Sunday 07 April 2024, 3pm

The concert opens with a little-known overture, Polyeucte by Paul Dukas. He may only be known to most people as the one-hit wonder composer of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice but this overture is a charming work.

Sir Stephen Hough returns for a third performance with the RTSWO, this time performing the Dvořák Piano Concerto. Sir Stephen particularly wanted to play this concerto and bring it to wider acclaim.

The concert, and indeed the season, ends with the Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók. Some may question why this work is called a concerto and not a symphony as there is no soloist as such, but Bartók explained this by saying that he wanted to treat each section of the orchestra in ‘a soloistic and virtuosic way’. How appropriate then that this piece features each section of the orchestra in such a soloistic fashion: a truly fitting way to end the RTWSO’s 2023-24 season.