Steven Isserlis plays Dvorák | Philharmonia Orchestra

British cellist Steven Isserlis is the soloist in Dvorák’s passionate Cello Concerto, one of the best-loved works in the orchestral repertoire.
Isserlis is acclaimed for his profound musicianship, and enjoys a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. He is a renowned interpreter of Dvorák’s concerto, his tone blending ‘impassioned feeling and mellow serenity in just the right balance’ (The Arts Desk).

Brahms’s Fourth Symphony is masterful music from a composer at the top of his game. Brahms called it “my sad symphony”, but this modest adjective belies the composer’s emotional range and consummate structural skill. His friend, the critic Eduard Hanslick, put it better: “It is like a dark well; the longer we look into it, the more brightly the stars shine back.” Jordan de Souza, who conducted the Philharmonia in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier at Garsington Opera last year, makes his Royal Festival Hall debut.

Unfortunately Jordan de Souza is unwell. We are grateful to Dinis Sousa for stepping in at short notice to conduct Thursday’s concert. Sousa is Principal Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia and of his own Orquestra XXI. The programme remains unchanged.