Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Academy of St Martin in the Fields Augustin Hadelich violin and conductor Strings in the spotlight by one of England's finest ensembles, The Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Augustin Hadelich violin and conductor

Strings in the spotlight by one of England's finest ensembles, The Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Puccini I Crisantemi

Paganini Violin Concerto No. 4

Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence

In a few words

Approaching seventy years of existence, The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, founded by Neville Marriner, remains one of England's most celebrated chamber ensembles. Originally, the ensemble consisted only of strings, and it is in this spirit that they present this evening's programme. To begin, Puccini's quartet I Crisantemi, a single-movement composition in the form of an enchanting musical lament. This will be followed by Paganini's Concerto No. 4, dating from 1830, which, after the incredible vicissitudes of its autograph manuscript, owed its resurrection to the Frenchman Arthur Grumiaux in 1954. And to conclude the evening, we head to Italy, which Tchaikovsky discovered for the first time in 1878 and where he would return twelve years later. It was in the Tuscan city that he composed a large part of his The Queen of Spades and this sextet, known as “Souvenir de Florence”, bathed in southern light but demanding incredible virtuosity from each of the six instrumentalists.

Production Théâtre des Champs-Élysées