The Glasshouse

Alpesh Chauhan conductor
Pablo Ferrandez cello

Richard Straus Don Quixote
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 5

It’s impossible to separate Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony from its context. Written in response to criticism by Stalin’s regime, his artistic reputation – and possibly his life – hung on its success. It’s always a riveting, enthralling experience and BBCSSO’s Associate Conductor Alpesh Chauhan is sure to draw out its black humour as well as its profoundly moving qualities. Before then, we’re taken to sunnier climes, bringing some Iberian authenticity to his portrayal of Cervantes’s great literary hero. Then, Richard Strauss’s light-hearted adaptation is sure to be a knockout – bleating sheep, creaking windmills, flying sequences and all!