Robinson Plays Mendelssohn

Marlborough Civic Orchestra (MCO) presents another classical music concert featuring the famous Violin Concerto in E minor by early Romantic-period German composer Felix Mendelssohn, with guest soloist Andrew Robinson, and "Scottish" Symphony No. 3 in A minor by the same composer.

Widely regarded as the greatest Violin concerto of all time, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto is not only the most frequently performed concerto in concert halls around the world, but also had significant influence on other Romantic concerti by later composers such as Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninov.

In the second half of the concert, MCO will present another all-time favourite of the composer, Scottish Symphony, under the baton of Music Director, Elgee Leung. Although the Symphony was premiered in 1842, only three years prior to the Concerto, the initial sketches of the Symphony dated back to Mendelssohn's first visit to Britain in 1829. After visiting the ruins of Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh, the then 20-year-old composer wrote to his family: "In the deep twilight we went today to the palace were Queen Mary lived and loved... Everything is ruined, decayed, and the clear heavens pour in. I think I have found there the beginning of my "Scottish" Symphony."