5th Symphony Concert

A trip to Italy at the end of winter! At the age of 22, Richard Strauss embarked on an educational journey to the land of lemons and returned with music joining the ranks of 19th century Italian compositions by composers such as Mendelssohn, Bizet and Tchaikovsky. Enchanted by Italian cities, ruins and life by the sea, Strauss aptly named the movements of his symphonic fantasy "Beaches of Sorrento" or "Neapolitan Folk Life", with folk songs such as "Funiculì, Funiculà" woven into the score.

Composed for his own instrument, double bassist, composer and conductor Giovanni Bottesini combined lyrical passages with technical acrobatics spanning the entire fingerboard. Known as the 'Paganini of the double bass', Bottesini revolutionised the way his instrument was played in the 19th century. British double bassist Alexandra Scott - who has performed with Europe's top orchestras and is in demand as a lecturer, chamber music partner and professor at the Munich Hochschule für Musik - takes on the crazy challenge of "playing the double bass like a violin", as her colleague Ödön Rácz put it.

The first work on the Italian-themed programme features a composition by Alfredo Casella: the rarely performed fairytale opera "La donna serpente" ('The Serpent Woman') follows the love between King Altidòr and the fairy Miranda in images ranging from the fantastic to the gruesome. Casella condensed the fast-paced, contrasting sounds of the opera, which premiered in 1932, into a suite. After numerous successes with leading orchestras and opera houses, Spanish conductor Roberto Forés Veses was recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra for the 2024/25 season.