World-renowned pianist Peter Donohoe, a winner of the coveted silver medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, returns to Liverpool as our soloist in Piano Concerto No 3 by Sergei Rachmaninov. This concerto is regarded as one of the most technically challenging of all the standard piano repertoire and is both thrilling and romantic in performance. Rachmaninov treats us to some of his most appealing music, melody follows melody with unerring facility.

The concert opens with the tone poem Scheherazade, by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov. This music is an orchestral tour-de-force based on One Thousand and One Nights, the well-known collection of Middle Eastern folk tales. Throughout the work Rimsky-Korsakov uses his prevailing theme as The Sea in all its many guises. We go from calm to a major storm, to a quiet and peaceful evening. Scheherazade is packed full of luscious orchestration and melody.

About Orchestra dell’Arte

Orchestra dell’Arte is a group of highly talented musicians performing as a salon or symphony orchestra, be it for intimate musical evenings or full-scale concert performances. Founded in 2010, the Orchestra has played concerts across the Northwest offering a very wide range of popular classical, romantic and themed repertoire. Programmes have included the work of a great many composers – from Mozart and Beethoven to Rimsky-Korsakov and Saint-Saens. Viennese evenings and concerts of light music including music from film, radio and television have added to the musical diversity and have always proved very popular. In 2013 the Orchestra became the Orchestra in Residence at St George’s Hall, Liverpool and celebrated its 10th Anniversary Season there with world-class soloists in 2019-2020. The recent staged production of Madama Butterfly with professional singers was highly acclaimed by the audience in Liverpool.

We have also performed with some of the highest calibre soloists including Sir Stephen Hough, Raphael Wallfisch, Jack Liebeck and Ofer Falk.

About Edward Peak (Conductor)

Orchestra dell’Arte is extremely fortunate to have Edward Peak as its Conductor and Artistic Director. Edward studied conducting at the Royal Manchester College of Music under George Hadjinikos and David Jordan, with other studies on the piano and double bass. After leaving college in 1973, he joined the double bass section of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO). This period as an orchestral musician enabled him to work under the baton of many world-renowned conductors, familiarising him not only with a vast repertoire but also with a wide range of conducting styles. His own conducting career began after study with Marek Janowski and advice from Sir Charles Groves.

He has conducted extensively with the RLPO and also with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, the Northern Chamber Orchestra and internationally in programmes ranging from operatic and symphonic music to gala concerts of film music.

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This concert will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.
A booking fee of 8% will apply to purchases made by telephone or online.

Peter Donohoe Rachmaninov