We are thrilled to welcome back the wonderful violinist Fenella Humphreys as soloist in Prokofiev’s beautiful Second Violin Concerto. This concerto is roughly contemporaneous with his ballet “Romeo and Juliet” and the delicate lyricism appears closely linked to the mood of the ballet. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Overture on Russian Themes from 1880 is a colourful work based on three well-known Russian melodies, familiar to audiences from such famous classical pieces as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. We include another World Premiere performance of a composition from our partners at the University of Kent; this is always an exciting event. Our season ends with Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony, the “Pathetique”, written in 1893 and premiered shortly before the composer’s death. The work’s elegiac mood, culminating in a finale with a tragic intensity that was perhaps unmatched until the works of Mahler, will give us some very moving final few minutes to our 2015-2016 concert season in Chatham.
