On Tour in Vienna
Sir Antonio Pappano and Vilde Frang
Vienna Musikverein
The Concert
Imogen Holst
Persephone
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op 35
Interval
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No 5, Op 47
Sir Antonio Pappano, conductor
Vilde Frang, violin
London Symphony Orchestra
Tickets
General ticket sales begin on 29 January at 9am available from Musikverein.
The Concert
Korngold tugs at the heart in his Hollywood-flavoured concerto, while Shostakovich’s Fifth unleashes big tunes and white-hot intensity.
The Music
By the time Korngold had begun his 1945 Violin Concerto, the Austrian composer had scored the soundtracks for fifteen Hollywood films. You’ll hear that cinematic sheen in his wonderful concerto, from its sweeping opening to the helter-skelter hoe-down of the finale.
In his Fifth Symphony, Shostakovich proved his music could achieve mass appeal, as Stalin demanded. But beneath its brilliant tunes lies a darker, more sardonic work …
The concert begins with Imogen Holst’s Persephone, a beautifully orchestrated depiction of the mythical character, with hints of Debussy and Ravel in the music.
The Performers
Joining the LSO and Sir Antonio Pappano is Norwegian superstar violinist Vilde Frang, who brings a touch of magic to Korngold’s gilded concerto.
It’s a piece that just shines. It’s very filmic, cinematic, and speaks of an era of the 1920s and 1930s, the burgeoning cinema, the talkies, Robin Hood and Errol Flynn … It’s just fantastic.
Sir Antonio Pappano on Korngold’s Violin Concerto
