Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

In early May 1809, Ludwig van Beethoven's friend and patron, Archduke Rudolph, fled Vienna to the Hungarian territories to escape the advancing Napoleonic troops. At a time when Beethoven, like the rest of the Viennese population, was suffering under the occupation – «cursed war, » he complained in a letter in September 1809 – he composed his Fifth Piano Concerto. Sergei Prokofiev wanted to symbolise «the triumph of the human spirit» in his Fifth, which premiered in January 1945 in the middle of the Second World War. Faced with the threat to life, both wrote truly heroic works from the soul, virtuoso sparks included. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which consistently ranks among the top five orchestras in the world, will ensure that orchestral sparks will also fly on this evening. Equally highly regarded today are Gothenburg and Philharmonia Chief Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Grammy award-winner Víkingur Ólafsson on the piano.