SIR MARK ELDER

Sir Mark Elder – Tchaikovsky / Strauss

Sir Mark Elder’s first subscription concert is a thrilling journey through late Romantic symphonism. It begins with the prelude to Lohengrin, celestial music that emerges from silence and grows through sublime orchestral combinations towards a deeply moving climax associated with the noble mission of the Knight of the Grail. Tchaikovsky moves between overwhelming grandiosity, intimate confession and folkloric flavour in his famous Piano Concerto No. 1, whose formidable technical demands will be tackled by pianist Pavel Kolesnikov. The second half is devoted to two youthful symphonic poems by Richard Strauss, whose immensely rich orchestral palette will allow the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana’s musicians to shine. The whirlwind that is Don Juan translates the fiery passion of Seville’s legendary seducer into sound. Mischief, ingenuity and dark humour prevail in Till Eulenspiegel, a masterpiece of highly developed theatrical imagination that anticipates the wonders the author would later achieve in opera.