Midori with the London Symphony Orchestra

Midori – one of the most virtuosic violinists in the world – returns to the London Symphony Orchestra as part of their International Violin Festival to take the lead in Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2 (1939). Ossetian conductor Tugan Sokhiev will accompany her, making his LSO debut with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 (1878) and Messaien’s Les offrandes oubliées (1930).

Midori debuted with the New York Philharmonic when only 11. Since then, her rise to the front ranks of international violinists has been assured. Playing with orchestras the world over and producing exceptional readings of the classic repertoire, her occasional London visits are not to be missed. As well as a musician, she is a tireless charity campaigner, and was appointed UN Ambassador of Peace in 2007.

Although still often claimed a rising star, Tugan Sokhiev – born in 1977 – is already the principal conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, standing in the prestigious shoes of Lorin Maazel and Vladmir Ashkenazy. Named the Révélation musicale de l’année by the French Critics’ Union in 2005, his recordings of Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Mussorgsky have been acclaimed as bringing a fresh touch.

Les offrandes oubliées was composed at the age of 22, when Olivier Messiaen had just graduated from the Paris Conservatoire. While indebted to Maurice Ravel and Paul Dukas, the leading French composers of their time, it also draws upon the complex timbres of the Far East and the solemnity of Gregorian chant. With shimmering textures and keening melodies, it heralded his arrival as one of the twentieth century’s greatest composers.

Bela Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2begins with a cushion of softly plucked notes on the heart, before the soloist enters with an effusive rhapsody enthused with Hungarian melodies. Soon after, a second melody appears, which utilizes Schoenberg’s twelve-note chromaticism yet sounds strikingly different from anything produced by the Second Viennese School. This is masterpiece of lyricism and playfulness, and the perfect showcase for Midori’s miraculous playing.

Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony finds the Russian master at his most intensely emotional. Written after his disastrous two-month marriage and a period of writer’s block, during a profound spell of depression, it sounds like the composer’s personal struggle with fate. Within the violent bursts of anxiety and quieter, reflective passages lie some of his greatest tunes.