James Ross and SOSL take on Dvorak, Rossini and Burch

The young British conductor, Dr. James Ross, will be the guest conductor in Rossini's famous Overture to the 'Barber of Seville' and two Romantic works, Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Dvorak's popular Symphony No. 8, at the concert of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka next Sunday May 6. Ananda Dabare will be the soloist in the Violin Concerto.

This is the fourth time SOSL will perform under the baton of James Ross, who has a doctorate on French opera from Oxford and has now conducted over 600 works. In past concerts Dr. Ross has demonstrated his ability to bring out the very best in the orchestra, to the delight of audiences and critics alike. As The Sunday Times reported "The standing ovation given to both the Conductor and the Orchestra, has had no precedent" (Feb. 11, 2001).

The concert will start with Rossini's exhilarating 'Barber of Seville' overture, a tuneful and masterful construction which helped give him the nickname 'Signor Crescendo'. The opera was first performed in Rome in 1816.

Max Bruch's Violin concerto No.2 in D minor is less well-known than his hugely popular first concerto in G minor, but contains equally fine writing with a full range of orchestral colours. Breaking with concerto convention, the first movement is slow, leading to a rhapsodic 'allegro moderato', allowing great freedom of expression for the soloist, followed by a rapid finale. The concerto was premiered in November 1877 at Crystal Place, London by the virtuoso violinist Sarasate, with Burch conducting.

The eloquent and extrovert Eighth Symphony of the Romantic and nationalist Czech composer Antonian Dvorak is one of his finest. His orchestral writing was much influenced by Brahms and by Bohemian folk music ideas. The symphony opens with a broad Slavonic theme, and the second movement has been called 'a tone poem of Czech village life'. After some of the most heart-warming moments in Dvorak's symphonic writing, the finale ends on a bright and jubilant note.

Dr. James Ross has a growing conducting repertoire, especially orchestral and operatic, ranging from the baroque to contemporary music. He is Music Director of Oxford's Christ Church Festival Orchestra, and of several other orchestras and choruses in UK. He has now conducted in 12 countries, including Austria, France, Italy and the USA. He was an assistant to Bernard Haitian at the Royal Opera London in 1996, has taught music at Oxford University and is a prolific writer contributing, amongst other journals, to 'Opera' and the 'Musical Times.'

The concert, sponsored by Asian Alliance Insurance, will be at Ladies' College at 7 pm. Tickets are available from Titus Stores, Liberty Plaza or call the new SOSL office on 2501209.