Echoes of France - Wales Millennium Centre / Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru

Rich brilliant impassioned

Sibelius Pelléas et Mélisande
Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Chausson Symphony in B-flat

Left handed piano sensation Nicholas McCarthy makes his debut with BBC NOW in Ravel’s emotionally powerful and highly virtuoso Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.

Inhabiting a medieval world of dream and fantasy, Pelléas et Mélisande tells of a fated love triangle and its impending doom as heard in Maeterlinck’s melodrama of the same name. Densely sonoric, darkly rich and harmonically turbulent, this masterpiece remains as one of Sibelius’ most popular concert works. A student of both Massanet and Franck, Chausson was a prolific writer of song, but it is his only symphony that stands as one of his most important works. From the wholesome exuberance of the opening movement, to the hushed intensity of the slow movement and sparkling drama of the finale, this imaginatively colourful, grand and melodically masterful symphony is the perfect package.