Sibelius’s Second
19:00 Tue 28 Jul 2026 Royal Albert Hall
Programme
- Festen Suite(21 mins)BBC co-commission: UK premiere
- Cello Symphony(34 mins)
- interval
- Symphony No. 2 in D major(40 mins)
Performers
- Guy Johnstoncello
- Sakari Oramoconductor
Sibelius’s Second
Fifty years since Benjamin Britten’s death, former BBC Young Musician winner Guy Johnston brings the composer’s Cello Symphony to the Proms. Originally written for Mstislav Rostropovich, it’s the composer at his most intense: a tour de force for the soloist, set against a brooding, often eerie orchestral backdrop. There’s darkness in Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 as well – gloriously thrown aside in the glowing finale – but is it the weight of Russian political oppression or of personal loss? The concert opens with the UK premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Festen Suite, adapted from the composer’s multi-Olivier-Award-winning 2025 opera.
Guy Johnston © Frances Marshall
