Classical Preview: Sounds of Broadway kick off festival season

John Wilson’s glittering recreation of music from the Broadway musicals has become the one of the highlights from the BBC’s Royal Albert Hall Proms.
By David Denton
Published 24th Jun 2011, 11:28 BST

With his latest programme, Putting on the Ritz – a celebration of Fred Astaire and his leading ladies he opens this year’s Harrogate Summer Festival. Featuring vocalists Kim Criswell and Gary Williams, he conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony in a series of foot-tapping melodies (Jun 30).

Book-ending the festival’s four weeks, Libor Pesek brings his Czech National Symphony in a programme containing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, with Jakub Junek as the soloist, and Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony (Jul 29).

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Having once described David Kadouch as “the only competitor in the 2009 Leeds Piano Competition that I feel compelled to hear again”, his superb recordings have confirmed his talent.

He will play works by Haydn and Liszt, ending with a journey through Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (Jul 29). Young violinist, Kokila Gillett, teams up with pianist James Sherlock in sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Franck (Jul 20), while brilliant harpist Lucy Hasler offers a most esoteric selection (Jul 6).

Cellist Steven Isserlis joins pianist Sam Hayward for sonatas by Chopin, Schubert and Beethoven (Jul 14); pianist, Andras Schiff plays Schubert and Beethoven (Jul 17), and the Brodsky Quartet bring works by Wolf, Puccini, Debussy and Ravel (Jul 30).

Harrogate International Summer Festival, Jun 30-Jul 31, 01423 502116.

Related topics:PromsBBC