Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Ravel

The evening

The stars have very literally aligned as two luminaries renowned for their exhilarating performances, Nottingham’s very own pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Music Director Vasily Petrenko, join forces at the Royal Concert Hall. Tchaikovsky’s vivid orchestral palettes evoke doomed love in his illustration of Francesca da Rimini in Dante’s Inferno. If you love Tchaikovsky’s passionate, ravishing writing (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?) then this is a must-hear; his hellish textures are chilling, the fiendish tarantella is captivating, and Francesca’s love theme is one of Tchaikovsky’s most gorgeous melodies. Sensitivity is fundamental to Mozart’s final Piano Concerto, a niche in his repertoire that glimpses into his last few exhausting and tragic months. Mature, simple and elegant, it’s only in the final Rondo that his familiar playfulness subtly enters, gently shifting melancholy into nostalgic optimism. As Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite opened the Royal Concert Hall’s season, it’s fitting that another derivation of a Ballet Russes commission should close their penultimate concert. Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suites vividly represent the adventurous tales of an ancient Greek romance with music as wondrous and scintillating as its mythical inspiration. His masterful use of instruments paints 12 characterful scenes, including a furious war dance, a glorious sunrise and a jubilant bacchanale. If Daphnis et Chloé had premiered before The Firebird, Stravinsky’s limelight would have undoubtedly been Ravel’s.