An intriguing programme of orchestral works: Ryan Bancroft conducts the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, with soloist Sarah Connolly.

Hot weather update: start time is now 7.30pm (further information below).

As you will know from the forecasts, it is likely to be very hot for this concert, and therefore we are putting a number of measures in place to try to mitigate the extreme heat.

If you have bought tickets and have any underlying health conditions or are likely to find the heat too uncomfortable, then please contact the Box Office on 01728 687110 or email [email protected] for a full refund.

Otherwise, we encourage audience members to follow hot weather guidance: wearing light, loose clothing, and staying hydrated.

We will be putting the following measures in place for audience comfort:

• We will start the concert a little later at 7.30pm, and therefore the first piece, Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem (12’), will be removed from the programme. The concert will therefore finish at approximately 9pm.
• Water stations will be available throughout the venue
• Doors will be open and fans running
• On-stage lighting will be reduced
• Listening seats will be available in the foyer, for those who would find it more comfortable
• If at any time you feel unwell during the performance, staff and volunteers will be on hand to help

Please do check this page before you travel. We would also recommend allowing plenty of time for your journey, as there are reports of some road surfaces locally being affected by the heat.

To reiterate, for anyone concerned about the heat, please contact the Box Office by email or on 01728 687110 for a full refund.

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The world of fairy tales can be a topsy-turvy place, where the most unlikely figures can become central characters. The protagonist of Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem is a piece of chalk with big dreams, and a remarkable zest for life. Its touching biography is treated with great tenderness and characteristic imagination by the late Russian composer; her command of the orchestra brings a sense of grandeur and peril to the emotional life of this tiny hero.

The Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck was clearly in vogue among composers in the early 1900s. A few years after Debussy based an opera on Pelléas et Mélisande, Zemlinsky set six poems by Maeterlinck, imbued with the writer’s elusive, allusive imagery. Though male-authored, the perspective is distinctly female with accounts of love and yearning, sometimes through a mythical filter. Zemlinsky’s musical response is suitably sumptuous – and perfect for the velvety tones of Sarah Connolly’s mezzo-soprano voice.

In 1944 Prokofiev returned to the symphony after a gap of some 16 years – and produced one of his most powerful and stirring works. Across four epic movements, the Symphony No.5 was concerned with, as the composer put it, “the greatness of the human soul”.

Download programme notes.

Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra
Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano
Ryan Bancroft conductor