Edinburgh International Festival: 70th Anniversary Celebration by Bliss, A., Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams, Strauss II, Bigham, Ravel, -tól (2017/2017), Karmester Martyn Brabbins, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The 2017 International Festival’s Usher Hall concerts come to a resplendent conclusion in a very special concert celebrating 70 years of the Edinburgh International Festival. Bringing together live music, archive film, interviews and unique memories, this is your chance to join in celebrating one of the world’s most influential festivals – through the music that has featured in it, and the revered figures who have performed in it. Renowned British conductor Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra – both of whose contributions to the International Festival have been treasured for many years – offer a unique programme of music with Edinburgh connections. From Sir Arthur Bliss’s exuberant Edinburgh Overture, written for the International Festival and premiered to mark its tenth anniversary, to Vaughan Williams’s serene Tallis Fantasia and Johann Strauss II’s high-spirited Emperor Waltz, both of which were performed way back in the opening International Festival in 1947. Brabbins and the BBC SSO bring things right up to date with Staffa, a new collaborative work, of a film and score, inspired by Mendelssohn’s journey to the Hebrides by composer Ned Bigham and BAFTA-winning film director Gerry Fox. This concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 later this evening. This concert is promoted by the Edinburgh International Festival.