Orchestra of Opera North goes West for Kirklees Concert Season

The Orchestra of Opera North makes a breathtaking journey From the Old World to the New for their first concert in the new Kirklees Concert Season, under the baton of acclaimed young conductor Alpesh Chauhan at Huddersfield Town Hall on Thursday 28 September.

They hit the ground running with the rollicking Overture from Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila, a famously demanding orchestral showpiece incorporating heroic folk melodies and unexpected key changes, all executed at breakneck speed.

Two works from Borodin feature more rousing folk motifs. The sweeping In the Steppes of Central Asia depicts a caravan of Asian traders being escorted across the desert by Russian soldiers, with "the peace-loving songs of the conquered and their conquerors joined in harmony", in the composer’s words. The Polovtsian Dances follow, a thrilling highlight of Borodin’s unfinished opera Prince Igor, with exotic melodies on brass and woodwind carried along by irresistible rhythms.

The Largo movement from Dvořák’s glorious New World Symphony may be familiar to many from a certain bread advertisement, but the closing performance of the whole work by Opera North’s world-renowned Orchestra offers a chance to hear it with fresh ears in its original setting. The composer’s nostalgia for his Czech homeland blends with the influence of African American melodies heard during his two-and-a-half year stay in the United States, bridging the folk traditions of east and west within the epic framework of a late-romantic symphony.

Alpesh Chauhan, Principal Conductor of Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini Parma, makes his Opera North debut. At only 27, this former Associate Conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra already has a considerable reputation for injecting new life into big nineteenth century orchestral works, with a dynamic presence on the podium.

He says: "I am very excited to be making my debut with the Orchestra of Opera North opening the new Kirklees Concert Season, at the beginning of my own 2017/18 season.

"Glinka's fast and fleeting Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture will be an energetic start to the programme, followed by a double serving of Borodin. We end the first half with his most famous work: Polovtsian Dances (Nos. 8 & 17). Dvořák's ever-popular ninth symphony is one of the great symphonies from the Romantic canon, and the perfect climax to the concert."

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

For more information visit https://tickets.kirklees.gov.uk/en-GB/shows/orchestra%20of%20opera%20north%20-%20from%20the%20old%20world%20to%20the%20new/info