Unfortunately, the originally advertised conductor, Alondra de la Parra, is unable to conduct this concert for personal reasons, but we are very happy and grateful that Kevin John Edusei is able to step in at short notice. The programme remains unchanged.
Till Eulenspiegel is a prankster, a rogue; and there isn’t a sacred cow that he won’t gleefully slaughter. The authorities don’t like that: but Richard Strauss is firmly on Till’s side, and his musical portrait of this medieval German joker is quite simply one of the funniest, fastest and most delightfully irreverent romps ever conceived for a symphony orchestra. No-one really knows why Schubert never got around to finishing his Eighth Symphony, but by some miracle, it’s absolutely perfect as it is – an unforgettably melodious self-portrait of a young artist facing a tragic destiny. Keyboard poet Pavel Kolesnikov takes the place of Mozart himself, in a piano concerto that bubbles over with humour and warmth. And, to open… a short work from Mexico: the spirited ‘Danzón’ with which Artúro Marquez did for mariachi music what Schubert did for Viennese folkdance.
Prelude: 6.45pm in the Recital Room (free to ticket-holders, subject to seating availability): Pianist Pavel Kolesnikov in conversation with ±«Óãtv SSO violinist Alex Gascoine.
The concert will be recorded for future broadcast on ±«Óãtv Radio 3.