Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns and Dvorák | London Philharmonic Orchestra

After the success in London of his magnificent Seventh Symphony, Dvorák’s English hosts persuaded him to write another. In his Eighth, the composer created a piece that he believed was ‘different from the other symphonies, with individual thoughts worked out in a new way.’ What followed was a rich and unbridled flow of inspiring melody – without the insistent and thrusting debate of the Seventh but certainly lacking none of its charm. A blend of the proud and the playful characterises Camille Saint-Saëns’s Second Cello Concerto, a challenging piece for any cellist but one that is sure to exude effortless grace in the hands of Jamie Walton.