The Hallé makes a welcome return to perform its first concert in the Blackburn Classics season.

Tchaikovsky had huge admiration for Mozart and his Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra is influenced by Mozart’s music, both in style and in its scoring for a smaller orchestra. The cello solo is both lyrical and challenging and will be expertly performed by German cellist Raphaela Gromes.

Dvorák’s richly melodic and atmospheric ‘New World’ Symphony has always enjoyed enormous popularity. The public admired both the work’s American qualities and the music’s obvious nostalgia for Dvorák’s Czech homeland. The melody from the symphony’s familiar largo is well-known as the music from the 1973 Hovis Advert, which was so loved it returned to our screens in 2019.

* We are very grateful to conductor Simone Menezes who has agreed to step in as a replacement for Elena Schwarz.