Details

Our final concert of the season has more than a touch of magic about it. Rimsky-Korsakov’s overture to his opera May Night is as light and airy as the comical Gogol story that inspired it whilst Sibelius’s Symphonic poem, Pohjola's Daughter, captures the mischievous spirit of the mythical ‘daughter of the North’. Stravinsky’s 1945 suite from his career-making ballet, The Firebird, is a bravura display of colour, the fairytale characters leaping from the orchestra. Not directly inspired by magic, but no less enchanting is Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Sofya Gulyak, winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2009, is the soloist in this ingenious set of 24 variations which moves effortlessly across contrasting moods and, waxing lyrical in the unforgettable 18th Variation, delivers one of the 20th century’s most enduring melodies. The Halle website.

Cast/Performers

Sofya Gulyak

Creatives/Company

Company: The Halle Orchestra
Conductor: Rory Macdonald