Tales from a dark century: Dohnányi is the missing link between 19th-century Vienna and the fiery modern sounds of his Hungarian compatriots Bartók and Kodály. His First Symphony is something of a passion for our Hungarian guest conductor Gergely Madaras; its opulence and emotion offer a telling contrast to the dark shadows and tense political drama of Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, written as Stalin’s post-war repression reached its height. Setting the scene is a new suite from Elena Langer’s 2016 opera Figaro Gets a Divorce – which relocates Mozart’s characters to a chillingly modern world of repression, nationalism and political instability.

Prelude: 6.45pm in the Recital Room
Composer Elena Langer introduces her Suite from Figaro Gets a Divorce.

Elena Langer
‘Figaro Gets a Divorce’ (Suite) (UK Premiere)
Shostakovich
Violin Concerto No.1
Dohnányi
Symphony No.1

Karen Gomyo violin
Gergely Madaras conductor

Concert ends at approx. 9.40pm