Poetry and Passion

‘With desire and passion’ wrote Tchaikovsky over the second movement of his Fifth Symphony, but in a way, that could go for almost everything he ever wrote – glorious melodies, raw passion, and sheer, hearton-sleeve emotional commitment come as standard. In this all-Tchaikovsky concert, conductor Gergely Madaras begins as he means to go on, with the hugely popular Romeo and Juliet Overture, before diving headlong into the sweeping autobiographical drama of the Fifth Symphony. And in between (because even Tchaikovsky had to relax sometimes), cellist Zlatomir Fung brings out all the brilliance, wit and charm of the playful Rococo Variations.