Anvil Arts

Tickets: £16.50, £23, £29.50, £33; under 16s and full time students half price

Wagenaar Overture: Cyrano de Bergerac
Prokofiev Piano Concerto no. 3
Shostakovich Symphony no. 7 (Leningrad)

Simon Trpčeski piano
Jaap van Zweden conductor (pictured)

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra was founded by Albert van Raalte in 1945. In the ensuing years, an impressive list of distinguished conductors have stood at the orchestra's helm including Paul van Kempen, Bernard Haitink, Willem van Otterloo, and Edo de Waart. Jaap van Zweden was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director in September 2005. As one of the flagship orchestras for the Dutch Broadcasting Authority, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic occupies a prominent place in two concert series at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Prokofiev's best-known piano concerto is a highly effective blend of dynamic pianism and swooning melodies. The busy first movement is followed by a set of fantastic variations on a march-like theme, while the finale builds up enormous energy as it drives to its spectacular close. Famously first performed during the bitter Siege of Leningrad, Shostakovich's massive Seventh Symphony was hailed around the world as a morale-boosting masterpiece in wartime, but the composer may have said later "... it's not about Leningrad under siege. It's about the Leningrad that Stalin destroyed and Hitler merely finished off."

"Trpčeski is the real deal. A pianist talent in a thousand." The Times
"I would go to hear van Zweden conduct anything, anywhere." Chicago Sun Times

* Please note: this concert was formerly being given by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra which is no longer touring to Europe in March 2010

www.radiofilharmonischorkest.nl

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