Young virtuoso makes Orchestra of Opera North debut

Award-winning Mexican-American violinist Elena Urioste will make her debut with the Orchestra of Opera North at Huddersfield Town Hall on 30 November.

The next orchestral concert in the Kirklees Concert Season, Exotic Homelands gathers a colourful selection of works by Britten, Mozart and Elgar which share a common thread of stylistic experimentation – sometimes playful, sometimes audacious.

Scottish conductor Garry Walker returns to the Orchestra of Opera North following critical acclaim at the helm of the Company’s Billy Budd last autumn, and the first ever performance of the opera at Aldeburgh, the home of Benjamin Britten, this summer. The evening will open with the wit and rhythm of Britten’s Soirées musicales, five sparkling orchestrations of Rossini, each named after a traditional dance.

Elena, a former BBC New Generation Artist, will join the Orchestra for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, a tour de force for the soloist, and a stunning showcase for the composer’s mastery of an incredible variety of musical styles by the age of just 19. Full of unexpected changes and challenges to convention, it takes its nickname – the “Turkish” – from the thrilling final movement, which shifts to a minor mode and features cellos and basses playing coll’ arco al roverscio, (“with the wood of the bow”) to produce percussive sound.

“Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 has always been one of my very favourite pieces to play", says Elena. "Perhaps because this music is so unabashedly lyrical, warm, and – dare I say – romantic (at least within the confines of a classical framework), I have always felt a real connection to this work despite the majority of my concerto preferences dating from a much later period.

“I can't imagine that Mozart would have minded the soloist pouring his or her heart and soul into this work: the music is so filled with light and lyricism, the harmonies so lush and forward-looking, and the switches in mood so mercurial that it's impossible not to throw caution to the wind and play this music with complete abandon.”

To close, Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 in A flat is an iconic work in the symphonic repertoire, and features yet more surprises. Following a glorious opening with one of Elgar’s “big tunes”, the abrupt switch in tempo and key, from A flat to D minor, has been the subject of much speculation: was it intended to represent the two sides of the composer’s personality, the celebrated public figure versus the highly-strung private self, or was it a rebellion against received wisdom? The great conductor Sir Adrian Boult suggested that it was because someone bet Elgar that he could not write a symphony in two keys at once.

In the words of the composer himself, the symphony has “no programme beyond a wide experience of human life with a great charity (love) and a massive hope in the future”, and it lives up to his billing with moments of spine-tingling majesty.

Elena Urioste joins the Orchestra of Opera North for Exotic Homelands at Huddersfield Town Hall on Thursday 30 November. The concert starts at 7.30pm, with a free Talking Music event at 6.40pm.

Tickets are priced from £12 - £26, or just £4 for ages 17 – 29, and £1 for ages 16 and under.

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