This family-friendly concert, preceded by preparatory workshops, features live illustrations by Dominique Bertail, who gives free rein to his imagination as the orchestra performs Mussorgsky’s famous Pictures at an Exhibition.

Originally written for piano, Pictures at an Exhibition was composed by Mussorgsky in 1874 after visiting a retrospective of the work of painter Viktor Hartmann, a friend, who had recently died. Deeply moved, the composer tried in the space of ten pieces, unified by a famous ‘promenade’ theme, to capture a visitor’s experience between the picturesque scenes. Most represent journeys: France (‘Tuileries’, ‘Limoges’) Italy (‘Il vecchio castello’), Poland (‘Bydlo’) and Ukraine (‘La Grande Porte de Kiev’). Maurice Ravel, master of orchestral colours, later produced the most successful orchestration of the work in 1921. How better to celebrate this beloved music composed in response to visual artworks than with new graphic creation, taking shape in the moment, as it is performed?