Manchester Season: Raphael Wallfisch, cello

Raphael Wallfisch cello | Nicholas Ward leader/director | Northern Chamber Orchestra

Mozart Overture Zauberflöte (Overture: Magic Flute) | Elgar Cello Concerto | Beethoven Symphony No. 5

The Northern Chamber Orchestra’s 50th anniversary season finishes with a suitably celebratory concert at Manchester’s Stoller Hall. It sees NCO President and internationally renowned cellist, Raphael Wallfisch, playing the piece made famous by the great Jacqueline Du Pré, Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

Either side of this contemplative and elegiac masterpiece, are two of the most recognisable pieces in the repertoire; the overture to the Magic Flute, whose energy will bring any audience instantly to life, and Beethoven’s great C minor Symphony, whose opening hammer blows of fate, the opening four notes which are as portentous as they are famous, lead us through what many regard to be the very apogee of western classical music. At the triumphant end of the symphony, the orchestra will be at very much full-strength with trumpets and trombones ensuring that the anniversary season ends in suitably triumphant style.

The Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, Manchester

Sunday 13 May 2018, 3.00pm