When the ballet Swan Lake was first premiered, it was not received well by the critics who considered the music to be too noisy and symphonic, the story silly and the dancing average. Fortunately, audiences disagreed.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin was composed in the wake of a difficult and emotionally challenging year for the composer characterised by a failed suicide attempt, a marriage and separation three months later. Despite all of this, the concerto bursts with Tchaikovsky's effortless gift for lyrical melodies, his love of folk music and sizzling displays of technical brilliance. CSO's Concertmaster Martin Riseley features as soloist of this stunning work.

Mikhail Glinka's exuberant and heroic Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla opens this programme celebrating the mastery of two of the great Russian Romantic composers.

Performers: Martin Riseley (violin) and Kenneth Young (Conductor).