Rimski-Korsakov: Shéhérazade & La grande Pâque Russe - Borodine: Les Danses polovtsiennes & Dans les steppes de l'Asie Centrale

Jos van Immerseel and his orchestra Anima Eterna continue their journey back in time. After Strauss, Tchaikovsky and most recently Liszt, they now tackle the Russian composers of the ‘Mighty Handful’.

The approach is still the same: the search for the appropriate instruments of the period and the initial orchestrations, and hence a choice of authentic forces that goes against the general trend of the twentieth-century symphony orchestra.

The approach is still the same – and it leads to an ever greater mastery of this nineteenth-century repertoire.

‘After last year’s Liszt project, we all have a new experience to fall back on. The musicians have had time to expand and refine their set of instruments, which will provide a great deal more depth. The fact that we have been invited to play this programme during the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg not only makes me very happy, it is also surprising. It is very significant that a festival which in general puts exclusively “early music” on the bill should be interested in such a project. After all it is still quite revolutionary within historical performance practice. It is very nice to get this sort of recognition.’

Jos van Immerseel