BRITTEN SINFONIA WITH IMOGEN WHITEHEAD

You can hear the spirit of Haydn and Mozart in Beethoven’s bright and brilliant first symphony, but his restless individuality shines through in its sudden contrasts and exciting harmonic shifts.

Britten Sinfonia’s Principal Trumpet Imogen Whitehead is the soloist in Hummel’s dazzling concerto, written in 1803 for Viennese virtuoso Anton Weidinger and his keyed trumpet, the predecessor of the modern valve instrument. Hummel shows it off with difficult keys and chromatic passages that show off the skills of the soloist.

Wagner’s stunningly beautiful “symphonic birthday greeting” opens the concert. It was written as a gift for his wife, Cosima, and was premiered on Christmas Day 1870 on the stairs of their villa in Lucerne. It could hardly be more idyllic or romantic.