The Full Works Concert: Monday 9 March 2015, 8pm

Tonight's Great Orchestra of the World is one of the oldest - the Staatskapelle Dresden, featuring the conductor Sir Colin Davis.

March is Great Orchestras of the World month here on the Classic FM's Full Works Concerts. 

Tonight, Jane Jones features recordings from one of the oldest existing orchestras, Staatskapelle Dresden, founded in 1548.

Over the centuries the orchestra has had many eminent chief conductors, notably Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner. In the 20th century, Richard Strauss became closely associated with the orchestra as both conductor and composer, which premiered several of his works.

In 1990, the Staatskapelle elected Sir Colin Davis as its first - and so far only - 'conductor laureate', a position that he held until his death in 2013. Tonight we hear Sir Colin conducting the ensemble in the overture to Mozart's Don Giovanni, and Beethoven's Fourth Symphony.

We also hear Hans Vonk – principal conductor of the orchestra from 1985 to 1990 – in a performance of Weber's Clarinet Concerto No.1 with Sabine Meyer as the soloist.
 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni – Overture
Colin Davis conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden 

Antonin Dvorak: Symphony No.9 in E minor, ‘From the New World’
James Levine conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden

Carl Maria von Weber: Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F minor
Clarinet: Sabine Meyer
Hans Vonk Conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.4 in B-flat major
Colin Davis conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden