If you haven’t checked out Classic FM’s Hall of Fame before click here…it’s a comprehensive list of the 2021 results of the world’s biggest poll of classical music tastes. Classic FM Recommended concerts feature pieces from this selection.
Wednesday 20 October: Beethoven with Sunwook (featuring Sunwook Kim)
Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto is an epic tour de force, pitching soloist and orchestra against each other in a musical argument of unprecedented breadth and scale. Born out of an extremely difficult time in Austria’s history, the piece was written when the French invaded in 1809. Despite these events Beethoven managed to finish the Symphony by the end of the year even though circumstances meant the piece could not be premiered until a few years later.
Often described as ahead of its time, the piece has a virtuosic style and wide dynamic range, something that wasn’t developed until the mid-1820s . Listen out for the jewel in the crown of the piece: the beautiful adagio, which is truly hymn-like and serene.
Sunwook Kim has a reputation as one of the finest pianists of his generation, who came to international attention when he won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, aged just 18, becoming the competition’s youngest winner for 40 years. Since then he has appeared as a concert pianist with some of the world’s leading orchestras — he’s also a former BSO Artist-in-Residence! We’re excited to join Sunwook on this epic programme, in what will also be his European conducting debut.
Wednesday 24 November: Mighty Brahms ( featuring Kirill Karabits and Ning Feng)
Brahms’s Violin Concerto is one of the largest and most challenging works in the solo violin repertoire and demands extraordinary skill from the soloist. Internationally recognised violinist Ning Feng takes on this mighty work which is never showy for its own sake and encompasses a tender lyricism, brilliant vigour, and numerous Hungarian folk rhythms that Brahms himself so loved. The concert also features Schumann’s Fourth Symphony, a sinuous and structurally taught work, and a new work Unforged by Carmen Ho, following recent composing successes with the Royal Philharmonic Society and Toru Takemitsu Compositon Award.
Kirill Karabits has been Chief Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for 13 years. Together, we have made many critically acclaimed recordings, performed regularly at the BBC Proms and appeared at London’s Barbican Centre as part of the Beethoven celebrations in the 2019/20 season.
Wednesday 8 December: Northern Highlights (featuring Alpesh Chauhan and Alexandra Dariescu)
A concert of music from some of the Scandinavian greats, the striking, opening gesture of Grieg’s Piano Concerto is perhaps one of the most recognisable in all of classical music. With a beautiful slow movement and full of Grieg’s beloved lyricism, it’s easy to see why this piece has won the hearts of so many. Sibelius’ third symphony was first performed in 1907 and its restraint was deeply out of tune style of the time of overblown romanticism/expressionism. The public were initially underwhelmed by this modest work and yet in hindsight we see that this was a new departure and the first truly ‘Sibelian’ of his symphonies. Interestingly, Sibelius himself conducted the piece in nearby Bournemouth on 17 February 1921!
We’re thrilled to welcome Alpesh Chauhan to conduct this concert. Alpesh is the newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker from the 21/22 season. He is also Associate Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of Birmingham Opera Company. Meanwhile, Alexandra Dariescu is pianist and creator of ‘The Nutcracker and I’ which is an original ground-breaking multimedia performance for piano solo with dance and digital animation, which has since enjoyed international acclaim. She recently performed with Classic FM Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
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