CGCO plays Dvořák and Schumann

CGCO welcomes Toby Purser conducting, with cellist Liubov Ulybysheva performing Dvořák’s seminal cello concerto for our 2026-27 season opener. Toby is known for his clarity of gesture, thoughtful programming and commitment to audience engagement. Liubov is a distinguished cellist known for her expressive tone, technical precision and versatile repertoire spanning Baroque to contemporary music.

Dvořák’s Wanda overture is a concise, vivid curtain-raiser composed in 1880 for a drama by the Polish writer Adolf Dygasiński, which opens with a bold, declamatory theme that immediately establishes a heroic and somewhat sombre atmosphere. The composer's cello concerto in B minor is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the Romantic cello repertoire and one of Dvořák’s greatest works. Composed in 1894–95 while he was living in New York, it combines Czech lyricism, expansive orchestral colour and a profound sense of melancholy and resolution.

Schumann's Rhenish Symphony was composed in 1850 during the composer’s stay in Düsseldorf, and captures his response to the Rhineland’s landscapes, traditions and cathedral towns. Scored for a classical Romantic orchestra, the work unfolds across five contrasting movements and balances pastoral warmth, rhythmic vitality and harmonic colour, combining Schumann’s characteristic song-like themes with rich orchestral textures.

Tickets £18, Concessions £13, Under 16 £8