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Gala Concert - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

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Butterworth Hall

Concert Series 2007-2008

Warwick Arts Centre is delighted to present 10 outstanding classical concerts between October 2007 and May 2008

Rossini - William Tell Overture
Beethoven - Romance
Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending
Gershwin - Rhapsody In Blue
Interval
Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations
Mozart/Verdi/Puccini - Operatic Arias

Conductor: Philip Ellis
Soloists: Peter Donohoe, Lesley Garrett, Tasmin Little, Julian Lloyd-Webber

The Concert Series reaches a climax with a star-studded gala featuring many old friends who return to the Arts Centre with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, making this an extraordinary evening in the company of some of the UK's most talented artists.

Tonight's gala performance assembles a number of our best-loved performers in a programme that includes some of the most popular music in the classical repertoire. Lesley Garrett is on hand to sing operatic arias by Verdi and Mozart, and Tasmin Little joins the orchestra to perform music by Beethoven and Vaughan Williams.

The Lark Ascending for violin and orchestra dates from 1914 and was inspired by a poem by George Meredith. The score carries a quotation from the poem which speaks of the lark:

"ever winging up and up,
Our valley is his golden cup,
And he the wine which overflows
To lift us with him as he goes.

The music begins with a long, improvisatory section for the soloist, in which much of the ensuing thematic material is hinted at. New themes are introduced along the way, with the violin always portraying the movement and song of the lark as it pursues its flight.

Tchaikovsky paid tribute to the attractive elegance of the rococo in his endearing set of variations for cello and orchestra. The theme is irresistible, and the clarity of line in each of the variations enhanced by a deftness of orchestration of which his hero Mozart would have been proud.

George Gershwin made the enormous jump from songwriter to composer of symphonic music in his epoch-making Rhapsody in Blue for piano and orchestra, first performed in a jazz-band version (with the composer himself at the piano) in 1924. In the later version for full orchestra it has become the quintessentially American score, its fusion of New York jazz, Broadway melody and romantic concerto representing a milestone in the history of cross-over music.


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Booking opens Friday 11 May 2007
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This concert is not part of the Subscription Series. Concessions are not available.

Available to book now for Concert Series Subscribers. General Booking opens Monday 13 August.

To book a subscription package please contact the Box Office on 024 7652 4524 or use the form linked to above.