Vitality

Sheer musical heaven

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto is often called a musical Mount Everest, but its spirit reaches even higher than that – with its celestial opening, sublime stillness and a dancing finale, this is sheer musical heaven. There are musical thrills and spills in Verdi’s overture, from a doom-laden opening to its fiery conclusion, while Coleridge-Taylor’s propulsive Ballade is bursting with youthful confidence. This dazzling concert opens with Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst, a work full of rapidly changing musical colours.