We conclude our 51st season with works by three giants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two romantic works - Verdi's Overture 'La Forza del Destino' and Richard Strauss' first Horn Concerto, which is one of the most-demanding solo works for the horn, using the highest and lowest notes in the instrument’s register, often in quick succession. Joining the orchestra for the first time to play the concerto is Opera North horn player, Alex Hamilton.

We bring our season to a close with Shostakovich’s mighty Symphony No. 5, written in the 1930s. Often deemed his most popular, it was obsequiously titled “A Soviet Artist’s Response to Just Criticism,” acknowledging government criticism in Pravda, in which his music was characterized as “Chaos instead of Music”. The symphony was considered an immediate success and he was reinstated as a composer of the people.