Satire and Symphonies: Barber, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov

We are thrilled to invite you along to our new season of unforgettable performances with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra!

Free entry for Herts students!

Step into a world where dramatic storytelling and orchestral brilliance collide with a concert that brings together three orchestral masterpieces filled with drama, wit, and raw emotion.

The concert opens with with sparkling, fast-paced theatrical energy as the orchestra performs Samuel Barber’s very first symphonic work – the brilliant and witty overture 'The School for Scandal'.

Next, hear the astonishing genius of a teenage Dmitri Shostakovich in his groundbreaking 'Symphony No. 1'. Written as a graduation requirement from the Leningrad Conservatory when he was just 19 years old, the piece is bursting with youthful sarcasm and bold colours.

Finally, the concert culminates in Sergei Rachmaninov's monumental 'Symphonic Dances'. As the composer's final masterwork, it is filled with nostalgic energy, powerful rhythms, and a dramatic farewell to the stage.

Experience this breathtaking journey through the defining bookends of orchestral history – a concert of real firsts and lasts.