THE?ROYAL Choral Society is returning to Winchester Cathedral with a concert devoted to Russian masterpieces, a hundred years after the Revolution.
Two outstanding choral works by Russian composers will be performed on Saturday, May 20, at 7.30pm – Prokoviev’s Alexander Nevsky and Rachmaninov’s The Bells.
The choir will be accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which will open the concert with Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia.
Produced in 1938, Alexander Nevsky is very much of the Revolution though written more than 20 years after the turbulent and significant event.
It is based on Prokoviev’s score for Eisenstein’s film of the same name, which was a huge hit with the composer’s score hailed a masterpiece.
Following the film’s release, Prokoviev arranged the score as a seven-movement cantata for mezzo-soprano, choir and orchestra.
Rachmaninov’s secular choral work predates the Revolution and features Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The Bells at its heart.
It is divided into four movements, for soprano, tenor, baritone and choir, and mirrors the journey from birth to death.
Tickets are priced from £12 to £29.
To book call the box office on 01962 85775 or visit www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk