Nathan Berg and Lilli Paasikivi return to the Philharmonia Orchestra on 1 May for a performance of Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible, accompanying a screening of Eisenstein’s epic film. The Royal Festival Hall concert is conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy and also features Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite.

This is one of a number of recent engagements reflecting Berg’s considerable versatility, including noted performances in Les Indes Galantes under Christophe Rousset and Dvořák’s Requiem under Philippe Herreweghe. Earlier this season he sang the title role in Der fliegende Holländer at the Bolshoi Opera.

For Paasikivi, the concert marks her return to the Royal Festival Hall following her performance of Das Lied von der Erde with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder in January last year, when The Guardian​’s Tim Ashley praised her ​“breathtaking mezzo, beautiful in tone and infinitely noble of utterance.”