Today's children are reliant on more sophisticated forms of entertainment than the circus, but a glance at the list of composers featured in this wonderful concert reveals the creative impact of the circus and the fairground atmosphere on musicians of highly diverse characters. Enjoy Gould's Concerto for Tap Dancer and Orchestra as well as Stravinsky's Circus Polka written with the subtitle "composed for a baby elephant" as a parody. Yet not everything is bright and gaudy: Nino Rota's score for Fellini's classic La Strada The Road, evokes a nostalgic tenderness towards these nomadic performers.
Conductor
Johannes Fritzsch
Presenter
Guy Noble
Tenor
Kang Wang
Tap Dancer
Bill Simpson