Brahms’ humanist Requiem
Tue 30 Oct 2018
“Brahms’ Requiem is essentially humanist, less a prayer for the dead than a personal meditation for the consolation of the living.”
Ahead of our performances with Marin Alsop, we explore how Brahms’ German Requiem broke the mould.
Read More
Marin and Nicola join our pre-concert talk
Fri 2 Feb 2018
If you’re coming to our concert with Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, on Sunday, get there early for the pre-concert talk at 6pm.
We’re delighted both Marin and Nicola have agreed to join us for the discussion alongside our Principal Flute, Lisa Beznosiuk.
The talk is free in the Clore Ballroom from 6pm to 6.30pm.
Read MoreMarin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti programme
Fri 2 Feb 2018
Here’s the programme for our Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti concert on Sunday 4 February at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre (but it’s also good if you’re going to one of the other performances). You can pick up a physical copy free of charge on the night itself.
If you can’t see it, just click here.
Read MoreIn depth: Marin Alsop on Schumann, madness and creativity
Sun 21 Feb 2016
Before our Marin, Music and Madness concert at the Royal Festival Hall in February, conductor Marin Alsop got together with journalist Jessica Duchen, musicologist Dr Robert Samuels and Director of Music at the Southbank Centre, Gillian Moore, to discuss whether madness and genius really do go hand in hand. Or does this notion misrepresent both creativity and mental health problems?
Read MoreSpeed interview, Marin Alsop
Mon 1 Feb 2016
We’re back with Marin Alsop at the Royal Festival Hall on 6 February 2016. So we thought we’d put her through our speed interview again.
Read MoreBBC Proms
Thu 23 Apr 2015
The sun is shining and that means – for us at least – three things are crawling out from their winter hibernation: opera festivals, the Proms and ice-cream van drivers.
Read More30 years of breaking the rules: 2015-2016 concerts announced
Thu 22 Jan 2015
This morning at Southbank Centre we launched our 2015-2016 season of concerts to the press – a year which marks our 30th Birthday. As you’d expect we have some pretty special events lined up for you…
Read MoreBBC Proms with Marin Alsop – Reviews
Fri 4 Oct 2013
As the summer draws to a close and our new season begins, we look back at some of the reviews form our appearance at the BBC Proms with Marin Alsop.
Read MoreMarin Alsop at The Proms – Listen Again
Mon 19 Aug 2013
We’ve had an amazing response to our performance at the BBC Proms with Marin Alsop this weekend.
Read MoreSpeed Interview – Marin Alsop
Fri 16 Aug 2013
Conductor Marin Alsop joins us for BBC PROMS: Brahms- A German Requiem. Here she tells us a bit about her heroes and the most important lesson life has taught her.
Read MoreQueens, Heroines and Ladykillers: Curtain raisers and high drama- audience reaction
Fri 15 Mar 2013
We welcomed esteemed conductor Marin Alsop and British soprano Emma Bell to the stage for a dramatic concert featuring Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann on 8 March at the Southbank Centre.
Here’s what the audience thought of the night…and below, what the press had to say.
The Times (subscribers only)
Seen and Heard
Classical Source
Lieto Fine
You can also check out our Storify page from the night here.
Read MoreMozart – Making Ennui Epic
Mon 25 Feb 2013
In Curtain Raisers and High Drama on 8 March, Marin Alsop joins us for an evening of hugely evocative music written for the female voice. Among works by Weber, Beethoven and Schumann, there’s also a chance to hear Elettra’s heart wrenching lament O smania! O furie!… from Mozart’s Idomeneo, an aria so powerful, you might argue it could make anything feel dramatic.
Read MoreQueens, Heroines and Ladykillers: in conversation
Wed 20 Feb 2013
As part of our Queens, Heroines and Ladykillers podcast, we chatted to conductor Marin Alsop and soprano singer Emma Bell about their experiences with the OAE, including why singing certain arias can be like taking part in The Great British Bake Off…
Read MoreInsiders podcast
Thu 1 Nov 2012
In this episode of Southbank Centre’s Insiders podcast, Ben Eshmade chats to our musicians about how the OAE started (in a surprising place!), to conductor Marin Alsop on why she enjoys working with the Orchestra and to our lovely office staff about their highlights for the season.
It’s your chance to get under the skin of the OAE – so have a listen!
You can subscribe to the Southbank Centre podcasts on iTunes here
Read More
Queens, Heroines and Ladykillers Podcast
Thu 27 Sep 2012
Here’s our brand-new podcast dedicated to our new concert series for 2012-2013: Queens, Heroines and Ladykillers, which starts this Sunday at the Royal Festival Hall.
Read More2012-2013 London concerts: now on sale
Tue 14 Feb 2012
Our 2012-2013 Southbank Centre season is now on public sale. It all starts off on 30 September when Emeritus Conductor Sir Roger Norrington returns to us to conduct a programme of Haydn, Cherubini, Gluck, Berlioz and Bizet that not only starts our season but also our 5-event series celebrating strong female roles in opera, Queens, Heroines and Ladykillers. The season continues through until June 2013 with artists appearing including Sarah Connolly, Sir Simon Rattle, András Schiff, Marin Alsop and William Christie. Also during the year our new The Works series continues and we greatly expand our OAE TOTS series of events for those aged 6 and under, with 6 events thoughout the year. The Night Shift will also continue, with performances being announced later.
