Conductor: Edward Gardner
The Southbank Centre hosts the London Philharmonic Orchestra to bring Béla Bartók’s The Wooden Prince to life in the Royal Festival Hall. The Southbank Centre celebrates a big milestone this year, officially turning 75.
Tonight’s performance is the second part of Phoenix Lands, a celebration of 20th-century Central European Music. On February 4th, the London Philharmonic Orchestra brought to life works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Bohuslav Martinů, Witold Lutosławski and Leoš Janáček. Review here.
Coming off the success from the first night, this second night features more works by Central European Composers. These numerous works centre around Béla Bartók’s The Wooden Prince. This performance also features works by Vítězslava Kaprálová and Karol Szymanowski.
The conductor, Edward Gardner, specifically chose Central European Music due to the composers’ “unique, intoxicating musical languages.” Working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for over two decades, he became principal conductor five years ago. His love for the music shines through the entire evening as he leads the orchestra through four different pieces.
The evening’s pieces focus on themes of Central European folk melodies, dances, and stories. The first work of the evening is Kaprálová’s Rustic Suite, Op.19. Gardner begins the night by discussing the early 20th-century Czech composer’s short life and work, telling the audience to keep in mind her youth and some other key aspects that shape her music. Her work has stood the test of time. The performance opens with a striking start that then goes into a beautiful, yet haunting melody. This sorrowful quality continues until the work transitions into more traditional music. Finally, just before the energetic finale, the audience sits in anticipation as Gardner takes a second, collecting himself as if building energy before indicating the start of the last part of this piece. This execution beautifully wraps up this first performance.
After a roaring applause from the audience, the next work begins: Szymanowski’s Stabat mater. Moving away from Czech to Polish folk influence, the orchestra is accompanied by the London Philharmonic Choir, a soprano (Juliana Grigoryan), a mezzo-soprano (Agnieszka Rehlis), and a bass-baritone (Kostas Smoriginas).
As the orchestra commences with a slow, calming melody, Grigoryan, with the support of the choir, starts to sing. The chilling atmosphere creates an enchantment that falls over the audience before Smoriginas takes centre stage. One with the music, the audience can see and hear how the words easily flow from his lips. This cannot be singularly attributed to Smoriginas, as Gardner moves with his very soul, leading each different part of the orchestra, the choir, and the three performers to give their very best performance. Following the darker melody in the middle of the piece, the woodwind and string instruments slow the pace. The highlight is the duet between Grigoryan and Rehlis that leads into an angelic harmony by the choir. The silence of the orchestra allows the audience to fully take in the beauty of these voices.
Now, in the third piece, there is a shift from Polish back to Czech themes as the orchestra returns with another piece by Kaprálová. Waving farewell for voice and orchestra, Op.14, is considered one of her most noteworthy pieces. This is the shortest piece in tonight’s performance, yet it is a perfect way to capture the audiences and bring them into the interval. The tone is subdued yet enticing. This work is considered her goodbye to Czechoslovakia as she moved to Western Europe, and the feeling of homesickness is easily felt in this piece.
The final piece of the night, and also the titular one, is The Wooden Prince. Moving away from Polish and Czech influences to Hungarian, this piece by Bartók is considered one of his lesser-performed pieces, and is also one of his longer ones. Clocking in at around 50 minutes, Gardner makes the time fly by as he firmly guides the orchestra through the piece. There is a lightness that soon grows heavy as the piece picks up pace. The story follows a prince who falls in love with a princess, and mayhem ensues. Instead of falling for the prince, she falls in love with a Wooden Prince made by the real prince that a fairy brought to life. The music clarity is excellent throughout the performance, allowing the audience to easily craft images of the fairytale in their mind with the assortment of instruments clearly narrating the tale with their melody and tone.
Reviewed on 7 February 2026
The Reviews Hub Star Rating
Central European folk-inspired evening
