BACHTRACK ★★★★
The human spirit is a remarkable phenomenon. It gives us the power to dig deep into our reserves to find resilience and defiance against unimaginable odds. Witness the extraordinary circumstances behind the first Leningrad performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in 1942.
CLASSICAL SOURCE
What do you programme with Shostakovich’s epic ‘Leningrad’ Symphony? Since it lasts seventy minutes or longer options are limited. However the presence of cohorts of brass made Fanfare for the Common Man a good choice, then add in Mendelssohn’s evergreen Violin Concerto with a popular soloist.
Helen Storey has been playing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for sixteen years as Sub-Principal Bassoon. She has toured with the RPO to destinations as far afield as Korea, the USA and China, but now she has the opportunity to perform in her hometown of Bromley on Friday 31 March, as the Orchestra makes its long-awaited return to the Churchill Theatre. We took the opportunity to ask about her time at the RPO and the thriving musical scene on her doorstep.
CLASSICAL SOURCE
The Overture to Egmont is a tricky number to start unanimously, as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Pinchas Zukerman demonstrated. When settled this nominally dramatic opener hung fire somewhat, rather contemplative if musically observant regarding detail and dynamics (typically); short on theatre as the whole was though, it meant that the triumphant coda became more of a Pyrrhic victory.
