© Kaupo Kikkas

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Alban Gerhardt

Elgar's unparalleled cello concerto
International top orchestras
Sat 25 Nov ’23 20:15 uur


Andrew Manze, conductor
Alban Gerhardt, cello

Programme:
Vaughan-Williams - Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Elgar - Cello Concerto
Vaughan-Williams - Symphony no. 5

Sat 25 Nov ’23
20:15 uur
  • Sat 25 Nov ’23
    20:15 uur
    Main Hall
  • A drink is included in the price

'England's green and pleasant land' ... Just book a ticket. Or rather, just buy a ticket for Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, it's cheaper and it saves you a trip. Today's concert is all about England. The Concertgebouw Orchestra, from Dutch soil and named one of the world's best orchestras by an international poll of critics, turns to its western neighbors overseas. British, too, is its conductor, Andrew Manze.

There will be a free introduction at 7:30 PM, co-sponsored by the Muziekgebouw Eindhoven Friends Association.

To begin with, probably the most played orchestral work of British soil: the Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams. Masterful and inspired by 16th-century Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis. Then Elgar's Cello Concerto, England's most played solo concerto, made famous by the legendary Jacqueline du Pré. Now it is in the hands of Alban Gerhardt: "the calm authority and profound insight he lends to his performances make him one of the best cellists around," according to The Guardian. Finally, once again, Ralph Vaughan-Williams. His Fifth Symphony premiered with great success in 1943. After his fierce and dissonant Fourth, the composer here returns to the distinguished calm of his earlier Pastoral Symphony.