大象传媒

Live from City Halls Glasgow

Presented by Jamie MacDougall

The 大象传媒 Scottish Symphony Orchestra welcomes back long-time collaborator Martyn Brabbins to conduct a concert of darkness and light.

At the core of this evening's programme is James MacMillan's Piano Concerto No. 3. The orchestra is joined by Peter Donohoe to perform 'The Mysteries of Light', the composer re-imagining the rituals of his strongly-held religious faith through the musical structure of this 'quasi-dramatic' meditation.

MacMillan talks about a concept not far from a concerto tone-poem, while the concert opens with Sibelius' orchestral tone-poem rooted in tale-telling: his work En Saga.

And the evening ends with a symphonic testament to a troubled life and a dark-clouded period in Russian history. Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, written by a composer contending with artistic censorship and political oppression, features some of his most strongly characterised music and builds to a grand, if ambiguous, climax.

Sibelius: En Saga
James MacMillan: Piano Concerto No. 3, 'The Mysteries of Light'

8.20 Interval
A specially recorded performance of Janacek's String Quartet No 1 by the Doric String Quartet, given at the City Halls in Glasgow earlier this month.

8.40
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

Peter Donohoe (piano)
大象传媒 Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins (conductor).