Out of silence comes a quiet hymn. Suddenly the sun breaks through, the birds sing – and to a dancing rhythm and a flurry of drums, Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony is on its way. Sounds fun? This is music with a huge heart and a limitless supply of melodies, but it’s brimming over with poetry too. The BBC SSO’s Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth will savour every moment of this most life-affirming of Romantic symphonies.
The evening opens with an exciting new commission from a young British composer of Czech heritage, and Mozart’s poetic final piano concerto, played by Imogen Cooper – a pianist for whom Mozart’s music has been a lifelong love story. “He has a special place in my heart”, she says, and when she plays, you can tell.
***Did you know?***
Commissioning the most original voices of our time has always been central to the BBC SSO. Philip Dutton, a former Royal Philharmonic Society Young Composer, finds inspiration in Janáček, Lutosławski and Messiaen: “My music aims to express my love of storytelling and curiosity in a vivid and direct way.”
