Performer: Paul Rissmann

The RSNO’s Naked Classics series continues to draw sizeable crowds, and it’s not difficult to see why. A single work is dissected and then, after the interval, performed. Admirably, even the analytical first half opens with music; a passage from the piece at hand is played before the presenter takes the stage.Paul Rissmann continues to impress in this role.

Some entertainment formats seem so obviously successful and popular that you wonder why they didn't come into existence much sooner. Certainly the exploratory idea of Naked Classics has existed in the form of Radio 3's Discovering Music for many years.

If asked to single out one moment which illustrates the value of dynamic contrast in music, I might choose 'Montagues and Capulets' from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. As a prelude to this 'Naked Classics' exploration the RSNO played a short extract of the movement.

Working with the Philharmonia and more, Paul Rissmann specialises in presenting orchestral music to children in engaging ways. We interviewed him as part of our music education focus.