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The Ulster Orchestra's Season Opening Concert

John Toal introduces the opening concert of the Ulster Orchestra's 2023-24 season, with works by Dukas, Prokofiev, Borodin and Ravel.

John Toal introduces the opening concert of the Ulster Orchestra's 2023-24 Season, from the Ulster Hall in Belfast. Magicians, princes, pirates and Greek Gods all find a home in the programme conducted by the Orchestra's Chief Conductor, Daniele Rustioni.

The concert begins with The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Dukas, composed in 1897 and made famous by Mickey Mouse and Disney's Fantasia, The symphonic poem transforms a ballad by Goethe into a musical tale of magic and mischief, with each instrument playing a distinct role. You can hear the marching brooms in the bassoon, the magic spells brought to life by the trumpets and flowing water in the strings.

The celebrated German cellist, Alban Gerhardt, joins the Orchestra for a performance of Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante. The work was written near the end of his life and was prompted by Mstislav Rostropovich, whose playing reawakened Prokofiev's interest in the instrument, It is a re-working of an earlier concerto.

During the interval John Toal will be joined by Daniele Rustioni as he begins his final season as the Ulster Orchestra's Chief Conductor.

More music from popular culture follows the interval, with the most famous part of Borodin's 4-act opera Prince Igor, the Polovtsian Dances. Most notably they appear in the 1953 musical Kismet.

And the concert concludes with Ravel's second concert suite from Daphnis et ChloΓ© - a work which he went to great lengths to get just right. It begins with music depicting the luminous sounds of dawn (Lever du Jour), telling the story of the two adolescent lovers as they reunite after an enforced separation. A Pantomime also features, with the pair dancing in honour of the God Pan and the Suite ends with an increasingly frenzied bacchanale: 'Danse gΓ©nΓ©rale'.

7.30pm
Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

7.45pm
Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante in E minor, Op. 125

8.20pm
Interval

8.40pm
Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor

8.55pm
Ravel: Daphnis et ChloΓ© Suite No. 2

Ulster Orchestra
Alban Gerhardt (cello)
Daniele Rustioni (conductor)

2 hours, 28 minutes

Last on

Wed 27 Sep 2023 19:30
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Recipes

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Music Played

  • Paul Dukas

    The Sorcerer's Apprentice

    Performer: Daniele Rustioni. Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Sinfonia Concertante in E minor, Op.125

    Performer: Daniele Rustioni. Performer: Alban Gerhardt. Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude - Cello Suite No.6 in D Major, BWV.1012

    Performer: Alban Gerhardt.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Italian Concerto BWV.971: III. Presto

    Performer: Federico Colli.
    • Bach: Partita IV / Italian Concerto / Chaconne.
    • Chandos.
    • 10.

  • Karol Szymanowski

    Trois Caprices de Paganini, Op.40 No.1: Andante dolcissimo (after Caprice No.20)

    Performer: Francesca Leonardi. Performer: Francesca Dego.
    • Francesca Dego plays Paganini's Violin.
    • CHANDOS.
    • 20.

  • Daniel MΓΌller‐Schott

    Cadenza

    Performer: Daniel MΓΌller‐Schott.
    • #CelloUnlimited.
    • Orfeo.
    • 1.

  • Alexander Borodin

    Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor

    Performer: Daniele Rustioni. Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Daphnis et ChloΓ© Suite No.2

    Performer: Daniele Rustioni. Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra.

  • David Matthews

    Symphony No.9

    Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Jac van Steen.

Broadcast

  • Wed 27 Sep 2023 19:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3