Symphonic Masters | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

From one inescapable melody to another, legendary violinist Pinchas Zukerman is both conductor and soloist in a concert brimming with infectious melodies. Opening with a true English masterpiece, Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis is a visionary fusion of folksong and sacred music.

Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5, the ‘Turkish’ is imbued with joie-de-vivre, the frenzied Allegro in the final movements emulating a Turkish style with melodic leaps, pounding rhythms and percussive strings. Closing the concert is one of the most instantly recognisable piece of symphonic music; Beethoven’s Symphony No 5.

Opening with four imposing notes, this Fate motif that dominates the symphony arguably epitomises all that was brilliant about the Classical era and still dominates the concert halls today.