Classical & Opera
11 shows found
John Andrews conductor
ORFF Carmina Burana
Leicester Philharmonic Choir and soloists Gillian Ramm (soprano), Mark Wilde (tenor), Marcus Farnsworth (baritone) and Leicester Cathedral children’s choir
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No 2
Soloist Antonina Suhanova
RUTH MARTIN Richard III
Singing sensation Russell Watson performs an intimate concert of career highlights, including Caruso, O Sole Mio, Il Gladiatore, Nessun Dorma, You Are So Beautiful, Someone to Remember Me and Where My Heart Will Take Me.
Russell will be joined on stage by his live band and choir to celebrate 20 years since his debut album The Voice was released.
This is the new rescheduled date and time from Tuesday 2 March 2021.
All tickets, including pre-booked venue parking, will remain valid for the new date. If you need to contact us to discuss your booking please email dmh-office@leicester.gov.uk
Santtu-Matias Rouvali conductor
Jack Liebeck violin
MENDELSSOHN Overture, The Hebrides
BRUCH Scottish Fantasy
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9: From the New World
Be part of the Philharmonia’s spectacular return to Leicester as they perform Dvořák’s best-loved symphony under the baton of their new Principal Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
Celebrating the start of his tenure as just the sixth Principal Conductor in the Orchestra’s 75-year history, Santtu launches the Philharmonia’s thrilling new Leicester season with their first performance at De Montfort Hall in almost two years.
Joining Santtu, soloist Jack Liebeck takes centre stage in an opening half celebrating the rugged landscapes and Celtic culture of Scotland. In Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, a solemn brass opening gives way to a spellbinding melody for the violin soloist, the first of four beautiful traditional folk songs that underpin the piece. Ranging from effortless virtuosity to tender interplay with the harp, it’s easy to see why almost 150 years after it was written, it remains one of the world’s most popular works for violin.
After the interval we venture across the Atlantic for that timeless masterpiece, Dvořák’s New World Symphony. Blending his trademark Czech style with the Native American music and African-American spirituals Dvořák came to love and admire during his time in the United States, the symphony packs drama, excitement and hope into one unforgettable work. No one could have imagined during lockdown that the pandemic would keep the Philharmonia from its Leicester home for so long – but with the quietly optimistic melody of the Largo in our ears, there could surely be no better way for them to return.
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Philharmonia: Mozart
András Schiff conductor/piano
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 9
MOZART Symphony No. 36, Linz
MOZART Overture, Don Giovanni
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 20
A chance to hear one of the world’s greatest living pianists live in concert as Sir András Schiff performs and conducts an evening of Mozart masterpieces.
Famed for his understated, lyrical virtuosity, Schiff’s performances have been celebrated across the world: "He found song where others find formula; he conveyed song where others play scales", Los Angeles Times. Bookending tonight’s programme, he play-directs two of Mozart’s best-loved piano concertos.
Overflowing with youthful joy, the Ninth Piano Concerto has been described as one of the first masterpieces of the Classical style. Through charming dialogue between the piano and orchestra it unfolds with an exquisite delicacy.
Completing the Philharmonia’s concert, the 20th Piano Concerto is a completely different experience despite being written just seven years later. Dark, turbulent and filled with furious energy it offers a real tour de force for the soloist – though at its heart lies a tender romance in the second movement. But the drama of the storm quickly returns, building the excitement until a glorious, jubilant final melody rounds off the evening.
Framed by the two concertos, Schiff conducts Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, one of the composer’s most enduring works. Showcasing Mozart’s effortless ear for melody, the piece offers us one of the most optimistic pieces of music imaginable. From fanfare-inspired majesty to lyrical strings, it presents a ray of sunshine before we head into winter.
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Philharmonia: New World Symphony
James McVinnie’s work as a performer encompasses music from the 16th century to the present day. He has collaborated with many leading figures in new music including Philip Glass, Tom Jenkinson/Squarepusher, Angelique Kidjo, Nico Muhly, Martin Creed, Richard Reed Parry, Bryce Dessner, Darkstar, Hildur Guanadottir, David Lang, Sarah Davachi many of whom have written large scale works for him.
James McVinnie is a member of Icelandic record label Bedroom Community. Cycles, his debut recording of music written for him by Nico Muhly, was released on this label in 2013 to widespread critical acclaim. An album of music by Philip Glass, The Grid, was released on Orange Mountain Music in 2018.
This season's highlights include the first performances of Philip Glass’s Symphony 12 Lodger with Angekique Kidjo and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under John Adams and in London with the London Contemporary Orchestra at Southbank Centre, a Messiaen recital in Lieu Unique Festival, performances of Nico Muhly's organ concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, an evening-length collaboration with electronic duo Darkstar for the SPCO Liquid Music series, and the release of an album of music written for McVinnie by Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher) on Warp Records. He also appears in recital at Paris Philharmonie and London's Southbank and Barbican Centres.
