Fidelio Orchestra: Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto – 7pm
This September, the Fidelio Orchestra presents a programme built around a single, haunting idea: what happens to the human spirit — and to music itself — under conditions of imprisonment and coercion. It's a theme that runs through every work on the bill, from Bach's much celebrated Chaconne to Viktor Ullmann's Symphony No. 2, a work by a composer who wrote it while imprisoned in Theresienstadt before he was sent to his death at Auschwitz.
At the emotional centre of the evening is Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 — a piece of soaring, defiant lyricism, brought to life by Australian violinist Catherina Lee, praised by Marin Alsop as a “beautiful musician” and mentored by Janine Jansen. The programme closes with Bach’s Chaconne in D minor, heard here in Joachim Raff’s rich orchestral arrangement, a work often read as a meditation on grief transformed into structure and beauty.
Together, these three pieces ask what it means to create — and to find freedom — inside rigid boundaries. Raffaello Morales conducts the Fidelio Orchestra in what promises to be one of the season’s most moving evenings.
Upcoming Events
Mozart’s Da Ponte Operas: Reinventing the Operatic Voice 11:00 – 13:00
The astounding partnership between Mozart and Da Ponte produced Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte, featuring many of opera's most complex and memorable roles. Experience the music and meet the characters in this enthralling recital series.
28 Oct Sincerity on Trial
Dropped into comic operas with seria voices, Mozart's tenors don't get the straightforward luxury of being either comic or serious — Don Ottavio and Ferrando can be both noble and laughed at in the same breath. This recital explores the gorgeous, soaring music sung by men the drama refuses to let you trust. What happens when Mozart puts his heartfelt heroes on trial? With tenor, Robert Forrest, and pianist, Lucy Colquhoun.
A Taste of Heaven – 6pm
The Holy Trinity Consort presents a French-Swiss celebration - written in secret and hidden in a drawer for forty years, Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir is now treasured as one of the twentieth century's great choral discoveries. After the interval, Fauré's sublime Requiem: music of consolation, from the radiant Pie Jesu to the whispered farewell of In Paradisum. We are delighted to welcome Läderach as our partner for the evening, and premium-ticket holders will enjoy an exclusive tasting of their exquisite Swiss chocolate. Candlelight, chocolate and glorious music - an evening to savour at Holy Trinity.
Mozart’s Da Ponte Operas: Reinventing the Operatic Voice 11:00 – 13:00
The astounding partnership between Mozart and Da Ponte produced Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte, featuring many of opera's most complex and memorable roles. Experience the music and meet the characters in this enthralling recital series.
4 Nov Reason and Desire
Soprano, Ceferina Perry, introduces us to the smartest women in eighteenth-century opera: Susanna outwits everyone; the Countess holds her dignity together with sheer will; Zerlina talks her way out of disaster; and Despina runs the whole con. Mozart and Da Ponte threw out the rulebook for female characters and gave each of them a voice, and a mind, entirely her own. Come and celebrate the women who prove that wit, resilience, and desire is just as operatic as tragedy.