The Orchestra of Opera North swings into the Jazz Age at Leeds Town Hall on 7 April, with an evening of American music in celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centenary year.
Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska makes her Leeds International Orchestral Season debut with a programme that delights in the vibrant colours and rhythms of the twentieth century. Cherry-picking some of the most exciting moments from West Side Story, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances are full of jazz and Latin flavours and the thrilling, percussive sounds of the deadly rivalry between two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks.
Three decades earlier, George Gershwin achieved a similar triumph with Rhapsody in Blue, which he described as “a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot… of our metropolitan madness” Renowned for her technical mastery and lyrical warmth, 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition winner Sofya Gulyak joins the orchestra as piano soloist to perform this masterpiece.
The orchestra also performs John Adams’ The Chairman Dances, subtitled ‘Foxtrot for Orchestra’, a piece full of big band jazz, romantic film music, nostalgic melodies and minimalism, as well as Rachmaninov’s own Symphonic Dances which closes the concert – one of the few orchestral works to feature a saxophone solo.
The Orchestra of Opera North holds a unique place amongst British orchestras and is the only ensemble in the country to have a year-round dual role in the opera house and concert hall.
Tickets – 0113 376 0318
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