Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra - Wagner, Bruckner 7

Our soloist tonight is a former Clare College Choral Scholar and is tipped by conductor Nicholas Smith as a star of the future. Cressida joins us in a performance of the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde, part of a programme marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Wagner. Let's give her a warm welcome to Huddersfield.

This concert opens with Wagner's overture to the opera The Flying Dutchman, composed in 1841 using Wagner's own libretto. It is based on the legend of a sailor condemned to sail his ship until redeemed by a faithful woman. He is only permitted to try to achieve his salvation once every 7 years. The heroine, Senta, proves her faithfulness by leaping from a cliff top and they rise towards heaven together.

Throughout his life, Bruckner remained a devout Catholic whose faith pervades his music. His Symphony No 7 is closely connected with Wagner, who died whilst Bruckner was working on the Adagio. Wagner had been something of a mentor to Bruckner during the difficult relationship he endured with the Viennese pro-Brahms faction. In tribute, Bruckner introduced a quartet of Wagner tubas into the Adagio and it is said that the coda is a direct response to news of Wagner's death.