‘Star of the future’ takes to the concert stage in city

Fans of classical music are being offered the chance to see a rising star of the concert stage at the City Hall on February 25.

Venice-born Alessandro Taverna will play Grieg’s Piano Concerto, one of classical music’s best-known pieces as the centrepiece of a programme of 19th century music that also includes Borodin’s Prince Igor overture and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.

Taverna, 28, has been winning awards on both sides of the Atlantic, including in the Leeds International Piano Festival, and will be fresh from an acclaimed recital at London’s Wigmore Hall earlier this month. “A serious and potentially major talent” were among the critics’ accolades.

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“Alessandro has been making a big impression wherever he goes,” said Andrew Penny, now in his 30th season as the Hull Philharmonic’s musical director. “He’s at the start of a very promising career and this will be an opportunity to see a performer who is capable of being one of the major names of the future.”

The Piano Concerto, written in 1868 when Grieg was 24, with its dramatic opening and lyrical passages, will provide a showpiece for Taverna and the orchestra. The opening, which has been used in the film industry and by advertisers, is one of the most memorable in the repertoire.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Alessandro Taverna for this popular concert, which will appeal greatly to our core audience and, we hope, to new listeners,” added Mr Penny.

Hull Philharmonic’s concert season continues with the groundbreaking Sounding the Deep contemporary music project on March 17.

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