Concert

Viv McLean makes a welcome return as soloist in Rachmaninov’s powerful and romantic Piano Concerto No. 2. Written as the composer emerged from a three year writer’s block, it has enjoyed enduring popularity ever since. It took Brahms a mere four months to compose his Symphony No. 2 during a summer holiday by an Austrian lake.  Its sunny and lyrical character has earned it the title ‘Pastoral’. Louise Farrenc was Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire from the 1840s and is now regaining the notice she deserves.  Her dramatic and colourful concert Overture No. 2 is in operatic style. [...]