Entering a World of Magic
Thu 25 Apr 2019
I was lucky on my very first day of work at the OAE to go on a ‘field-trip’ to watch a TOTS rehearsal for a brilliantly adapted production of The Magic Flute.
Read More
Further reading: Lisa Beznosiuk
Wed 6 Feb 2019
For every concert in our Southbank Centre series, we ask one of our players to write a little note for audience members to read as they leave the concert hall.
Here’s what our Principal Flute, Lisa Beznosiuk, wrote about being the lone flute in Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, as performed on Monday 4 February 2019 at Royal Festival, and on tour around Europe.
Read MoreIntroducing Mozart’s Clarinet
Fri 21 Dec 2018
“This is the clarinet that Mozart would have expected to hear when he wrote for it.”
Our Principal Clarinet Antony Pay takes us through the staple instrument of the time – the 5 key clarinet, and shows us the type of basset clarinet he believes enables you to play Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto best.
Read MoreComposers and space
Thu 18 Oct 2018
“For the same reason we are bound to believe that, as neither the beautiful neither the ugly is universal,” claimed the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1844. “Certain operas, which are every day represented and applauded (on Earth), will be hissed off the stage on Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus.”
Read MoreIntroducing Mozart’s Fortepiano
Thu 19 Jul 2018
“It really changes the way we think about the music”.
Our Co-Principal Keyboard, Steven Devine, introduces the predecessor of the modern piano, the fortepiano.
It’s the type of instrument Haydn, Mozart and the young Beethoven would have known and composed for.
Read MoreIntroducing Mozart’s Horn
Mon 16 Apr 2018
The first of a new series of videos exploring the instruments of the ‘classical’ era (1750-1820).
Principal Horn Roger Montgomery looks at the instrument that would have been used to perform Mozart’s horn concertos.
Read MoreMozart’s naughty notes
Thu 12 Apr 2018
Mozart illustrated the score for the Rondo from his Horn Concerto No.1 with a series of naughty notes and jokes aimed at his horn player friend, Joseph Leutgeb.
Read the notes as we perform it at Conway Hall with our Principal Horn Roger Montgomery.
Read MoreThe Corridors of Power programme
Mon 26 Feb 2018
Here’s the programme for our The Corridors of Power concert on Tuesday 27 February at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre. You can pick up a physical copy free of charge on the night itself.
Read MoreThe Corridors of Power: playlist preview
Wed 7 Feb 2018
One of the more unusual concerts in our 2017/18 Visions, Illusions and Delusions season is The Corridors of Power, a mixture of Haydn and Mozart conducted by our old friend Ádám Fischer.
Read MoreBack at our favourite building in West London
Fri 8 Dec 2017
West London Synagogue is one of London’s unexpected gems – an architectural beauty with a brilliant acoustic for music.
Read MoreMozart: Master of Deception programme
Mon 27 Nov 2017
Here’s the programme for our Mozart: Master of Deception concert with Rachel Podger on Monday 27 November at St John’s Smith Square. You can also pick up a physical copy free of charge on the night itself.
As well as the programme notes, in this issue:
Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Senior Rabbi at West London Synagogue asks ‘Is seeing believing?’ We take a look at the eventful London life of Johann Christian Bach.
If you can’t see it, just click here.
Read MoreFaust and the Mozart Concertos programme
Wed 12 Apr 2017
Here’s the programme for our Faust and the Mozart Concertos concert on Tuesday 18 April at the Royal Festival Hall. You can also pick up a physical copy free of charge on the night itself.
Read MoreMax Mandel chats about Mozart and American composer Michael Gordon
Thu 5 May 2016
‘The person who can make you cry in a major key, like no-one else can.’
Read MoreFrances Kelly and her 18th century, single action pedal harp.
Fri 12 Feb 2016
Frances Kelly takes us through some of the basics of her instrument which she will play in Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto on Sunday 14 February 2016 at the Royal Festival Hall.
Read MoreYou’re not going home, are you?
Thu 10 Dec 2015
Finishing around 8.30pm, our Kings Place concert is the perfect aperitif for a sophisticated New Year’s Eve in the heart of Kings Cross and Camden.
So, if you’re planning on sticking around after the chamber music and Viennese dances, here are our top local tips to keep you entertained to midnight and beyond.
Read MoreThe West London Synagogue
Tue 27 Oct 2015
We’re taking a break from our 30th birthday season at Southbank Centre to pay a visit to the stunning West London Synagogue, just off Edgware Road.
Read MoreBBC Proms
Thu 23 Apr 2015
The sun is shining and that means – for us at least – three things are crawling out from their winter hibernation: opera festivals, the Proms and ice-cream van drivers.
Read MorePlaylist: The Bohemians
Mon 2 Feb 2015
We perform our all-wind programme in London on Thursday 5 February (book tickets/more info).
The only way to experience it is to actually be there. But until then check out some other ensembles’ interpretations in our playlist below.
Read MorePlaylist: Lord of the Strings
Fri 21 Nov 2014
Next week we’re performing an all-strings programme at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with Richard Tognetti.
Read MorePut your thinking caps on and name a concert for us…
Mon 10 Nov 2014
Wow, that came round fast. It only seems like yesterday that we were asking you to help us name a concert in our current season (Lord of the Strings, coming up on 25 Nov and on tour), and here we are doing it all over again – this time for our 2015-2016 season, which gets announced in January.
Read More