Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Tamara Stefanovich piano
Elizabeth Watts soprano

BORENSTEIN The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21, K467
MAHLER Symphony No. 4

Richard Strauss was so in awe of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony – especially the passage towards the end of the radiant slow movement when the gates of Heaven open in a resplendent E major – that in homage he sent him a huge parcel containing his complete published works. Mahler broke with convention by ending this most heart-warming of all his symphonies with a song of child-like innocence in praise of heavenly life. That same tantalising simplicity informs the magical slow movement of Mozart’s K467 Piano Concerto. The concert also includes a work by Nimrod Borenstein (2009) in three sections: ‘Light’; ‘Peace’ and ‘Adam and Eve’.

6.15pm Honorary Degree award ceremony for Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Ashkenazy will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Leicester. Audience attendance welcome.