CANCELLED – Anthony Marwood (violin) with Northern Chamber Orchestra at The Stoller Hall

The final concert of the Northern Chamber Orchestra’s 2019-20 Season is to be a special one. Violinist Anthony Marwood will lead a thrilling programme featuring James Manson, Haydn and, most excitingly, Beethoven, whose transcendent Violin Concerto in D major makes dazzling use of the violin, and promises to be sensational in the hands of Marwood.

In high demand all over the world as an orchestra director, concerto soloist and chamber musician, Anthony Marwood is one of the most distinguished violinists of his generation. Appointed an MBE in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours List, he is internationally renowned for his exceptional expressive force. Equally at home playing the great concertos, chamber music and pioneering new works, he has, in recent years, collaborated with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta in Helsinki and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few. He is also the Principal Artistic Partner of the celebrated Canadian chamber orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, as well as co-Artistic Director of the Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival in East Sussex.

In high demand all over the world as an orchestra director, concerto soloist and chamber musician, Anthony Marwood is one of the most distinguished violinists of his generation.

The Northern Chamber Orchestra present a thrilling programme, celebrating Beethoven’s 250^th birthday. Anthony Marwood leads the orchestra in Beethoven’s Olympian Violin Concerto in D major; an undisputed masterpiece, it’s one of the true greats of the repertoire. After an off-kilter kettledrum introduction, we get an expansive opening movement which features sweeping strings and capricious solo material. The slow second movement – the emotional heart of the concerto –  is only more beautiful, offering up some of Beethoven’s most deeply-felt music. All of this leads to a zesty, spirited finale, which makes dazzling use of the violin’s melodic range. A thrilling conclusion to the concerto and to the programme, this is going to be sensational in the hands of Marwood.

Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 in D major precedes the Beethoven. Nicknamed The Clock, it’s the ninth of the Austrian composer’s twelve London symphonies. Alternating fanfares with wistful, searching melodies, the symphony’s large-scale grandeur is imbued with sophisticated wit and characteristic inventiveness. Haydn’s expectations of the strings – particularly in the first and last movements – are almost dauntingly high, and it will be a real thrill to hear the orchestra negotiate these challenging passages.

The programme opens with a piece specially composed by the NCO’s principal double bass player and resident composer, James Manson. Manson’s previous compositions for the orchestra – Meeting at Nisqueunia and Softly Pleads my Song – have been very well received, and we eagerly await his latest work.