Wednesday 18, Thursday 19 and Sunday 22 April 2007, 7.30pm

Mahler Blumine  8'
Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor  31'
Dvorák Symphony No.7 in D minor   41'

Cristian Mandeal conductor • Polina Leschenko piano

Grieg's hugely popular Piano Concerto, with its dramatic cascades of notes and snatches of Norwegian folk song and dance, was featured in the film Lolita, and used in a Nike commercial. But it's perhaps best remembered as the concerto in a classic Morecambe and Wise sketch with André Previn, in which Morecambe claims he is playing 'all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order'... There's no danger of that happening with tonight's young Russian star: 'the greatest delight was the Hallé debut of pianist Polina Leschenko. Her technique seems equal to anything ... sassy charm ... apparently effortless brilliance' (Manchester Evening News). Dvorák's Seventh Symphony has been compared to Brahms in its emotional turbulence: 'What is in my mind is Love, God, and my Fatherland,' the composer wrote, adding that the fourth movement includes 'a suggestion of the capacity of the Czech people to display stubborn resistance to political oppressors'.

Wednesday 18 April - BUY ONLINE
Thursday 19 April - BUY ONLINE
Sunday 22 April - BUY ONLINE