'Absolute classics' coming up as Harrogate Symphony Orchestra gets set to return with its winter programme

The first half of the concert at 7.30pm on Saturday, November 16 will see the HSO under Conductor Bryan Western and Leader Katharine Shepherd open with Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, which boasts one of the most recognisable openings in all of classical music.

The piano soloist will be Harry Fox, who last performed with the orchestra in 2019, wowing the audience with Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto no.5.

Next comes the overture to The Mastersingers, with its big tunes and ceremonial feel the only comedy among Wagner’s operas.

First performed in 1868, its overture will act as a substantial prelude to the remainder of the programme.

The ‘meat’ of the concert comes in the second half with Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, the “Eroica” which is considered to be one of the most significant turning points in musical history, marking the transition from “classical” to “romantic” composing.

The work is double the length of most of the classical symphonies of Mozart and Haydn and offers a much greater range of emotion, typified by the funereal 2nd movement.

The prominent use of a trio of horns in the 3rd movement was unheard of at the time and the finale is an outpouring of sheer energy.

Leonard Bernstein once described the first two movements as "perhaps the greatest two movements in all symphonic music"

Tickets are available from: https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/events/hso-winter-concert-2024/#book

Or visit: https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/events/hso-winter-concert-2024/