All London's live music

This is the symphony that changed everything – the moment when a great composer dared to add the human voice to the symphonic form, setting Schiller’s Ode to Joy to music that has inspired millions ever since. It remains one of the most joyful, unified and profoundly moving pieces ever composed.

Before the Ninth comes a work of lyrical brilliance: Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, performed by the incomparable Danny Driver – an artist of rare sensitivity and commanding technique. This is a chance to experience one of today’s finest pianists bringing to life a cornerstone of the Romantic repertoire.

Opening the evening is Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, a thrilling symphonic overture to Goethe’s play Egmont for which Beethoven wrote incidental music.

The Hanover Band, specialists in historically informed performance with an international reputation for excellence, brings authentic period-instrument colour to these masterworks, while Zvonimir Hačko’s thoughtful and deeply committed conducting draws out the full emotional and musical depth of these extraordinary scores.