Listening Club: Rach Pag and Janáček’s Sinfonietta

Joanna MacGregor dives deeper into the music of our September concert, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganani.

BPO’s opening concert pairs two boundary-breaking concert works: Rachmaninoff’s fiery Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Janáček’s revolutionary Sinfonietta.

Join Joanna in the season’s first edition of The Listening Club, a series of one-hour illustrated lectures in the informal setting of Brighton Unitarian Church. Together we’ll look at the history behind the famous Paganini theme, and how Rachmaninoff created an iridescent concerto for piano and orchestra; how he deftly touches on Beethoven, wove in the plainchant Dies Irae, and arrives at the famous 18^th variation. We’ll also examine Janáček’s fierce passion for Czech independence, and how the Sinfonietta has inspired animation, television, rock music and literature.

Designed to illuminate and entertain, our new series The Listening Club delves deep into this season’s music, uncovering composers’ intentions, social context, and musical motifs to listen out for. Most importantly, we’ll have fun.

‘Thanks too for Joanna’s concise but cogent introductions. The enthusiasm of her live comments makes these performances that bit more special!’ – Andrew Connal