Maxim Vengerov plays Tchaikovsky

Programme

Tchaikovsky wrote his Violin Concerto on holiday by Lake Geneva with the young student he hoped would premiere it, and poured equal parts emotion and virtuosity into his fiercely difficult and beautiful score. This afternoon it’s in the hands of exceptional violinist Maxim Vengerov who we are delighted to welcome to the stage.

William Walton’s First Symphony is one of the most enduringly popular works by a British composer, and one of the great symphonies of the twentieth century. Walton first conjures up vast landscapes tinged with the dark undercurrents of the interwar years – and, according to some of his biographers, the anguish of a broken relationship. But the confidence and grandeur fans of Walton’s coronation music or film scores will recognise come to the fore in the thrilling finale.

Due to illness, both Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Lisa Batiashvili have unfortunately withdrawn from this performance. We are very grateful to Maxim Vengerov and Mark Wigglesworth for stepping in at short notice.

The performance of Divertimento by Bacewicz is made possible with funding from the ABO Trust’s Sirens programme, a ten year initiative to support the performance and promotion of music by historical women composers.