Concert

This programme is exciting to a point of craziness. Two iconic works by two Russian masters are set side by side, causing our hair to stand on end.

The original manuscript for Serge Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto was burned before a première could be mounted due to the upheavals of the Bolshevik revolution in 1915. Despite this set-back, Prokofiev went on to write his Third Concerto, then returned to his memory of the second to virtually ‘recompose’ it. He suggested it might be called his ‘Fourth’. Some of the world’s most distinguished pianists have refused to perform it because it is sensationally difficult and virtuosic. Yet there’s method in this madness, and it’s both easy and thrilling to become immersed and involved in such an extraordinary tour de force.

The CCSO welcomes the outstanding pianist, Chiyan Wong, to lead us through this fiery baptism. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony is equally exciting. It defies convention, musical commonsense and many shibboleths of symphonic tradition, to sweep us off our feet into a world of turmoil, drama and uncertainty. What is it all about? Is it a contemptuous hand-signal directed towards Josef Stalin, who had died just prior to the completion of the symphony? Is it a message from Shostakovich to the world beyond the borders of the USSR? Is it a wistful song of regret for the woman he loved but never knew enough? Come to the concert and decide for yourself.

Ticket Information

Admission: £18, £16 (concessions), £8 (students), £5 (under 14)