Boléro

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra are at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Thursday 22 October, with conductor Dinis Sousa leading a programme of four French masters. The night is built around the French tradition, with the orchestra taking a trip across the Channel to bring together names that rarely share a single bill.

The evening opens with Thomas Adès' Three Studies from Couperin, a modern take on the Baroque keyboard music of Louis Couperin. From there, the focus shifts to the piano: Georgian pianist Mariam Batsashvili takes the soloist's chair for Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.2, a piece known for its cascading melodies and the dramatic twists and turns she brings to the stage. The second half is a double bill of two of the most recognisable works in the French repertoire: Debussy's impressionistic La Mer and Ravel's Boléro. The notes on the latter recall a legendary moment in Olympic figure skating history, so there's a bit of a story to follow alongside the music.

It's a broad sweep of French music, from the Baroque roots of Couperin to the 20th-century textures of Debussy and Ravel, with Saint-Saëns sitting somewhere in between. Batsashvili is the only soloist of the night, so the piano concerto is the main event of the first half, while the orchestra takes over for the two big orchestral works that close the evening.

The concert starts at 7:30pm at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Hope Street, L1 9BP. Tickets start from £15.