Philharmonia Orchestra

Bedford Borough Council & BCEX presents
Philharmonia Orchestra

Tugan Sokhiev conductor

Akiko Suwanai violin

LIADOV            The Enchanted Lake

PROKOFIEV     Violin Concerto No. 2

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

Dedicated to Tchaikovsky’s friend and close confidante Madame von Meck, the composer wrote in a letter to her that she would find in the Fourth Symphony “an echo of your most intimate thoughts and emotions”. The opening fanfare motif represented to Tchaikovsky ‘Fate’ preventing him from attaining happiness: a comment made all the more poignant when we realise he composed the work in the aftermath of his catastrophic marriage. Yet the finale is an exciting charge towards the finish line, its enthusiasm and boundless energy outweighing the work’s earlier bleakness.