Beethoven's piano concertos place the soloist as a direct protagonist to the orchestra – a role he regularly took himself when performing the five he wrote. We welcome Swiss pianist and 2012 Leeds International Piano Competition winner Louis Schwizgebel to interpret Beethoven's 2nd Piano Concerto.

Just back from Italy, Mendelssohn filled his Fourth Symphony with life-affirming Mediterranean sun and spirit. Bedřich Smetana created a powerful expression of Czech national spirit in the set of symphonic poems Má vlast (My Homeland), our opening music, perhaps best known for The Moldau.