Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra, Krystian Zimerman

For the closing concert of the 15/16 season Sir Simon Rattle conducts a programme exploring the pivotal works of three composers who each innovated in vastly different ways: Ives, Beethoven and Rachmaninov.

Ives’ The Unanswered Question is an American classic that ruminates on the ‘perennial question of existence’. Ever the progressive, Ives’ work divides his ensemble into three independent groups each playing their own distinctive music. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4 broke all concerto conventions when it was first performed, opening with a simple piano solo rather than the expected orchestral tutti. Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 2 re-invigorated the genre; his insistence on looking back to classical models allowed him to stand out at a time when composers were becoming increasingly obsessed with modernity.