Tamsin Little. Photograph by Paul Mitchell
Well-loved British violinist Tasmin Little will give her 1400th professional performance in Cardiff on 15 November, as she takes to the stage with BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
A popular figure in the world of classical music, she has performed with some of the world’s best orchestras, in a glittering career which started with her first professional performance in her early twenties. Tasmin returns to Cardiff on Friday 15 November, performing with BBC National Orchestra of Wales at Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.
As she prepares to play Szymanowski’s Second Violin Concerto at this concert, she looks forward to celebrating her latest milestone in Cardiff: “It is a great pleasure to mark the occasion of my 1,400th professional performance with a concert playing the magnificent Szymanowski Violin Concerto No 2 with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
“I have been working with the Orchestra for many years and it is always a pleasure to make music with such fine musicians, as well as to perform for the warm and knowledgeable Cardiff audience. One of my very first professional concerts took place at St David’s Hall and the Hall has remained one of my firm favourites ever since!”
A Polish composer working at the beginning of the 20th century, Szymanowski was influenced by Wagner, Richard Strauss and Debussy amongst others. The rhythmic and passionate Violin Concerto No 2 takes many influences from the Polish folk music surrounding Szymanowski during the last years of his career.
On 15 November the Orchestra, conducted by Olari Elts, will also perform Brahms’ Symphony No 1. Brahms was painfully aware of being in the huge shadow of fellow German composer Beethoven, and his First Symphony is certainly full of the drama and excitement that much of Beethoven’s work was – to the extent that this symphony is often referred to as “Beethoven’s Tenth”.
BBC NOW returns to St David’s Hall later in November, on Thursday 28 November, where the Orchestra is joined by Nelson Goerner for a performance of Prokofiev’s charming and melodic Piano Concerto No 3. The conductor for the evening, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, will also lead the Orchestra in Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 2 – where the composer pours his most personal feelings into what has become one of his most dearly-loved works.
Lesley Hatfield, the Orchestra’s Leader, is particularly looking forward to this symphony – “Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony is fun for everybody to play. It has wonderful writing right across the orchestra – it’s so colourful, and so full of energy and thrilling themes, and just great tunes!”
The Orchestra’s concerts at St David’s Hall, on Friday 15 November and Thursday 28 November, both start at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced at £10-£29 (discounts available) and are available through the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line, by calling 0800 052 1812.
Alternatively, tickets are available through the St David’s Hall Box Office on 029 2087 8444, or online at stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk. Please note that the St David’s Hall online booking service carries an additional booking charge of £1.75 per transaction.
For more information about the Orchestra, visit their website at bbc.co.uk/now.
