For our November 2022 concert we will be performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Julia Raga Pascual as soloist and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8. As an appetiser we start the evening with two of Dvorak’s ever popular Slavonic Dances. A real treat.
Julia Raga Pascual may not be a name known to many but she is a fantastically good Spanish clarinettist now living in Ipswich. Our conductor, Matt Andrews, heard her and was instantly blown over by her playing. After studying clarinet in her native Spain and winning many prizes there Julia moved to London and studied at the Guildhall School of Music where again she was awarded many prizes and scholarships to help with her studies. While in London she worked and studied in association with the London Symphony Orchestra and with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Marin Alsop and Esa-Pekka Salonen among others. Her virtuoso piece for the evening is Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, a wonderful piece of music showing off all the capabilities of the clarinet while using the orchestra as a subtle and beautiful accompaniment to the clarinet. The solo part requires a virtuosic player and uses the entire range of the instrument. It is a sublimely expressive work throughout, with an achingly beautiful, serene second movement Adagio. The finale is in a lighter spirit while still retaining a poignancy underneath its dance rhythms.
Dvorak's Symphony no. 8 is a really fun piece of music. It is based on the Czech countryside including the orchestral version of church bells, birdsong and hunting horn calls. Its opening is really languid and sensual - you can easily imagine a lazy hot sunny afternoon somewhere in the countryside. Hopefully the music will transport us from Lavenham church on an undoubtedly cool November evening to a sunny walk in the Czech countryside.
Our opening pieces, Dvorak Slavonic Dances numbers 3 and 4 from his earlier opus 46 works, were originally written for piano with four hands and were so popular that his publisher almost immediately asked for an orchestral version. The dances are full of life and national character, although that character is not Slavonic but from Bohemia. But wherever the original inspiration came from, these are exciting pieces - sit back and enjoy.
Tickets are jsut £15 for adults and £2 for children (16 and under). They can be bought from Peddars (Market Hill, Sudbury), Sudbury Tourist Information (Sudbury Town Hall) and the Guildhall in Lavenham. They can also be bought from TicketSource or just email info@sudburysymphonyorchestra.com. As ever a limited number of tickets will be available on the door.
This will be a really wonderful evening’s music, do come and enjoy.