Elizabeth Sombart

The world-famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs four of the most celebrated and richly textured pieces in orchestral repertoire in the first of two Sunday afternoon concerts. The celebratory outer movements of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C embrace a glowing Andante forever associated with the romantic tragedy of the Swedish film Elvira Madigan. Schubert’s Eighth Symphony is the best known of all his orchestral music, despite its famously – and mysteriously – unfinished state, in which darkly ominous yearning bursts into radiant optimism. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis perhaps defined Vaughan Williams’ musical personality. Applying to a Tudor theme an admixture of English folksong and translucent orchestral textures learnt in Paris, Vaughan Williams achieved alchemy; a century on, the Fantasia is an established classic, from luminous opening chords to ecstatic counterpoint. The concert opens in high spirits, recalling the buffeting waves Mendelssohn experienced on a memorable trip to the Outer Hebrides. PROGRAMME Mendelssohn The Hebrides Overture (‘Fingal’s Cave’) Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Schubert Symphony No. 8, ‘Unfinished’ PERFORMERS Elizabeth Sombart piano Michalis Economou conductor Royal Philharmonic Orchestra