Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony

Skoryk Elegie
Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, ‘Scottish’

Vadym Kholodenko piano
Hobart Earle conductor

Nobody inspired Robert Schumann more than his wife, Clara, a bright, creative spirit and pianist of huge sensitivity. Clara continually pushed her husband to write on larger scales but what she really wanted from him was a full concerto. After initial hesitance, Robert delivered a piece in which ‘the piano is interwoven with the orchestra in the most delicate way – one can’t imagine the one without the other’ (in Clara’s words). It was a picture of their love. The ‘truly outstanding’ (Gramophone) pianist Vadym Kholodenko performs Schumann’s concerto, under the baton of Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra’s conductor Hobart Earle, between the most bracing symphony by Schumann’s close friend Mendelssohn and fellow-Ukrainian Myroslav Skoryk’s ever-poignant Elegie.

Pre-concert talk by Stephen Carpenter at 18:30
Mendelssohn in Scotland
Felix Mendelssohn’s tour of Scotland in 1829 resulted in two of his best-loved works, the Hebrides Overture and Scottish Symphony. This illustrated talk will include many of the fine sketches that Mendelssohn made on his journey, and explore the reasons why Mendelssohn chose to visit Scotland and the effect that the country had on him.