Strausser conducts Shostakovich
Any list of the greatest hits of Italian audience favourite Rossini would not be complete without his overture to William Tell. A pocket-sized opera, this composition is big on drama and passion, with fiery, fast-paced sections right on the heels of more pastoral themes. The famous solo for English horn provides some-much needed calm amid this orchestral storm. The British composer Geoffrey Gordon was also inspired by the melancholic cor anglais. His concerto in three movements expresses the mental struggles of a poet as he contends with his demons. Melancholy and madness are also on the menu in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15. In this, his ultimate farewell to the symphony and life itself, the Russian master’s music symbolises his resistance to artistic oppression.
Programme
Rossini William Tell: Overture
Gordon Mad Song, Concerto for English horn
Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 in A major, opus 141
Performers
Eduardo Strausser
conductor
Dimitri Mestdag
English horn