Our final concert of the season culminates in Shostakovich’s defiant Fifth Symphony – a piece shaped by a dark political landscape, paranoia and fear following Stalin’s brutal denouncement of the composers’ opera ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtensk’.  In Shostakovich’s Fifth he was, quite literally, writing for his life.  Far from a Party pleasing exercise to the glory of Soviet socialism, as it appears on the surface, it is a genuinely striking document of artistic and creative survival.

In the first half we are delighted to be joined by Michael Foyle to perform Sibelius’ innovative Violin Concerto and a journey into the heart of Finland, along with Benjamin Britten’s glorious showcase, the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

---