Hazel Grove Orchestra presents its Summer concert as part of the Hazel Grove Methodist Church Centenary celebrations. The concert starts with the Overture to Mozart's opera Idomeneo. Written in 1780, this is regarded as the twenty-four year old Mozart's first mature opera. The opera is set in ancient Crete. Idomeneo, King of Crete, caught in a storm at sea, vows that he will sacrifice the first living creature he sees to the God Neptune if he is saved. This was not a good idea as the first creature he sets eyes on is his son, Idamante. All ends happily, however, as Neptune takes pity on Idomeneo and spares Idamante. The turbulent sea can be heard in the opening of the overture setting the stage for the dramatic events which follow.
Pachelbel's Canon in D is probably his best known work. It begins with a simple bass line, which is played without variation throughout the piece. The main melody begins as a simple descending scale and becomes progressively more elaborate, played by the first violins, then echoed at an interval of two bars by the second violins, then the third violins. The canon is followed by a lively Gigue.
Entracte No 2 forms part of Schubert's incidental music to Rosamunde, a play by Helmina von Chezy. The play was a failure and has since been lost, but Schubert's charming music has survived; the Overture, the 3 Entractes and Ballet music finding their way to the concert hall repertoire.
Dvorák's Romance was originally composed in 1873 as the slow movement for a string quartet in F minor, which was never performed publicly in the composer's lifetime. Dvorák reworked the two main musical ideas and the Romance for Violin and Orchestra was published in 1879. The first lyrical melody is heard high on the orchestral violins at the very beginning of the piece and is then elaborated by the solo violin, weaving intricate melodic patterns round the orchestral instruments. The second romantic and less elaborate melody is played by the soloist over a running orchestral accompaniment. The music is characteristic of Dvorák's music combining classical forms with Slavonic lyricism.
Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony resulted from his second 'Grand Tour' of Europe at the age of 21 and is a tribute to the vivacity of the Italians. Mendelssohn declared this symphony to be the most cheerful piece of music he had yet composed. The warm Italian sunshine is evident from the outset in the extrovert first movement and continues through to the exuberant final movement - a bouncing Saltarello combined with a running Tarantella, both Italian folk dances.