Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO)

Conductor : Grzegorz Nowak
Violin: Benjamin Baker

Join the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for an evening of outstanding and powerful classics from a host of Russian masters, including Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

You’ll be riveted as Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain swirls forth with the instantly recognisable nightmarish qualities that inspired Walt Disney to include it in Fantasia. Packed full of dark and dramatic themes, this piece contrasts Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnole which is inspired by Spanish folk tunes.

The concert opens with Borodin’s commanding Prince Igor from his Polovstian Dances, followed by Tchaikovsky’s sublime Violin Concerto performed by Benjamin Baker. With its unrelenting energy and use of Russian peasant dance rhythms, this piece is notably one of the most difficult Violin Concertos in the repertoire.

This quintessentially Russian concert draws to a close with Khachaturian’s Spartacus Suite No.2: Adagio that soars and swells with a Hollywood-esque style confidence and Tchaikovsky’s iconic 1812 Overture. The perfect way to spend an autumn’s evening!