The centrepiece of the evening is Edward Elgar’s celebrated Cello Concerto. An intimate and deeply personal work the composer wrote in the aftermath of the First World War. For Elgar, it became a way to process the horrors of war and transform them into something healing through music. The result is a score that feels both vulnerable and powerful. Cellist Liav Kerbel brings a fresh and imaginative interpretation to this dreamlike composition.

The atmosphere then shifts completely with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, which draws every listener into a trance. The flaming feathers of the mythical Firebird symbolise rebirth and an indescribable sense of ecstasy. The driving pulse and vivid orchestration of Stravinsky’s music leave no one untouched. An evening in which music takes you from restrained beauty to a spectacular orchestral blaze.

• conductor Emilia Hoving cello Liav Kerbel
• programme Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis | Elgar – Cello Concerto, Op. 85 | Kaprálová – Suita Rustica | Stravinsky – Firebird Suite (1919)