · Respighi · Leoncavallo