THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Pick a theme... and name your seven favourite examples

- Hannah Nepilova

Conductor Anja Bihlmaier selects works that have at their heart a burning desire for political freedom

German conductor Anja Bihlmaier studied at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and later at the Mozarteum Salzburg, before holding posts at Staatsoper Hannover and Staatstheater Kassel. Since then, she has conducted ensembles ranging from the Bergen Philharmonic to the Seattle Symphony, and in September 2024 she became the BBC Philharmonic’s principal guest conductor. On 22 July, she leads the BBC Philharmonic in Berlioz, Strauss and Mark Simpson at the BBC Proms, and will make her LSO debut in March 2026.

Bernd Alois Zimmermann

Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu

This crazy ballet – constructed as a patchwork of quotes from the music of other composers – is about a ruthless dictator determined to eliminate all art. It opens with a banquet to which he has invited famous poets and composers who, in the final movement, each plunge to their deaths through a trapdoor. The piece serves as a warning: without art, we lose democracy; culture is a necessity, essential to a healthy society. The piece is also laced with sarcastic, black humour, which I think will resonate with an English audience.

Robert Schumann

Symphony No. 2 - Adagio espressivo