BBC NOW | Reformation & Invigoration

Event Info

STYLISH | DRAMATIC | VIVACIOUS

Busy whispers and buzzing excitement lead to gargantuan climaxes in Mozart’s ever-popular overture to the opera Le nozze di Figaro. Witty, scampering and joyful throughout, it’s the perfect opener to any concert. Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony foreshadows a similar elegant melodiousness – intended to symbolise Protestant Reformation, this symphony journeys through dramatic outbursts, aria-like solos and jaunty chorales towards triumph in the face of reform. To conduct we’re delighted to welcome Jörg Widmann to make his debut with BBC NOW.

Violinist Carolin Widmann has made a name internationally as one of the finest performers of the Classical and Romantic repertoire, so it is hardly surprising when you hear she told her brother Jörg as a youngster that he was crazy upon asking her to try out some extended techniques! Written for and dedicated to Carolin, his second Violin Concerto uses the solo line as the work’s narrator, giving the violin its own voice and exploring the virtuoso Romantic style Carolin revels in.

Mozart – Le nozze di Figaro Overture
Jörg Widmann – Concerto for Violin No. 2 [UK Premiere]
Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 5 ‘Reformation’

Jörg Widmann – conductor
Carolin Widmann – violin