Strauss: Don Juan (Kerem Hasan/Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)

Under the baton of Kerem Hasan, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra performs Strauss’ Don Juan, a tone poem that deftly blends the sonata form and rondo. With its swashbuckling theme and the fountain of semi-quavers that opens the work, Don Juan exemplifies Strauss' exhilarating orchestral virtuosity.

Alexei Volodin then joins the orchestra on stage for an unforgettable performance of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Rachmaninov’s chef-d'œuvre is a brilliant showpiece for virtuoso pianist, and it's probably the most admired of his works. An exercise of both compositional and pianistic prowess, it embodies his late style at its brilliant and witty best and has one of the world’s most irresistible melodies. Moments of Romantic outpourings hurtle towards a typical grandiose conclusion, but at the last moment it wittily becomes a whisper and ends impishly.

After the interval, Kerem leads the orchestra for an exciting performance of the finale of Beethoven's Symphony No.3 'Eroica'. Although his earlier works had shown flashes of what was to come, the Eroica was Beethoven’s first truly Romantic composition. It opens with two staggering chords that announce to the world the arrival of a new talent, a forceful personality, a man never to be forgotten. From that point on Beethoven was no mere composer – he was a creator of monuments.
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