BBC NOW 2026-27 Season Rachmaninov Paganini Variations

Romanticism radiates as Rachmaninov’s spellbinding Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini takes centre stage alongside masterpieces by two of the Romantic era’s greatest musical contemporaries, Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

Doomed love resonated strongly with the master of musical storytelling, and it was with Shakespeare’s ill-fated Romeo and Juliet that Tchaikovsky truly found his voice as a composer. From exquisite beauty to thunderous drama, aching suspense to heady passion and giddy love to riotous conflict, his Fantasy Overture to Romeo & Juliet is one of the most colourful and ingeniously scored overtures in Romantic music.

World renowned pianist Lise de la Salle steps into the spotlight for Rachmaninov’s glittering Paganini Variations – a rhythmically charged, virtuosic showpiece to the core, this highly original and inventive set of variations remains a firm favourite with audience and performer alike - before spring-like freshness and a joyous mood permeate in Brahms’ Second Symphony. Written with staggering speed compared to his first, which took an astonishing 20 years to complete, this masterpiece is one of the most popular of all romantic symphonies... To conduct we’re delighted to welcome BBC NOW debutant Miguel Sepúlveda.