A tragic love story is perfect for the drama of ballet and opera – if not for the story’s protagonists! Prokofiev’s ballet depicts the most infamous ‘star-cross’d lovers’ of them all, Romeo and Juliet, with music that is a brilliant realisation of Shakespeare’s play and some of Prokofiev’s most memorable and instantly appealing work, while Wagner’s Prelude from Tristan und Isolde is a lushly hypnotic, yearning depiction of two more tragic lovers, this time from Renaissance romance. Pianist Clare Hammond performs Kenneth Hesketh’s Uncoiling the River, a piece which loops round itself, sinuous and labyrinthine, and explores our perception of the passing of time.

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Star-Cross'd Lovers

Ulster Hall

A tragic love story is perfect for the drama of ballet and opera – if not for the story’s protagonists! Prokofiev’s ballet depicts the most infamous ‘star-cross’d lovers’ of them all, Romeo and Juliet, with music that is a brilliant realisation of Shakespeare’s play and some of Prokofiev’s most memorable and instantly appealing work, while Wagner’s Prelude from Tristan und Isolde is a lushly hypnotic, yearning depiction of two more tragic lovers, this time from Renaissance romance.

Ulster Orchestra: Star-Cross'd Lovers

Today’s concert is all about exploration and discovery, both musically and thematically.Peter Graham's Journey to the Centre of the Earth inspired by Jules Verne's novel, captures the adventurous spirit of the "Voyages Extraordinaires." Expect a musical journey full of excitement and imagination as you venture into the depths of the earth.

Royal Welsh College Wind Orchestra: Exploration

Bute Park

It’s been a while since Nottingham’s musical hero, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, last performed in the Royal Concert Hall Nottingham. During that time he’s been wowing audiences in venues across the world, winning numerous awards, performing at the Last Night of the Proms and earning an MBE for his services to British music. For this eagerly-anticipated return to his home city, he joins John Wilson’s all-star Sinfonia of London. Comprising section leaders of many of the UK’s and Europe’s greatest orchestras, it’s rapidly become the hottest ticket in town. Renowned for its expressive flair and knife-edge attack, it’s amassed so many coveted awards with its peerless recordings (including an unprecedented hattrick at the 2024 BBC Music Magazine awards) that its trophy cabinet must be straining under the weight.

Sinfonia of London

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall

Shostakovich’s quietly subversive Cello Concerto No 2 sits at the heart of a concert also showcasing Rachmaninov’s opus-numbered symphonic debut – a work teeming with Russian colour, expansive melodies, and protean energy. First though, we button-up for the London premiere of Kenneth Hesketh’s reworking of music from his opera The Overcoat. 


‘John Wilson is the most exciting British conductor since Simon Rattle’ declares the Sunday Times. And his Sinfonia of London just can’t help picking up awards. Sheku Kanneh-Mason is no stranger to glittering prizes himself. Having won the 2016 BBC Young Musician of the Year with a performance of Shostakovich’s first Cello Concerto, he’s latterly championed its sequel; ‘throwing down ‘a challenging gauntlet that probes ever deeper the composer’s enigmatic and gritty late style’. (The Arts Desk). 

Kenneth Hesketh

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 1, 2026

Brass Band – Nick Hinman, conductor · Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

Past events

Dec 6, 2024

Star-Cross'd Lovers · Ulster Orchestra

Dec 6, 2024

Ulster Orchestra: Star-Cross'd Lovers · Ulster Hall

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