Performance on 3 - 04/10/2010

Presented by Petroc Trelawny. Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk leads the Ulster Orchestra in a varied programme starting with Mozart's impish overture to The Impresario. Pianist Sergei Babayan is the soloist in Rachmaninov's famously demanding Third Piano Concerto which the composer wrote for his American concert tour in 1909. The programme ends with Sibelius's ever-popular Second Symphony, a journey from an evocation of the Finnish landscape, through awakening of the nationalist spirit, to a final song of triumph. Mozart: Overture - The Impresario Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.3 Sibelius: Symphony No.2 Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor Sergei Babayan, piano Followed by... A focus on the Royal Northern College of Music, with specially recorded music and interviews. Olafur Arnalds: 2 Songs from "...and they have escaped the weight of darkness" (World Premiere) Olafur Arnalds (piano) RNCM Concert Orchestra Andre de Ridder (conductor) Avner Dorman: Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! (UK Premiere) Daniel Jones & Toby Kearney (percussion) RNCM Symphony Orchestra Andre de Ridder (conductor)