London Philharmonic Orchestra: Petrushka and friends

On a spring day in Old Russia, a crowd of fairgoers watches a puppet show. Petrushka loves the Ballerina. The Ballerina prefers the Moor. Tragedy looms, but don’t worry: puppets don’t have hearts … do they? Stravinsky’s Petrushka paints Russian tradition in colours as bright as a piece of folk-art – and as sinister as the new century. Violinist Ray Chen brings all his charisma and wizardry to Prokofiev’s super-sophisticated fairytale of a First Violin Concerto, and Vladimir Jurowski raises the curtain with an affectionate glance backwards: three fantastic miniatures by the man who was originally meant to write The Firebird, Stravinsky’s old teacher Anatoly Liadov.