Main menu

Search

The Rite of Spring

London, Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall

Thursday 18 February 2027, 19:00

Priority open

Priority Booking is now open for Friends & Patrons of the OAE. Please login to your account to access booking. General Booking opens in October 2026.

Music

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Mlada Suite
STRAVINSKY Funeral Song
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring
Guest Artists

Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Price

£18 – £99

General booking

Tue 27 October 2026, 10:00am

Paris, 1913. The premiere of The Rite of Spring. Rhythmic detonations tear through the orchestra, pushing the instruments to their limits with raw energy.

The primeval world of Stravinsky’s most explosive masterpiece is reignited under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski by the colours of period instruments.

The Rite erupts from history. It has fascinated musicians and audiences alike since that night in 1913. As its legend has grown, its truths have been obscured by myth. To encounter its radical force anew, we step into the world that formed it with the instruments Stravinsky knew in his youth. The bassoon’s opening call emerges more primordial, more fragile; gut strings add snap and bite to the brutal, irregular rhythms; the raw snarl of valved brass instruments intensifies the danger. The result reveals something more elemental—performance as ritual and invocation.

"With The Rite of Spring I wanted to express the sublime arrival of the onset of nature renewing itself, the whole arising, panic, the universal sap."

Igor Stravinsky

Stravinsky’s world was forged in the shadow of his teacher, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His opera-ballet Mlada inhabits the same ground as The Rite; a fertile mix of pagan rituals, spectral visions and ancient song (both works reference Lithuanian folksong). The huge sweeping orchestral colours and opulent harmonies that Rimsky-Korsakov conjures will be twisted into the jagged melodies and driving rhythms that course through The Rite.

Stravinsky’s Funeral Song, written on his mentor’s death, was lost for over a century until its rediscovery in 2015. It offers a glimpse of a composer on the brink of a breakthrough; the composer himself called it “the best of my works before The Firebird.”

Vladimir Jurowski is a Principal Artist of the OAE, receiving acclaim for his performances with the Orchestra of Romantic era repertoire and Mahler in particular. He was Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera from 2001 – 2013 and Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 2007 – 2021. He is currently General Music Director of Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper and Chief Conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.

Part of Music Speaks: Southbank Centre Season 2026/27

*Our ticket price includes a £2 restoration levy from the Southbank Centre. This goes towards maintenance and improvements works on the Southbank Centre’s historic buildings, in particular Royal Festival Hall, and is not subject to any discounts.

The OAE’s 40^th anniversary seasons in 2025/26 and 2026/27 are made possible with the support of The Forty Circle.

You might also be interested in...

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

The Girl from Arles

Fri 9 Oct 2026

Unrequited love and melodrama collide to make L’Arlésienne a must watch season opener. Propelled by Bizet’s intensely passionate music, conducted by Mark Elder, with all the on stage action in a new translation by Jeremy Sams.

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall

Symphonie fantastique

Wed 10 Jun 2026

Sir Simon Rattle commands a cast of fantastical characters in a double bill of symphonies. Berlioz’s powerful, poetic music sets visions whirling of wandering poets, enchanting women, shepherds, an execution procession and witches.

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Vienna 1897: Brahms' Last Concert

Wed 24 Jun 2026

“Today you will hear a real piece!” So declared Brahms to his companion of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto before attending what we believe was his last concert, which also included his own Fourth Symphony. Two good friends of the OAE, Steven Isserlis and Maxim Emelyanychev, join for the finale of our season in celebration of the OAE’s 40th Anniversary.

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

The Girl from Arles

Fri 9 Oct 2026

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall

Symphonie fantastique

Wed 10 Jun 2026

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Vienna 1897: Brahms' Last Concert

Wed 24 Jun 2026

Book now Find out more

Support us

Be part of our story

Main menu

Support us

Our Mission

Support us

Be part of our story

Search

Support us

Be part of our story

The Rite of Spring

London, Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall

Thursday 18 February 2027, 19:00

Event detail

Paris, 1913. The premiere of The Rite of Spring. Rhythmic detonations tear through the orchestra, pushing the instruments to their limits with raw energy.

"With The Rite of Spring I wanted to express the sublime arrival of the onset of nature renewing itself, the whole arising, panic, the universal sap."

Guest Artist

Hear it first

Sign up to our newsletter