Star Wars and Earthly Autumns with the Symphony Orchestra of India
Symphony Orchestra of India. Photo courtesy of Warwick Arts Centre.
Symphony Orchestra of India, Butterworth Hall, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry on Wednesday 29 November 2023.
Conducted by Richard Farnes with soloist Pavel Kolesnikov.
Preview by Ann Cee.
As the global twenty first century space race hots up, the Symphony Orchestra of India, led by Richard Farnes, will immerse us in the space fantasies that had lift off in the nineteen eighties when the Star Wars movie franchise lit up our cinema screens for the first time. Starting with ‘The Imperial March’ by John Williams is likely to transport us into the battle zones where Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader face off in their existential struggles. Come and listen to the Empire strike back before shifting into a different mood with Brahms’ second piano concerto.
The concerto is no less dramatic than the space ships and galaxies far away, it is a colossal undertaking with four movements which transition from serene opening bars into fire and passion before dropping into a dream world and finishing with a certain exuberant joyfulness. The piece embeds us in our autumnal experiences before the evening concludes with the peace and bliss of Wagner’s Parsifal Suite.
A Suite that probably deserves wider performance as it seems to soothe and transform even the most cynical of listeners. Conductor Richard Farnes gained widespread recognition for his understanding of Wagner during his time as Music Director at Opera North and reports suggest his leadership of the Symphony Orchestra of India has resulted in superb previous performance of the Parsifal Suite.
The Symphony Orchestra of India is returning to the UK for a nine-concert tour and will be playing a mix of Western classical works.
Richard Farnes photo@ Jack Liebeck.
This concert has the bonus of offering a pre-performance talk (booked separately) where the audience can pose all those burning musical questions to an orchestra that exists to entrance and to educate.
I can’t wait for this concert which is the second of five concerts in the Warwick Arts Centre’s 2023/24 Orchestral Series.
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