Philharmonia Sessions - The Creatures of Prometheus

On 4 December 2020, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen present the final Philharmonia Session of 2020, filmed and recorded at Battersea Arts Centre.

In the Orchestra’s most ambitious online performance since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Salonen conducts the full ballet score of Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus, almost 250 years to the day since Beethoven’s birth.

Beethoven wrote his ballet score for a production of The Creatures of Prometheus in 1801, in just 11 days. It was a huge success and remained one of his most popular works throughout his lifetime. In the ballet, the gift of fire is interpreted as a metaphor for the civilizing power of science and the arts.

To guide viewers through the story, Stephen Fry narrates Gerard McBurney’s new script between each movement, while motion designer Hillary Leben’s animations unfold on-screen.