Martin Roscoe, piano, with Northern Chamber Orchestra

Gounod Petite symphonie | Schumann Piano Concerto | Bacewicz Concerto for Strings | Mozart Symphony No 35 'Haffner'

As we emerge from the grips of winter, the Northern Chamber Orchestra bring a programme full of variety to Macclesfield. The concert opens with a chance to hear our wind players on stage alone. The sparkling Petite symphonie of Gounod for nine wind players will delight everyone, not least the string players who get a rare piece off! Martin Roscoe, the NCO's Vice-President, returns to Macclesfield to play Schumann's Piano Concerto, a mighty work which the composer himself described as 'a compromise between a symphony, a concerto and a huge sonata'. The second half begins with a work from a relatively little known Polish composer, Grazyna Bacewicz, the masterpiece of neo-classicism, her Concerto for Strings. To close the concert the orchestra are delighted to be playing a work which at around 19 minutes, may be one of Mozart's shortest symphonies, but the 'Haffner' is so brim-full of tunes, wit and energy that no one could possibly feel shortchanged.