Sibelius' Violin Concerto

‘I need the sound of the trampling of steel-shod boots’, Shostakovich told the first performers of his Ninth Symphony – but this audacious, irreverent mini-masterpiece certainly wasn’t the victory march that the Soviet authorities were expecting at the end of the Second World War. Great music never plays by the rules, and this is a concert full of wonderful surprises – whether a radiant vision of the Northern sunrise by a neglected Finnish genius, or a joyous glimpse of Grieg and his family celebrating a wedding at home. The dynamic American conductor, Tito Muñoz, joins superstar violinist Francesca Dego (described by Bachtrack as ‘utterly flawless’) in a song of fire and ice: Sibelius’ windswept, wildly romantic Violin Concerto.

Pre-concert lecture and talk 6.15pm – with Dr Simon Desbruslais - Lecturer in Music, School of Drama, Music and Screen at the University of Hull.