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Christopher Adey conductor
Emmanuel Despax piano

Shostakovich Festival Overture
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
Sibelius Symphony No. 1

The Festival Overture by Shostakovich begins with a brass fanfare, acting as a dramatic curtain-raiser of the RTWSO’s 89th season. From its breathless opening to the rousing finish, this vibrant piece has plenty of joy. One musicologist, Lebedinsky, said it’s a ‘brilliant effervescent work, with its vivacious energy spilling over like uncorked champagne.’

Tchaikovsky had a natural melodic gift that few have equalled. His Piano Concerto No. 1 is packed full of irresistible tunes which emerge spontaneously from a rich, exuberant orchestral palette to stunning effect. This passionate and deeply lyrical work has become one of his most popular.

Sibelius’s First Symphony is characterised by sweeping, ‘nationalistic’ melodies of enormous determination and cumulative force, sometimes underpinned with long, supportbeam pedal points. His radically Finnish style is pushed to the forefront of this watershed work, together with influences of Russian music. Sibelius denied any programmatic concept to his symphony, although there are suggestions of forests, mountains or snowscapes.

Tickets: £18.50, £15.50, £12.90, £10
Children and Students: £1