Name: BSO: Mad Over Mendelssohn
Start: 2024-11-27T19:30:00
Location: Lighthouse, Poole's Centre for the Arts

Alena Baeva

Chloé van Soeterstède

Lighthouse Poole

There is perhaps no more beloved violin concerto than Mendelssohn’s masterpiece. Journeying from darkness to light, it begins restless, mysterious and questioning, and ends in a blaze of colour, full of joy and exhilaration. The sheer quality of the music and lightness of touch, bursting with unbridled vitality that leaves audiences clamouring for more, makes it a favourite amongst performers and listeners alike. Brahms’ First Symphony, although inspired by those of his hero Beethoven, broke new ground for symphonic form. It is a symbolic journey from darkness to light, the themes developed from a handful of motivic nuggets, all smelted together into a shining edifice, with nothing wasted. A turbulent mood is established at the outset, by turns dark and meltingly warm, often infused with a rueful quality expressing a strain of sadness in his personality never lightened by artistic success. Schumann’s majestic and vivacious Overture, Scherzo & Finale is a joyous work. It opens in dramatic fashion, dark and challenging, until a lively major melody appears, lightening the mood.