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In our week of concerts from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, it's time to hear from the orchestra's Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko joined by the great violinist Hilary Hahn.
The RLPO's current Chief Conductor, Vasily Petrenko opens proceedings with a complete performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, featuring the American soloist Hilary Hahn - pictured. Along with the violin concertos of Bruch and Mendelssohn, this work by Tchaikovsky is one of the most important pieces for the violin in the history of Romantic music. It is also a piece that, like Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, is implicitly linked with the composer's emotional turmoil and sham marriage.
The Andante in C for Flute and Orchestra was written by Mozart in 1778 and commissioned by Ferdinand De Jean as a possible replacement or alternative second movement for the Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major. Supposedly, the commissioner of the concerto, De Jean disliked the original Adagio and had Mozart compose the shorter Andante to replace it; however, it is also speculated the Andante may have been part of the third flute concerto Mozart was commissioned to write for De Jean but never completed.
Vaughan Williams' Three Impressions for Orchestra comes from a recent gem of an album featuring the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel in a selection of rarely heard works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, some of them receiving their first recording. The world premiere recording of Three Impressions for Orchestra features the Solent which, reminiscent of Vaughan Williams' In the Fen Country and also dating from the early 1900s, is a delicate, melancholy tone poem
A vocal interlude follows with legendary bass Willard White joining the RLPO in a live concert performance of the traditional Deep River.
Vítezslav Novák was inspired by Slovak songs and folk tunes that he heard while travelling through Moravia. His Slovak Suite of 1903 consists of five movements depicting the Moravian countryside. The opening movement At Church - a Classic FM favourite - captures the mood of a country church, and makes magnificent use of the organ.
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Violin: Hilary Hahn
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Andante in C major for Flute and Orchestra
Flute: Cormac Henry
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Matthew Coorey
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Three Impressions for Orchestra
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Daniel
Anon: Deep River
Bass: Willard White
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Carl Davis
Viteslav Novak: Slovak Suite
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Libor Pesek