大象传媒

Presented by Martin Handley.

Ilan Volkov returns to the 大象传媒 Scottish Symhony Orchestra in his new role as pincipal guest conductor.

The concert opens with Strauss' tone poem on the amorous adventures of the anti-hero Don Juan. Leading Austrian pianist Stefan Vladar plays Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 4, arguably the most genial of the five piano concertos.

There is a celebration of the 75th birthday year of Peter Maxwell Davies, as the orchestra perform his newly commissioned work - the St Francis of Assisi overture. Maxwell Davies had ideas to write an opera on the subject of St Francis of Assisi in the mid 1980s, and was recently inspired to take up the theme again in this concert overture following visits to Italy and rereading St Francis' own writings. The programme concludes with Sibelius' final, single-movement Symphony No 7.

Stefan Vladar (piano)
大象传媒 Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Ilan Volkov (conductor)

Strauss: Don Juan
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 4
Maxwell Davies: Overture - St Francis of Assisi (大象传媒 Commission - world premiere)
Sibelius: Symphony No 7

Followed by highlights from the final of The Voice of Black Opera, a new vocal competition for professional black and Asian singers, held at the Great Hall of the University of Birmingham.

Philip Herbert: To seasons of promise
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
James Lowe, conductor

Nadine Mortimer-Smith - winner of the Brixtonian Award for Most Promising Voice
Cilea: Io son l'umile ancella from Adriana Lecouvreur
Spiritual: Why?

Elizabeth Llewellyn: Winner of the Voice of Black Opera 2009
Mozart: Porgi amor from Marriage of Figaro
Handel: Morrai, si from Rodelinda

Both singers were accompanied by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by James Lowe, and by Nigel Foster at the piano.

Followed by music from orchestras of the former East Germany, as we lead up to Monday's special concert, live from Berlin on Performance on 3 to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Beethoven: Coriolan
Leipzig Gewandhaus
conductor Kurt Masur
PHILIPS 426 630 2

Strauss: Ruhe, meine Seele, Op.27 no.1
Soile Isokoski (soprano)
Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin
conductor Marek Janowski
ONDINE ODE 982 2

Show less