The outstanding Dresden Philharmonic returns to Cadogan Hall with Chief Conductor Michael Sanderling. The evening begins with the overture to Weber’s opera Euryanthe, a fine example of the early German Romantic style heralding Richard Wagner, who in fact arranged Weber’s burial in Dresden, where he lived part of his life.

German violinist Arabella Steinbacher has firmly established herself as one of today’s leading violinists on the international concert scene, performing with the world’s major orchestras. The New York Times reports that she plays with ‘balanced lyricism and fire – among her assets are a finely polished technique and a beautifully varied palette of timbres’, and she brings these to bear on Tchaikovsky’s passionate and virtuosic Violin Concerto.

The concert concludes with Shostakovich’s hugely popular and emotional Symphony No. 5. Apparently, at the work’s premiere, many members of the audience wept during its sublime third movement.