Bristol Ensemble Northern Lights: Chloë Hanslip

Here this evening at the Colston Hall to experiance the Bristol Ensemble should be a good evening.
Conductor Ben Gernon
Violin Chloë Hanslip
Jean Sibelius Finlandia Op 26
Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor Op 47
Jean Sibelius Symphony no. 5 in E Flat Op 82
This Spring, Bristol’s professional orchestra explores the atmospheric music of the Baltic region, areas visited in the months of darkness by the Aurora Borealis, the spectacular and mesmerising Northern Lights. The music from these lands is passionate, often fiercely patriotic and full of haunting melodies and soaring lyricism. The Bristol Ensemble is joined by world-class soloists for these three concerts featuring music from Finland, Norway and Russia.
An all-Sibelius programme opens with his symphonic poem, the rousing and turbulent Finlandia, a passionate account of national pride and struggle concluding with the beauty of a peaceful chorale.
The orchestra is joined by Chloë Hanslip to perform the hauntingly romantic Violin Concerto in D minor.  The Violin Concerto is amongst Sibelius’ best-loved works, combining passionate lyricism in its colourful, nature-inspired themes with dazzling virtuosic writing.
Sibelius’ radiant Fifth Symphony is a glorious symphony, inspired by Finnish landscape, forests and lakes. The composer noted in his diary in April 1915 that he had seen a flight of sixteen swans, “one of the greatest impressions of my life!”, and his response was the spectacular ‘swan theme’, of the finale, splendidly proclaimed by the French horns.