Our first programme delivers Finnish nationalism and a Russian epic. Sibelius’ Finlandia, both rousing and turbulent, is a stark contrast to the Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, a piece of sublime calm and beauty.
Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, was received to great applause at the premier in 1908 and was a huge boost to the composer’s own confidence after the disastrous reception of his first symphony ten years earlier. Also in the programme is Dvorák Slavonic Dance No. 8, a live performance of the orchestra’s second online lockdown project.
An all Brahms night is in store for the January concert.
David Greed swaps baton for violin in a performance of Brahms’ much loved Violin Concerto, which was dedicated to Brahms' friend the violinist Joseph Joachim. According to Joachim it is one of the four great German violin concerti.
Alongside that is the composer’s Symphony No. 2, written the year before the concerto, which brings Tony’s complete cycle of Brahms’ symphonies to a close.
Following the success of our 50th anniversary concert featuring Act I of Wagner’s Die Walküre, in March we present Bartók’s only work for the stage, the one-act opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, sung in English.
This intense psychodrama needs no opera house or set as the orchestra vividly portrays the castle with its grandiose and grizzly secrets. We are extremely fortunate to be able to welcome international artists Yvonne Howard and Henry Waddington.
As a season finale, Blair Sinclair (Principal Trombone, Opera North) plays the unfamiliar but brilliant work by Nino Rota. Possibly better known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti, Rota also composed the music for two of Franco Zeffirelli's Shakespeare films and for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy.
The orchestra completes the programme with Wagner's thrilling Rienzi Overture, the Ravel Pavanne and Act 1 highlights from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet.