BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus 2026-27 Barbican Season Sakari Oramo conducts Berlioz's 'Symphonie fantastique'

“Convinced that his love is spurned, the artist poisons himself with opium…” Berlioz’s 'Symphonie fantastique' is the sonic head-trip to end them all: a high-romantic shape shifting spectacle for unprecedented musical forces. It’s perfect for a conductor and orchestra with the special rapport of Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

But that’s just the half of it, in a concert that begins with the suite that Berg created from his unfinished (and dangerously erotic) opera 'Lulu'. “I have never wished to seem any different from what they call me”, sings Berg’s deadly heroine, and Anu Komsi brings her to life tonight. Silken harmonies, sensual climaxes, musical witchcraft. You might want to hold on to your seats…