On October 3^rd, 2019, headed by the Music Director and conductor Sir Simon Rattle, the revered London Symphony Orchestra will join hands with pianist Emmanuel Ax to kick off NCPA Pure Classical 2019.

London Symphony Orchestra

Since its inception in 1904, the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) has kept close ties with the conductors Hans Richter, Arthur Nikisch, as well as the outstanding conductors of the 20^th century, such as Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Colin Davis, etc. From 2007 to 2017, conductor Valery Gergiev served as its Artistic Director. In 2017, Sir Simon Rattle, who conducted Berliner Philharmoniker for 15 years, succeeded Gergiev in the post of Artistic Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. 63-year-old Rattle has taken a series of development initiatives, such as the popularization of music, and launch of “Half Six Fix” (one-hour concert at PM6:30). He established LSO East London Academy to offer free training courses for children aged 11-18 with musical talents and pool young music talents for the British classical music market. He initiated the construction of such a new concert hall that is more conducive to music communication.

Sir Simon Rattle

Born in Poland, Emmanuel Ax is one of the pianists with the highest professional levels in the world. He won the gold medal of Rubinstein International Piano Competition and won the Grammy Award seven times. He is sought after by the worldwide top music organizations for cooperation. In the upcoming concert on October 3^rd, Emmanuel Ax will cooperate with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra to perform Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, a work by Brahms. In the second half of this concert, under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, the orchestra will present the most popular Symphony No. 2 in E Minor by Rachmaninoff.