Santtu and Hilary Hahn

Programme

Hilary Hahn is one of the top violinists of our time, with three Grammy awards to her name and a devoted fan base who will travel hundreds of miles to hear her live.  

She joins the Philharmonia for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2. Lyrical, long-breathed melodies fill the first two movements. But the violin’s singing lines are tinged with darkness, and give way to a stumbling dance in the finale. 

Rachmaninov’s brilliant Symphonic Dances are a masterclass in orchestral writing, giving every instrument from the tiny piccolo to the growling contrabassoon the chance to shine. Maybe aware that this would be his last completed work, Rachmaninov quotes passages from his First Symphony, and writes a soulful melody for a relative newcomer to the orchestra, the alto saxophone.   

Stravinsky’s ballet The Fairy’s Kiss was written as a ‘compatriotic homage’ to Tchaikovsky. Melodies from Tchaikovsky’s songs and piano pieces are transformed by Stravinsky’s touch, their sweetness and lyricism given a distinctive twentieth-century twist.