Elgar's Cello Concerto

The evening

Nostalgia, tributes to a homeland – and the resilience of the human spirit.

This is a deeply affecting programme, evoking loss, yearning, and a profound struggle with darkness. Weinberg’s Rhapsody is a tribute to his father’s country of birth, its folk songs ranging from solemn songs to vibrant dances. Elgar’s autumnal, haunting Cello Concerto was composed in the shattered aftermath of World War I, and could easily be an elegy for a lost world. Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10 is, for the most part, a howl of anguish – or possibly a cathartic release after the death of Stalin. Yet the final blast is a moment of spectacular triumph.