All three of the works in this programme reveal a young composer on the threshold of greatness, serving as his passport to the vast new world of orchestral music prevailing at the beginning of the 20th century.

Inspired by the tone poems of Richard Strauss, Bartók’s Kossuth dramatically commemorates the struggle for Hungarian independence in 1848 with an alluring and provocative orchestration. The Two Portraits set moods of love and painful heartbreak into stark contrast, while the First Suite is a showcase of symphonic effects which caused a sensation in Vienna at its première in 1905.

JoAnn Falletta, acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation”, serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center.

She has guest conducted more than a hundred orchestras in North America and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Ms Falletta is an ardent champion of music of our time, introducing over 500 works by American composers, including more than 110 world premières.