After 30 years in the top flight of the world’s violinists, Tasmin Little is retiring as a soloist. One of the most engaging performers you’ll see, she’ll be hugely missed. For her final curtain call she’ll be playing Mozart’s sublimely lyrical Fourth Violin Concerto*, one of four for the instrument that he wrote in 1775, and which signalled a new level of creativity in his writing.
The rest of the programme combines Russian drama with Germanic passion. Borodin’s opera Prince Igor was left incomplete when he died but its lively, free-flowing overture has never lost its appeal. Brahms’s First Symphony may have taken over twenty years to complete, so fearful was he of being unfavourably compared with Beethoven, but its titanic opening, driven by thunderous timpani and thrilling, soaring strings, immediately blows away any doubts. It features an achingly beautiful slow movement and genial allegretto, leading to a magnificent finale featuring one of the most stirring melodies in orchestral music.
* Please note: Tasmin very much regrets that, due to an injury to her finger which has resulted in the cancellations of all performances from December to early February, she has lost a vital two months of preparation for her 2020 performances. This is the first time in her 33 year career that she has ever cancelled concerts due to injury; she has also had to alter some repertoire for her upcoming concerts, therefore in this concert she will play Mozart‘s 4th Violin Concerto and not the Dvorák, as previously advertised. Tasmin is very happy that this concert can still go ahead, albeit with different repertoire, and she thanks the audience for their understanding.
Pre-concert talk, 6.20pm in the auditorium: Tasmin Little in conversation
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