‘…all life is an unbroken alternation of hard reality with swiftly passing dreams and visions of happiness…’ – so wrote a world-weary Tchaikovsky as he described his heart-felt Fourth Symphony in a letter to his patroness.

If Tchaikovsky’s Romantic symphonic poetry captures ‘hard reality’, then Shostakovich’s exuberant Second Piano Concerto and Prokofiev’s lyrical First Violin Concerto evoke the sweeter, more ephemeral moments of life in this all-Russian programme.

Michael Collins makes his debut conducting the English Chamber Orchestra, who are joined by two rising soloists: Mihai Ritivoiu and Michael Foyle.

Romanian pianist Ritivoiu won the Dinu Lipatti National Competition in Bucharest in 2010 and was awarded the Gold Medal in the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Intercollegiate Competition in 2016.

Foyle won the 2016 Netherlands Violin Competition and his acclaimed performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led to an immediate invitation to give his debut recital at The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Ritivoiu and Foyle are both City Music Foundation Artists.