A season-opening programme full of the rhythms, dances and melodies of central and eastern Europe and a visit from one of the world’s great violinists.
Bartók’s flamboyant concerto has been characterised as a love letter to his beloved Hungary before leaving his homeland forever, with folk-tinged melodies and the ebullience of a Gypsy band emerging from the shimmering sonic haze of its opening. The rich-toned and breathtakingly agile playing of Christian Tetzlaff promises pathos and pyrotechnics. In Dvořák’s brooding, impassioned symphony the cross rhythms of Bohemia’s peasant dances are underpinned by a melancholy undertow. An appropriately vigorous Beethoven overture sets the scene.
