Mozart
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550 28'
Dobrinka Tabakova
Spinning a Yarn 7'
Benedict Mason
Meld c25'
BBC commission: world premiere
Alexandra Wood violin
Stevie Wishart hurdy-gurdy
Chantage
Aurora Orchestra
Nicholas Collon conductor
There will be no interval
Admired by Schumann for its 'Grecian light and grace', Mozart’s evergreen Symphony No. 40 combines rhythmic verve and dance-like elegance, streaked with stormy drama.
For a performance in Vienna, the composer added parts for two clarinets – an instrument at the time still largely absent from the orchestra.
Bulgarian-born Dobrinka Tabakova goes one further in her recent Spinning a Yarn, in which the rustic hurdy-gurdy takes a solo role alongside the violin.
Benedict Mason experiments with much more besides in his BBC commission, Meld – at once an enigma and a spectacle, that confounds what we think of as an orchestra, of a concert, and even of music itself. Prepare to be surprised …!