BBC SSO Opening Night: Beethoven's Violin Concerto

“Let love melt into memory, and pain into songs...” In the Vienna of Klimt and Freud, no emotion was off limits, and for composer Alexander von Zemlinsky love meant suffering, as well as sweetness.

It all pours out in his Lyric Symphony: a sweeping homage to his friend Mahler, told in seven songs of sumptuous beauty and uninhibited drama.

Conducted by BBC SSO Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth, and featuring two world-class singers, it’ll make a richly expressive opening to the orchestra’s new season.

First, though, a very different letter from Vienna.

When Beethoven wrote his Violin Concerto, he found the sweet, singing soul of the violin - and who better to help it take flight than Bomsori, a violinist who speaks directly to the heart?