Charity Concert

Composers only very rarely reach the “melodic beauty of real folk songs” in their “created works of art”, Max Bruch, Cologne-born composer, believed. In his “Scottish Fantasia”, originally composed for violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, Bruch reaches into the treasure trove of Scottish folk songs, arranging them to a fantastic bravura piece that will be played by the fascinating newcomer violinist Noa Wildschut at her Gürzenich debut: still a teenager herself, she is currently conquering the limelight in the classical music halls. At its benefit concert, the Gürzenich Orchestra, conducted by its First Guest Conductor Nicholas Collon, will play for children in need, as they do every year on the first Sunday in Advent. Benjamin Britten’s famous “Guide to the Orchestra” is not just for children: the orchestra’s instrument families present themselves brilliantly using a truly British theme by Henry Purcell. Thomas Adès was long ago established as a legitimate heir to Purcell and Britten; in his orchestra dances on the dissipated life of the Duchess of Argyll, he delivers the “Orchestra Guide” for our time.