BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ season at Brangwyn Hall, Swansea continues with the penultimate concert on Saturday 24 April at 7.30p.m., with music by Elgar, Wagner and Rachmaninov. The Orchestra will be conducted by the Orchestra’s Conductor Laureate Tadaaki Otaka CBE.
The Orchestra will perform three romantic classics; Elgar’s Wand of Youth, Suite No 2, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 3.
In the gently nostalgic Second Wand of Youth Suite, Elgar clothed the music of his boyhood in the glowing colours of the full symphony orchestra. Rachmaninov’s last symphony is suffused with mellow autumn tints, wistful passion and crowned with a glittering finale full of bravura.
Wagner’s great love songs, written for Matilda Wesendonck, who inspired the opera Tristun and Isolde will be sung in Swansea by mezzo soprano Susan Bickley, replacing Emma Bell as soloist for this concert.
Susan Bickley is firmly established as one of the most accomplished mezzo sopranos of her generation, with a wide repertory encompassing the Baroque, the great 19th and 20th Century dramatic roles and the music of today.
This BBC National Orchestra of Wales season in Swansea continues until June with a special emphasis on music from Russia.
The final concert in the series is on 19 June when Pianist Nikolai Demidenko will join conductor Matthias Bamert in a concert featuring Rossini’s Overture, The Thieving Magpie, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 4 and Prokofiev’s Suite, Romeo and Juliet.
All concerts in the Swansea are being recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Further information is available at bbc.co.uk/now
Booking Information:
Tickets for BBC National Orchestra of Wales Swansea concerts are available from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line on 0800 052 1812. Ticket Prices: £11.50 to £14.50 with discounts available for students, disabled patrons plus one companion, claimants, MAX card holders and over 60s and groups. Family tickets are also available for £16.50 (for 2 adults and 1-4 children) and £11 (for 1 adult and 1-2 children).
