Kensington Symphony Orchestra by Yi, C., Gipps, Beethoven, tor. 06 feb. 2024, Od (2024/2024), Dirigent Russell Keable, Cadogan Hall, London, United Kingdom

One of Beethoven’s best-loved works, the ‘Eroica’ is a landmark in the transition between the Classical and Romantic periods. The four-movement symphony, originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte and conducted by Beethoven at its premiere in Vienna in 1805, has been described as ‘turning tradition upside down’ thanks to its wide emotional range. KSO welcomes rising star Alexei Watkins as soloist in the Horn Concerto (1969) by the British composer Ruth Gipps who studied with Vaughan Williams, and was a soloist, conductor, lecturer and critic. The work – written for her son, Lance Baker – is in the Romantic tradition, featuring a scherzo in 7/8 time and a duet between horn and celeste. The programme opens with Tone Poem (2012) by the Chinese-American violinist and Pulitzer Prize-nominated composer Chen Yi (b. 1953). Inspired by two 11th-century poems about southern Chinese landscape paintings, her work addresses ‘the brimming waves, the sunny day, the dimming hills, the rainy haze’.