Rossini Overture The Italian Girl in Algiers

Saint Saens Suite Algérienne Op.60

Tchaikovsky Scenes from The Nutcracker

Haydn Little Organ Mass in B flat

Carols by Rutter, Osgood and Gardner

The concert begins with the lively overture to Rossini's opera L'italiano in Algeri written when the composer was only 21. Saint Saens also had a lifelong relationship with Algeria starting in 1867 when he first visited the country. And this is reflected in his Suite Algerienne. Scenes from the The Nutcracker are chosen to please because of their familiarity and after the Interval the chorus will be singing in Haydn's Little Organ Mass which gets its name from the instrument's solo in the Benedictus played by the composer at the first performance.. Finally there will be a selection of Carols for the audience to herald in the Christmas Season