Born in Paris to an artistic family, Louise Farrenc was precociously musically talented, both as a pianist and a composer. Married at 17, she toured Europe as accompanist to her flautist husband, but they ultimately settled back in Paris, where Louise established a career as a pianist and professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Her Overture no. 2 in Eb (1834) is a lively and tuneful work in the operatic style of the time.
We welcome Mabelle Park to perform Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto (1939), surely one of the most captivating of 20th-century violin concertos. The path to the concerto’s premiere was beset by delays, difficulties, and temperamental soloists; Barber had only finished two movements by the original deadline. These are beautifully lyrical and romantic, without sounding old-fashioned, but the intended soloist thought that the violin part wasn’t sensational enough. Barber’s response was to write a four-minute finale of dazzling difficulty.
The title of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, the Pathetique, should be interpreted as meaning ‘passionate’ or ‘heartfelt’, rather than ‘pathetic’ as we understand it. Completed in 1893, it was premiered in St Petersburg that October; Tchaikovsky died nine days later. He knew it was a winner, having written to his brother, ‘I believe it comes into being as the best of my works’. Not a bad note to end on.
more about City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra
The City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra started life in 1973 as the Harston String Orchestra. Later, as a result of a change in venue, it became the Barton String Orchestra. In 2000 Leon Lovett took over as conductor and shortly afterwards, the orchestra changed its name to the Cambridge String Players. Under his baton, the orchestra has appeared regularly in West Road Concert Hall and in other venues around Cambridge. In addition to playing works for strings, the orchestra increasingly invited wind players to join it to perform works from the symphonic repertoire. Recognising this change of emphasis, the musicians decided that the orchestra needed a new name and in September 2008, it became the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. In February 2012 Robert Hodge became CCSO’s new conductor.