BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Studio Concerts Casella’s First Symphony

Conductor Laureate Gianandrea Noseda returns to the BBC Philharmonic to lead a performance of Casella’s Symphony No.1.

The Italian composer’s ebullient work, written at 22, hints at major inspirations throughout – elements of Mahler, Strauss, Bruckner and even Wagner weave through three contrary movements. The gravity of the lower strings in the first movement is hypnotic, at times almost pleasantly oppressive in comparison to the gentler, melodious second; the bold final movement plunges into the adventurous depths of a young composer’s ambition.