Brussels Philharmonic

From towering trees to whispering waters and a bustling fairground: three works that let the orchestra breathe, shimmer, and burst into colour in every imaginable shade.

Joan Tower’s Sequoia opens with raw energy. Like the giant tree it’s named after, the music grows in strength and complexity — a pulsing current of rhythm and sound.

In Camille Pépin’s Les Eaux célestes, the orchestra transforms into light and air. Sparkling, fluid, and full of nuance, her music evokes a world that feels both delicate and radiant.

After the break, Stravinsky’s Petrouchka erupts: a vibrant ballet in four scenes. A fairground, three puppets, a tragic fate — and an orchestra that bubbles, skips, snaps, and sings.

Writing Petrouchka liberated Stravinsky: he found his own voice and self-confidence to deal with harmony and tonality in a radically different way. He mixed folk tunes, popular French chanson and Viennese waltzes in a colourful orchestration, used sharp dissonances and contrasting rhythms, making the orchestra sound like a gigantic accordion one minute and a balalaika the next.

A real tour de force and the creation of the exciting and unprecedented soundscape with which Stravinsky would change the world forever.

Flagey, Brussels Philharmonic