Sir Mark Elder, Julian Bliss

Sir Mark conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, a work beloved of audiences around the globe. Like the same composer’s Fourth Symphony it features a recurrent fate motif and is a passage from despondency to joy.

The symphony contains a heart-rending slow movement, a charming waltz and a truly pot-boiling finale. Though still relatively young, clarinettist Julian Bliss has been described as ‘a consummate master of his instrument’.

Weber’s Second Concerto is the perfect vehicle to convey the wit, pose and vivacity of his playing. The inspiration for Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro was a folk tune he heard when on holiday in Wales. Elgar’s deep understanding of the string orchestra is evident throughout this wonderful work.