Celebrity culture is nothing new – and the French composer Charles Koechlin was seriously star-struck. There’s nothing in 20th century music quite like his Seven Stars’ Symphony: a sumptuous, swooning orchestral love-letter to Hollywood, drenched in full orchestral Technicolour and filled with melodies as glamorous as Greta Garbo, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin themselves. It’s not what you’d expect from a pupil of Fauré – but ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ SSO principal guest conductor Ilan Volkov loves musical surprises, and he’s got two more tonight: the piece of French orchestral wizardry that inspired Disney’s Fantasia, and Unsuk Chin’s shimmering new Clarinet Concerto, performed by the truly stellar Kari Kriikku.
Prelude: 6.45pm in the Recital Room French music specialist Caroline Potter introduces the music of Charles Koechlin and the Seven Stars’ Symphony.
There will be no coda after this concert.
Image courtesy of Paramount / The Kobal Collection / English, Don
