City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra with Michael Foyle (Violin)

A Valentine’s day-themed concert in mid-February has become something of a tradition with CCSO and 2017 will be no exception, though it should be said that the course of true love does not run smooth in all the works we have chosen. The wild Bacchanal with which the concert opens comes at a point towards the end of Saint-Saëns’s opera where Samson, having been betrayed by Delilah, finds that the only way out of his predicament is to pull down the temple on both of them. The final work in the concert also has a tragic outcome: Francesca da Rimini fell in love with her husband’s brother and as a punishment, the pair were condemned to whirl for ever in a storm in the second circle of Hell, according to Dante. Tchaikovsky’s dramatic, swirling music depicts the lovers’ ecstasy, their subsequent murder by the jealous husband and their everlasting fate. Spartacus and his wife enjoy a happier relationship, though sadly Spartacus does not survive till the end of the work. Khachaturian’s suite from the ballet opens with a beautiful pas de deux for Spartacus and Phrygia, music used in the 1970s as the theme tune for the BBC’s The Onedin Line. Mendelssohn’s violin concerto is one of the most popular and romantic concertos in the repertoire, and we are delighted to welcome Scottish-born Michael Foyle as our soloist. Michael led the National Youth Orchestra in 2009 and has since then won many awards and made solo appearances at prestigious venues including the Purcell Room and Buckingham Palace.