Distant Shores: Mozart, Elgar and Dvořák in Huddersfield

The Orchestra of Opera North will be joined by two outstanding young talents, conductor Ben Gernon and mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge, for the next concert in the Kirklees Concert Season, Distant Shores: a programme of Mozart, Elgar and Dvořák at Huddersfield Town Hall on Sunday 25 February.

Under Gernon, the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the spectacular opening bars of Mozart’s Symphony No.31 promise a thrilling start to the evening. Written and premiered during the 22 year-old composer’s stay in Paris in 1778, the piece was calculated to impress French audiences with its unusually large orchestration, featuring Mozart’s first use of clarinets.

Inspired by the tranquillity of his country retreat near Malvern, Elgar’s Sea Pictures is a song cycle that revolves around the seductive and destructive power of the ocean. Mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge, a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, will sing the five texts by different poets, first performed by the legendary Clara Butt – who dressed as a mermaid for the work’s 1899 premiere.

Kathryn says: “At times the wonder of the sea is indescribable, but Elgar knew so well how to portray it through music that captures our emotions and imagination; that moment when you look out and see the horizon across a vast expanse of water and it takes your breath away.

“The Sea Pictures are an adventure, providing us as onlookers with moments to observe the scene, to hold each other close through all weathers, discover an ethereal calm, reflect upon the mystical qualities of the landscape and to contemplate the power of the crashing waves.

“I’ve had the privilege of sharing some great times with the Orchestra of Opera North in several past productions, and I’m really looking forward to our forthcoming Don Giovanni. It’ll be a total joy to explore Sea Pictures with the Orchestra, Ben and the audience in Huddersfield as we ride the waves together!”

Uncharacteristically cheerful and optimistic, Dvořák’s 8th Symphony closes the concert with reflections of the joy that the composer found at his own country retreat at Vysoká in the summer and autumn of 1889, heard in its "bird call" flute melody, beautiful pastoral themes and rousing folk dances.

The Brass Ensemble of the Orchestra of Opera North show their versatility at the next Lunchtime Concert at Dewsbury Town Hall with a programme ranging from Early Music and Baroque to Principal Trumpet Murray Grieg’s own arrangement of the late Peter Maxwell Davies’ beautiful Farewell to Stromness, on Wednesday 21 February.

Tickets for Distant Shores are priced at £12 – 26 (£4 for ages 17 – 29; only £1 for ages 16 and under).

All seats for Lunchtime Concerts in Huddersfield and Dewsbury are £5.

Tickets for all events in the Kirklees Concert Season can be booked via the Box Office on 01484 225755 and online at kirkleestownhalls.co.uk.

For more information visit https://tickets.kirklees.gov.uk/en-GB/shows/orchestra%20of%20opera%20north%20-%20distant%20shores/info