Oscar-winning star Cate Blanchett will narrate Beethoven’s “Egmont.” (photo by Renato Campora)

The LA Phil on Aug. 21 announced a major addition to its 2025-26 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett will appear as narrator in four performances of Beethoven’s “Egmont” in February 2026 conducted by the LA Phil’s Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. In a bold reimagining of the work, Blanchett will portray Egmont in a new adaptation, created in collaboration with acclaimed playwright Jeremy O. Harris and featuring soprano Elena Villalón.

Traditionally delivered by a male narrator, the role of Egmont has been reconceived for Blanchett as part of a powerful artistic vision that illuminates themes of resistance, freedom and heroism.

The multidimensional program begins with the world premiere of Ricardo Lorenz’s “Humboldt’s Nature,” a dynamic work inspired by the South American expeditions of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary philosopher and naturalist who was a contemporary of Beethoven. At the center of the evening, pianist Yunchan Lim – winner of the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and a rising global sensation – performs Schumann’s masterful piano concerto.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 S. Grand Ave. For information, visit laphil.com.