Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Sitkovetsky

Programme:
Tchaikovsky - Suite: Sleeping Beauty
Prokofiev - Violin Concerto No 1
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No 4

An evening of passionate Russian music with outstanding Russian musicians.

The Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra performs music from it's homeland by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev with violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky under conductor Valery Polyansky at Leeds Town Hall on Saturday 10th March.

The concert opens with the magical suite from Tchaikovsky's ballet: The Sleeping Beauty which tells the age-old story of a princess who pricks her finger and is put under a hundred-year spell. Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No 1 is a passionate display of virtuosic violin writing and shows Prokofiev's compositional maturity. The lyrical first and third movements contrast to the aggressive and shifting second movement. The three-movement work is considered one of the finest violin concertos of the twentieth century. To close the concert, we return to the music of Tchaikovsky. Symphony No 4 is a powerful symphonic work that bursts with neurosis and hints at the chance experience of good fortune. Each of the movements have their own character as the music charges through a powerful opening movement, lyrical second movement, a boisterous scherzo and a finale that suggests happiness can only be found outside of oneself.

Alexander Sitkovetsky began his studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School and has since gone on to perform with acclaimed orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. He has performed recitals in Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Chamber music is an important part of Alexander's career as he founded the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio and performs regularly with the Razumovsky Ensemble and the Ensemble RARO.

Conductor Valery Polyansky is recognised today as a leading interpreter of the works of Sergei Rachmaninov and a number of other Russian composers. He was appointed music director in 1992 of the Russian State Symphony Orchestra and he has taken the orchestra to new heights of achievement and artistic integrity. He has performed internationally with outstanding orchestras in Belarus, Iceland, Finland, Taiwan, Turkey, Germany and Holland. He has also conducted operas such as Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky at the Goteborg Musical Theatre in Sweden. Valery has many recordings to his name with leading international recording labels by composers such as Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Scriabin, Bruckner, Prokofiev and many more.