Sat 5 February 2011  7:45pm - The Anvil, Basingstoke

Conductor:   Stephen Scotchmer

Programme:

This concert opens with Ruslan and Ludmilla overture by Glinka. Glinka is widely viewed as the founding father of Russian musical nationalism. The overture comes from his second opera, which was inspired by Pushkin’s poem of the same name.

Borodin’s Nocturne from String Quartet No. 2 was written in Zhitovo, while staying with Borodin’s friend the lesser known composer Nikolai Lodyzhensky. The main theme from the Nocturne also appears in the musical Kismet. 

Tchaikovsky’s 5^th Symphony ranks as one of his best. The consensus view of the scholars is that Tchaikovsky’s view of fate is the motivating force behind the symphony. The structure of the symphony certainly  seems to reflect this, progressing from minor to major, from darkness to light and from melancholy to joy.

It is our pleasure to welcome Joy Lisney, an up-and-coming ’cellist who already commands an admirable reputation, to play Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. The Rococo Variations are the closest thing Tchaikovsky wrote to a full concerto for ’cello. The style of the work is clearly inspired by Mozart, Tchaikovsky’s role model and shows that Tchaikovsky admired the classical style.