Yeol Eum Son plays Bartók's Third Piano Concerto
Fri 13 Mar 2026
Barbican, London
A monsoon downpour and a cascade of flame: elemental forces are in play as Sakari Oramo and the ѿý Symphony Orchestra continue their season with music inspired by the environment in all its fragility and power. But Stravinsky’s dazzling Firebird suite and Judith Weir’s magical rain-spell aren’t even the half of this gloriously colourful concert.
Because the soloist tonight is Yeol Eum Son – the “astonishing” (The Scotsman) Korean pianist. Tonight, she contrasts Finzi’s very English idyll with the nocturnal rustlings and pulsating rhythms of Bartók’s showstopping Third Concerto: music of thrilling extremes, at the centre of a concert that should light up the sky.