The Poem of Ecstasy – Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin

Drift amid music of seductive illusion, by three turn-of-the-century composers.

The Programme

‘It is pure music, conceived beyond the limits of reality, in the world of dreams,’ wrote a contemporary reviewer about Debussy’s Nocturnes. The first Nocturne conjures grey thunderclouds above the Seine, as a passing boat sounds its horn. The second is illuminated by a dazzling procession, and the third echoes with the voices of sirens, heard amid the moonlit waves of the sea.

In Ravel’s dark, swaggering magic trick of a Piano Concerto, one hand playing comes to sound like two. And in Scriabin’s swirling, yearning symphonic poem, we move through fantasy to ecstasy.

The Performers

Kirill Gerstein, Spotlight Artist with the LSO in 2023/24, performs a remarkable feat of sleight-of-hand, while Susanna Mälkki and the LSO reveal the shining threads that tie these three works together. The London Symphony Chorus supplies enchanting song.

‘All fire and air. The first time I heard it I played it over and over … For weeks I went about in a trance. Something had happened to me.’ Writer Henry Miller on Scriabin’s ‘Poem of Ecstasy’

Read the programme (PDF)

This concert is generously sponsored by the Léni Fé Bland Estate

Support for the Music Academy partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra has been provided in part by Linda and Michael Keston, with additional support in remembrance of Léni Fé Bland

Header Image © Mark Allan