We are thrilled to welcome Craig Ogden as our first soloist this season.  Craig’s recent recording Craig Ogden and Friends went straight to number one in the Official Classical Artist Album chart.  Craig is at home with a wide range of musical styles from Bach to John Lennon, and at this concert he will play probably the most famous guitar concerto of all – the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo.   HCO’s Musical Director, Robin Browning, has worked with Craig on a number of occasions and says “He’s not only a brilliant performer, but has enormous charisma in front of an orchestra – sure to delight the audience at Ferneham Hall!”

Opening the concert, the Havant Chamber Orchestra will play the Overture Leonora No. 1 by Beethoven.  Despite its misleading name, this was Beethoven’s third attempt at writing an overture for his only opera, Fidelio.  The full opera is usually introduced by his fourth attempt – the Overture actually entitled Fidelio, but for concert performances the three Leonora overtures are all great favourites.

The concert concludes with music from that giant of romantic music, Johannes Brahms.  Living somewhat in the shadow of Beethoven, Brahms struggled for many years to produce his first Symphony, but along the way he produced two beautiful Serenades.  The first of these was written initially for a chamber ensemble of 8 or 9 players in 1857 but Brahms expanded it into a full orchestral work a couple of years later.  It was enthusiastically received by an audience of 1200 at its first performance in Hamburg in 1860.