James McVinnie was Assistant Organist of Westminster Abbey between 2008 and 2011. Prior to this appointment, he held similar positions at St Paul’s Cathedral, St Albans Cathedral, and Clare College, Cambridge where he studied music. His teachers were Sarah Baldock, Thomas Trotter and Hans Fagius. He made his debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall in March 2014, giving one of the six reopening recitals on the refurbished iconic 1954 Harrison & Harrison organ. He made his solo debut in the Salzburg Festival at age 26 performing with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Ivor Bolton.
This is the new rescheduled date from Thursday 13 January 2022.
All tickets, including pre-booked venue parking, will remain valid for the new date. If you need to contact us to discuss your booking please email dmh-office@leicester.gov.uk
John Andrews conductor
Music from some of your favourite films; Gone with the Wind, The Magnificent Seven, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Dam Busters and many more.
An evening of passion, sexual jealousy, death and unforgettable arias.
This dazzling production with orchestra features Bizet’s unforgettable melodies including The Toreador’s Song, Carmen’s enticing Habanera, and Don José’s lyrical Flower Song in a setting evoking the stunning architecture of Seville and its main square with Roman and Moorish influences.
Sung in French with English surtitles.
*Cast subject to change.
"Impassioned and sultry." The Observer
"Hot-blooded, a joy." The Independent
Welcoming back the fabulous Korean soprano Elena Dee and the celebrated international soprano Alyona Kistenyova*.
Back by overwhelming public demand, this award-winning Opera returns in a new production with exquisite sets including a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costumes including antique wedding kimonos from Japan.
One of the world’s most popular operas, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly tells the heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant – with dramatic results.
Highlights include the melodic Humming Chorus, the moving aria One Fine Day and the unforgettable Love Duet.
Sung in Italian with English surtitles.
*Cast subject to change.
"Above all it was a production which captured the raw emotion at the centre of the opera. Don’t take a handkerchief with you, take a box of them." The Independent
Stanislav Kochanovsky conductor
Gil Shaham violin
BORODIN ‘Polovtsian Dances’ from Prince Igor
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 2
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition
Join the Philharmonia for a spring evening celebrating Russia’s timeless classical music tradition in a programme welcoming violinist Gil Shaham to the De Montfort Hall stage.
The American violinist returns to Leicester for the first time in 12 years with one of the most popular concertos in the repertoire. Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto evokes its Russian heritage from the start, with a folk-inspired melody that weaves through the entire piece, capturing the full emotional range of the instrument along the way. From that graceful tune to spellbinding virtuosity, the music finally makes its way to Spain, where the original Russian melody finds itself joined by sprightly castanets for a fiery finale.
Framing the programme, two works filled to the brim with instantly recognisable tunes used across the world in everything from adverts to film soundtracks. Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances form the stunning finale to Act Two of his unfinished opera Prince Igor, bringing to life a roaring celebration of the villainous Khan Konchak. Equally vivid, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition images the listener stepping into the worlds of a series of paintings in a gallery. Led by the stately Promenade theme as we wander past the canvases, each movement evokes a new tableau, from grand castles to adorable baby chicks dancing inside their eggs.
Our evening comes to a close as we head from a journey deep into gloomy catacombs to a devilish witch’s hut on chicken legs, before finally bursting into radiant golden sunshine as we hear the majestic final theme of the Great Gate of Kiev – this concert will leave you humming melodies for days.
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Philharmonia: New World Symphony
Ross Jamie Collins conductor
Randall Goosby violin
NIELSEN Helios Overture
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2
Celebrate the warmth of spring as the Philharmonia closes its Leicester season with the beautiful melodies of Mendelssohn’s life-affirming Violin Concerto paired with Sibelius’s best-loved symphony.
Appearing centre-stage is violinist Randall Goosby, whose meteoric career launched as a protege of violin legend Itzhak Perlman. Having taken the world by storm ever since, he makes his Leicester debut with Mendelssohn’s stunning Violin Concerto. Filled with stormy emotion, unforgettable melodies and electrifying virtuosity, Mendelssohn’s masterly work delights wherever it is performed.
Completing the programme is Sibelius’s Second Symphony. While the first notes came to him during a happy period spent in Italy, the piece is filled with the unmistakeable sound of Sibelius’s Finnish homeland. Lush, flowing melodies in the strings balance against soulful solo moments for each instrument of the woodwind section, evoking green forests and icy landscapes. While the second movement sees a cold, austere walking bass line underpin a melancholy mood, the music gradually builds in energy as it launches into a feverishly intense third movement. But finishing the concert – and the Philharmonia’s entire season in its Leicester residency – a towering brass finale provides a majestic send-off.
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Philharmonia: New World Symphony
John Andrews conductor
Vaughan Williams oboe
Nicholas Daniel concerto
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5