THE Philharmonia Orchestra returns to The Anvil next month.

They will be at the Basingstoke theatre on Wednesday, February 15 joined by mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, regarded as one of the great artists of our day, and conducted by one of the world’s most respected musicians Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

The programme starts with Mendelssohn’s vivid musical picture of a voyage to the Scottish islands, Overture: The Hebrides, which is deservedly one of his most popular pieces. The composer said that the opening theme came to him almost instantly when he first saw the breathtaking scenery on a trip to Scotland.

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This is followed by Elgar’s Sea Pictures which he wrote immediately after the Enigma Variations and it shares their mastery of orchestral tone-painting in five contrasting songs.  Alice Coote brings the songs to life, presenting the intertwining feeling of fear and fascination produced by the great unknown of the world’s oceans.

The evening ends with Dvořák’s fifth symphony, which shows a wealth of inspiration and memorable melodies in its four movements.