Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO)

Wagner Prelude to Die Meistersinger
Bruch Violin Concerto No.1
interval
Rachmaniov Symphony No.2

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has been called “the nation’s favourite orchestra” and this concert is certainly filled with favourites! Wagner’s majestic Prelude to Die Meistersinger raises the curtain on a whole world of sunshine, melody and romance – so it’s a fitting opener for Bruch’s perennially-popular First Violin Concerto. From twilit opening to the gypsy passion of its exuberant finale, Bruch could have written it for the gleaming sound and effortless charm of Tasmin Little – a national treasure who’s conquered the world.

And then conductor Christoph König sweeps us off to the endless Russian landscape of Rachmaninoff’s mighty Second Symphony. Opulent, inmpassioned, swept by thunderous winter storms and filled to bursting with the kind of long, blissful tunes that only Rachmaninoff could write, this might just be the ultimate Russian romantic symphony.

Every performance is an adventure, and it’s the perfect climax to a concert with a big heart.