BSO 2026 #4 - Fantasy

Featuring: Luke Severn (cello) 
Conducted by Luke Dollman 

The final concert of the 2026 season invites you into a world of myth, memory, and imagination, where music transforms into storytelling, and the orchestra becomes the painter of dreams. 

The journey begins with Elena Kats-Chernin’s Mythic, a recent orchestral work inspired by fables, archetypes, and the blurry line between reality and fantasy. Known for her vivid colours and rhythmic invention, Kats-Chernin brings a unique voice to the concert hall. 

Artistic Director Luke Severn will take centre stage, this time as soloist in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, one of the crown jewels of the cello repertoire. This towering Romantic masterpiece is both technically dazzling and emotionally expansive, blending Slavic passion with lyrical introspection. 

The season closes with Mussorgsky’s iconic Pictures at an Exhibition, in Ravel’s orchestration. A musical promenade through an imaginary art gallery, from dancing chicks and haunted catacombs to the triumphal bells of Kiev’s Great Gate, each movement conjures vivid images in the mind’s eye. Ravel’s brilliant orchestration turns Mussorgsky’s piano sketches into one of the most colourful and thrilling orchestral showpieces ever written. 

Led by guest conductor Luke Dollman, this concert is a celebration of fantasy as a force for meaning-making, memory-keeping, and cultural connection. 

Approximate Duration: 2 hours

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