Benjamin Mellefont

Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony isn’t just a matter of life and death – it’s more important than that. Written as an answer to Stalin at a time when one wrong note would have landed Shostakovich in the Gulag, it’s one of 20th-century music’s true epics, told in music of raw feeling.

It’ll make a powerful Liverpool debut for one of the UK’s most talked-about young conductors – and a striking contrast to Mozart’s beloved Clarinet Concerto, played by our own Principal Clarinet Benjamin Mellefont. Berlioz’s comedy overture kicks things off with a wink.

Programme:

Berlioz - Overture, Béatrice et Bénédict
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto
Shostakovich - Symphony No.5

Nicholas Collon - conductor
Benjamin Mellefont - clarinet