It’s a theatrical start to today’s concert, live on BBC Radio 3 from Salford with conductor Leslie Suganandarajah, as we hear Schumann’s Overture to the 1803 tragedy, Die Braut von Messina. The composer’s stormy Opus 100 premiered in 1851 in Dusseldorf at a time when Schumann was Municipal Director of Music in the city, and it draws out all the exhilarating tension of the story that inspired it.
To finish today, Juho Pohjonen s the orchestra for Chopin’s effervescent Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor. Completed when Chopin was 20 and before he had even finished his studies in Warsaw, it’s a glimpse at the extraordinary genesis of his virtuosity.
In between, a gem from the mesmerising and often neglected work of African-American composer and conductor, Julia Perry. Energetic and brilliantly scored, Perry’s Short Piece for Orchestra was recorded by the New York Philharmonic under William Steinberg in 1965, and it's a treat to hear it today, almost 60 years on, live from Salford.