Details of all performances are now online on our site, or you can alternatively browse the ‘virtual’ concert diary below.
Concerts can be booked through Southbank Centre online or on 0844 847 9922
Read MoreTop OAE moments of 2009
Wed 27 Jan 2010
With the end of another year just passed, we took the chance to ask members of the office team about their top OAE moments of 2009:
Stephen Carpenter, Chief Executive
“In August and September 2009, as part of the OAE’s year-long homage to Haydn in his bi-centenary year, we visited the composer’s two P(a)laces of Employment: Esterhaza in Hungary and Eisenstadt in Austria. On a swelteringly hot day in Esterhaza we performed an all-Haydn programme in the same room in which most of Haydn’s symphonies were premiered. We had a guided tour of the Esterhazy Palace and saw the room where the Empress Maria-Theresa stayed, and performed “her” symphony (No 48 in C) later the same evening. In the front row of the audience sat Prince Paul Esterhazy, a direct descendant of Haydn’s Patron, Prince Nicholas Esterhazy. A real connection with a golden period in music history. It doesn’t get much better than that!”
Clare Norburn, Development Manager
The Haydn programme with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and especially the ambience in The Night Shift that night – it was electric!
On a personal note: the moment when I opened the envelope to find we had raised £100,000 from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for the development of The Night Shift over 3 years
Natasha Stehr, Marketing and Press Officer
My 2009 highlights: becoming part of our office’s Running Club and actually sticking with it- OAE marathon next year?! We had so many great concerts this year, it’s hard to pick one as my favourite, but if I had to choose it would have to be Marin Alsop and the OAE playing Charles Ives’ Unanswered Question as part of our Deconstructing Mozart event on the 5 Dec…a once in a lifetime moment!
Ceri Jones, Projects Manager
An office one
“the first outing for the Kings Place running club back in April. Little did I know it would be met with so much enthusiasm, and that 8 months later a small clique would still be up and running (not sure what I can say about those that have given up, but at least they showed some initial enthusiasm and perhaps they will be tempted again in the New Year…)
A tour-related but not musical one
Having fun experiencing American mid-west culture and the most extreme cold in my life with the OAE & London Sinfonietta in Minneapolis back in January.
An actual musical one
The Creation before Christmas. Managed to blag a seat in the auditorium rather than marching around backstage, and was blown away by the sheer volume of the orchestra and choir in that ‘let there be light’ bit! It will stay with me for a while…
& Not so top moments
Getting up at 4am to get home from Berlin on Good Friday – way less than 24hrs after leaving London the previous day. Ouch.
The snow day in Feb last year. Sitting at my desk helplessly trying to get an orchestra and choir to the canary islands whilst others in the world were skiving off work ‘unable to get to work and playing in the snow
Megan Russell, Projects Manager
I’m not sure if it my absolute ‘top moment’ artistically speaking, but a very memorable moment was when the […]
New Night Shift podcast
Tue 26 Jan 2010
Our new Night Shift podcast has just been released, ahead of our event at the Roundhouse this Friday. On it we catch up with Marin Alsop backstage after the last event, and also talk to conductor Vladimir Jurowski about this weeks show. We also talk to Marcus Davey, Chief Executive about the Roundhouse and its history. Listen to the podcast here
Tomorrow we’ll be releasing a further podcast tomorrow which focuses on our Beethoven Symphony Series and upcoming Vivaldi concert.
Read MoreNight Shift report: do you cook?
Mon 21 Dec 2009
We had a fantastic Night Shift event back on 5 December with Marin Alsop. Marin was on top form, and led an entertaining tour through Mozart’s Symphony 40, conducting great performances of each movement and engaging in some banter with presenter Alistair Appleton inbetween! Afterwards, despite having had an afternoon rehearsal and 7pm concert, as well as the Night Shift, Marin gamely suggested a post show Q+A which proved to be fascinating. My favourite answer from Marin was when someone asked her about how it was being a female in a male dominated profession. Marin recounted a tale from her first appearance at La Scala in Milan, where she was the first woman ever to conduct . At the Press conference the very first question was ‘So do you cook’?
Anyway, here are a selection of pictures from the evening, all taken by Joe Plommer.
View the complete set of official pics here, or the audience pics (taken on disposable cameras we gave out) here.
Our next Night Shift is at the Roundhouse on 29 January.
William Norris, Marketing Director
Read MoreMarin Alsop backstage at The Night Shift
Tue 15 Dec 2009
After our last Night Shift on 5 December we caught up with conductor Marin Alsop backstage, and asked her how the concert had been and how it was working with the OAE. Listen to the full interview at the next Night Shift podcast, out at the end of January.
The next Night Shift event is at Camden’s Roundhouse on 29 January, when we’ll be performing Beethoven with Vladimir Jurowski. Details
On the performance
On performing with the OAE
Read More