The theatre links these three vivid works. Shakespeare was a creative lodestar to Berlioz, encountered first through a Parisian staging of Romeo and Juliet : ‘The raging vendettas, the desperate kisses, the frantic strife of love and death was more than I could bear.’ The result was his masterly choral symphony, excerpts of which are performed here. In Brett Dean’s Dramatis Personae (2013) all roles are taken by peerless trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, for whom it was composed. The trumpet appears as a fallen super-hero and accidental revolutionary in dynamic and often comic interractions with the orchestra. Prokofiev’s Third Symphony grew out of his thwarted opera The Fiery Angel. Inspired by a story of diabolical possession, the symphony plays out the themes of struggle, combat and reflection using vast orchestral forces, brilliantly scored.
±«Óãtv SO Plus Intro
6.00pm Fountain Room
David Nice (music critic, writer and broadcaster) gives a free introduction to the music in tonight’s concert.
