Northern Chamber Orchestra:

Mainly baroque but not completely. The violist Jaren Ziegler was only sixteen years old when he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2022 String Final. We welcome him to perform Dobrinka Tabakova’s Suite in the Old Style (2006) for viola and chamber orchestra, which presents scenes from life in an 18th century aristocratic household, for example hunting, dancing and entertaining in opulent surroundings.

The term ‘baroque’ is widely used to describe Western art music composed from about 1600 to 1750. Bach and Vivaldi are of course well-known examples but Rameau, Biber and Albinoni less so. The famous ‘Bach Double’ (1720s), with its sublime slow movement, is his only concerto for two violins. Bach was a great admirer of Vivaldi, whose light-hearted Concerto for Two Flutes was written about the same time. Rameau’s Rondeau des Indes Galantes (1735), Heinrich Biber’s hilarious (yes!) Battalia (1673) and Albinoni’s Concerto for Oboe in D minor (1722) complete the programme.

Callum Smart makes his debut as director of the NCO. He is quickly developing a reputation as one of Britain’s finest young violinists and now enjoys concerto appearances with the UK’s major orchestras, including the Hallé, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the RLPO and the Philharmonia.