The London Mozart Players return to Fairfield Halls in February 2022 with star soloist Sheku Kanneh-Mason presenting a ‘Fresh Take’ on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 2.
Enriching for classical music novices and aficionados alike, London Mozart Players' ‘Fresh Takes’ is a brand new concert series which includes an engaging introduction by the players, conductor and soloist at the start of the concert. With the composer’s backgrounds and influences shared, musical excerpts illustrated by the orchestra, and with manuscripts, portraits and more projected on an overhead screen, this unique presentation will enhance the appreciation and the emotional impact of the work’s performance.
In this first ‘Fresh Takes’ concert, superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs one of the repertoire’s most challenging works, Shostakovich’s second cello concerto. Interweaving brooding melodies with animated themes, and featuring a virtuosic cadenza, it’s a dramatic work that makes demands on soloist, conductor and orchestra. Sheku will share his own insights into the challenges of this work on stage with conductor Jonathan Bloxham ahead of a full performance. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear a rarely performed work, played by one of the UK’s finest musicians.
Art becomes music, becomes art. Mussorgsky’s iconic suite of ten short movements Pictures at an Exhibition, inspired by a posthumous exhibition of paintings by his friend Viktor Hartmann, is an evergreen favourite. Acclaimed artist James Mayhew will be on hand to paint along to the music, with his artwork inspired by Mussorgsky’s dramatic melodies projected on the overhead screens in Fairfield’s iconic concert hall.
This all Russian programme will open with Glinka’s exuberant overture to his opera Ruslan and Lyudmila.