BBC SSO 2025/26: Afternoon Performance - Bartók, Shostakovich & Britten

Thursday
16.04.2026
2.00pm

Bartók, shostakovich & britten

Tea & Symphony

Enjoy lunch before the concert!

Join us for a light lunch of soup and sandwiches followed by a selection of cakes, as well as unlimited tea or coffee for just £13.95, from 12.30pm at any of our Afternoon Performance concerts. Symphony Tea is provided by the venue and is served in the Recital Room at City Halls.

Spaces are always in high demand, so please be sure to pre-book a separate ticket for lunch when purchasing your concert tickets at the Box Office.

Click here to book Tea & Symphony tickets. (Concert tickets are purchased separately.)

BRITTEN - Four Sea Interludes from _Peter Grimes_
SHOSTAKOVICH - Suite from 'Hamlet'
_Interval_
BARTÓK - Bluebeard's Castle (one-act opera)

Dorottya Lang mezzo-soprano
GÁBOR BRETZ baritone

ELIM CHAN conductor

“In wars outside the blood runs red / Here is something far more deadly, ladies and gentlemen”. Duke Bluebeard’s castle has seven doors, and his new wife Judith is determined to open them all. But some questions are best left unanswered, and in Bartók’s gripping psychological thriller even the darkest secrets possess a terrible beauty. Today, soprano Dorottya Lang and baritone Gábor Bretz are the heroine and hero of this sinister fairytale - two world-class singers with an unrivalled sense of theatre, supported by guest conductor Elim Chan and all the glittering colours of the full BBC SSO. Add Britten’s storm-swept portrait of the North Sea, and Shostakovich’s delightfully irreverent encounter with Shakespeare, and this is a pulse-raising concert packed with drama.

_Seating for Afternoon Performances is unreserved_