Nicola LeFanu “The Crimson Bird” (World Premiere), BBC Symphony Orchestra

Franz Schreker Der ferne Klang – Act 3, Nachtstück | Nicola LeFanuThe Crimson Bird (RPS commission: world premiere) | RachmaninovSymphony No 3 in A minor

BBC Symphony Orchestra | Ilan Volkov  Conductor | Rachel Nicholls  soprano

Rachmaninov’s final symphony concludes a concert that includes Franz Schreker’s interlude from his opera Der ferne Klang and a brand new work by Nicola LeFanu.

Nicola LeFanu unveils her new RPS commission, a work for soprano and orchestra, with Ilan Volkov, a passionate champion of the new, on the podium. A child of fin-de-siècle Vienna, opera composer Schreker’s ravishingly beautiful Nachtstück forms the lush opener to an evening that closes with Rachmaninov’s last symphony, which despite having been written far from the composer’s homeland, is deeply entrenched in a Russian heritage.