Usher Hall

An evening of thrilling 20th century classics from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under its chief guest conductor, Ilan Volkov, who is widely renowned for the passion and intensity of his music making. Sinfonia by Luciano Berio is a virtuoso work full of colour and humour that poses profound questions about what a…

Ghosts of the past and present collide through video and sound technology in this evening-long project from the internationally renowned Brooklyn-based Bang on a Can All-Stars, an electric chamber ensemble that brings together some of the world’s most adventurous musical thinkers. The Field Recordings project looks back…

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra performs one of the grandest and most moving pieces in the entire orchestral repertoire: Mahler’s Second Symphony. Tracing a journey from funereal despair to the blazing light of rebirth, the Symphony combines moments of hair-raising terror with passages of poignant intimacy. The…

The internationally renowned Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra makes a two-concert visit to the Festival under chief conductor Mariss Jansons, acclaimed for his blistering performances and for his cultured interpretations that shine fresh light on major classical works. Tchaikovsky’s 'Pathétique' Symphony is one of the…

Celebrated Belgian early-music conductor René Jacobs rejects the academic coolness of some period performance in favour of bright colours, dramatic energy and a sometimes unconventional approach. While remaining faithful to his music’s historical roots, Jacobs emphasises emotion and meaning, finding fresh perspectives on…

Drawn from the finest players across the continent, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe is widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest orchestras. Its two Festival concerts are directed by the young French-Canadian Yannick Nézet Séguin, who is famed for the inspirational energy of his performances. In his…

The celebrated Chamber Orchestra of Europe delves further into the richly contrasting musical worlds of Strauss and Beethoven in the second of its two Festival concerts under fiery young conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Wagner famously called Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony ‘the apotheosis of the dance’, and its infectious…

Inspired by film noir, big-band jazz and the movies of David Lynch, City Noir is a spectacular symphonic showpiece by US composer John Adams that paints a gripping yet sensual portrait of California’s urban landscape and culture. It forms the culmination of the all-American second half of the Royal Scottish National…

Composer Tod Machover, conductor Peter Oundjian and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra take us through the creation of a new piece of music celebrating the City of Edinburgh and its Festival and co-created by members of the public.

A concert of blazing energy, infectious rhythms and big sounds as Cologne-based contemporary music group Ensemble musikFabrik celebrates the sometimes outrageous music of US maverick Frank Zappa. Led from the drumkit by superstar percussionist Dirk Rothbrust, the ensemble explores connections between Zappa’s wild…

Ambassadors for one of the most exciting choral traditions in Europe, the singers of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir are renowned for the warmth, depth and intense spirituality of their glowing performances. Making a rare trip to Britain and a welcome return to the Festival, they present music from their homeland…

A concert of warmth and lyricism that draws on the refined playing for which the Scottish Chamber Orchestra is renowned. Principal conductor Robin Ticciati is joined by the remarkable National Youth Choir of Scotland and two exceptional solo vocal talents. Sir Thomas Allen is one of Britain’s best-loved singers…

Organist extraordinaire John Kitchen of the University of Edinburgh describes and demonstrates the technology behind the magnificent four-manual 63-stop Usher Hall organ.

Quite simply one of the world’s most respected and admired tenors, Ian Bostridge is famed for the delicate expression and powerful characterisation of his elegant yet probing performances. He is joined by the esteemed German pianist Lars Vogt, well known as an international concert soloist but also a highly renowned…

Regarded as one of the world’s great period-instrument orchestras, and acclaimed for its pristine playing and the emotional depth of its performances, Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble brings two concerts of Schubert symphonies – some little-known, others rightly celebrated – to the Festival under its founder, French…

Using instruments and playing styles that the composer himself would have known, Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble conclude their survey of Schubert symphonies with the composer’s grandest and most ambitious contribution to orchestral music. Schubert’s ‘Great C major’ Symphony is considered by many to be…

A poet of the piano, Mitsuko Uchida is famed for playing that matches elegance and poise with mercurial excitement. Her Festival recital combines gentle lyricism and explosive virtuosity. To begin, she contrasts two luminous Preludes and Fugues from the second book of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier with Schoenberg’s…

The 2013 Festival opens in thrilling fashion as three great Russian musicians join the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a pair of seminal masterpieces by Prokofiev. Conductor Valery Gergiev is world-renowned for his searing, powerful interpretations, and young, multi-award-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov astonished…

Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the world’s truly great ensembles, famed for the nobility and sophistication of its orchestral sound, its velvety strings, golden brass and gleaming woodwind. The orchestra performs one of the greatest symphonic achievements in the repertoire. Gustav Mahler never lived…

Best known from David Lean’s 1945 film Brief Encounter, Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto is one of the most beloved works in the orchestral repertoire, a masterpiece of poignant nostalgia and glittering bravura, brimming over with unforgettable melodies. It launches the Russian National Orchestra’s two concerts…

Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky, widely acclaimed for his performances of Rachmaninov’s piano music, brings the passionate, fiery Third Concerto to the Russian National Orchestra’s second Festival concert. It is considered one of the most technically challenging concertos in the repertoire, combining astonishing…

The Sixteen is one of Britain’s most accomplished choral groups. This wide-ranging concert contrasts the glories of English and Scottish vocal music old and new, from the Renaissance splendour of Thomas Tallis to the powerful contemporary sounds of James MacMillan. Tallis’s grand Spem in alium, which gives the concert its…

David Zinman concludes his Festival concerts at the helm of the Tonhalle Orchestra with one of Brahms’s most magnificent creations: the German Requiem. A profoundly humanistic work that offers a vision of comfort and hope rather than grief and anger, its superbly crafted music and soaring vocal melodies encompass drama…

The rich, Romantic music of Brahms is the focus for the Tonhalle Orchestra’s two Festival concerts under its artistic director David Zinman. Widely considered one of the world’s finest violinists, German Frank Peter Zimmermann is the soloist in Brahms’s beautifully melodic Violin Concerto. He brings his commanding yet…

The Festival’s Usher Hall concerts come to an epic conclusion with Verdi’s powerful Requiem, its theatricality and gripping emotions making it as suited to the opera house or concert hall as to any church. From music of hushed restraint and transcendent hope through to the thunderclap-like drums that depict the day of…