This is the first time that the Orchestra will be performing at the Koningin Elisabethzaal in Antwerp, which is renowned for its acoustics, and in Lille, in the Auditorium Le Nouveau Siècle.

The evening concert presents two epic works sadly misunderstood at their premieres. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B minor was rejected by its dedicatee, who considered it fit for the rubbish, but it quickly became a mainstay of the concert & competition repertoire around the world. A glamorous and captivating piano personality, Khatia Buniatishvili will undoubtedly give a much-needed personal touch to this famous work.

We know the anecdote: disappointed by Bonaparte who became Napoleon I, Beethoven tore up the dedication in his honour. From then on, his Eroica Symphony celebrated the greatness of a hypothetical great man while opening the great double doors to Romanticism in music. But how hard it is to be understood as a pioneer! The work was initially deemed to be dull, endless and disjointed...