Firebird

A bubbling melting pot of flavours

Following his triumphant BBC Proms appearance in 2025 and his performance with Coldplay at the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony, Nicholas McCarthy is back at the Phil with an early gem of the left-hand repertoire. Martinů’s Divertimento, commissioned by Otakar Hollmann who suffered a bullet wound to his right-hand during the First World War, is delightful and refreshing, echoing the impressionistic and jazz-infused sounds of Gershwin’s An American in Paris, which was written at the same time. By contrast, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite is lush and full of fairytale imagery and vibrant Russian folk theatre.