LCO & Friends: The One With Benjamin Beilman by Shaw, C., Stravinsky, Bach, J. S., Copland, No (2023/2023), Diriģents Benjamin Beilman, Cadogan Hall, London, United Kingdom

We thought about calling this concert The ‘Monstrously Talented’ Mr Beilman, not because it relates to a Patricia Highsmith novel (though there’ll be plenty of slaying by Benjamin Beilman on his “Ysaÿe” Guarneri del Gesù violin from 1740), but so we could use one of our favourite quotes about this amazing violinist. We first collaborated with Ben back in 2016 and we’re happy to be back together for a concert that he’ll direct and perform the solo part in Bach’s Violin Concerto. The concert starts with Entr’acte by the American composer Caroline Shaw who moves between musical genres, winning awards and accolades left, right and centre. The larger-than-life Igor Stravinsky wrote his Concerto for string orchestra after moving to Hollywood in the golden age of the 1940s. Meanwhile, over on the East Coast, Aaron Copland was writing Appalachian Spring which went on to earn him a Pulitzer Prize for music.