Worthing Symphony Orchestra’s final concert of the 2022-23 season

WSO spokeswoman Jennie Osborne said: “In the decade since, Arta has gone on to great international success, both as a concert pianist and recording artist. She has also collaborated with WSO music director John Gibbons and the Latvian Symphony Orchestra on a number of recordings, and she is also one half of the popular Duo Articans alongside German cellist Florian Arnicans.

“She returns to Worthing to play Rachmaninoff’s dazzling Rhapsody of a theme of Paganini – composed on the banks of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland in 1934. Like Brahms and Liszt before him, Rachmaninoff had been inspired by the early 19th-century violin virtuoso, Niccolò Paganini. Paganini had revolutionised violin playing – many of his compositions were so complex and difficult that initially, only he could play them. Paganini’s most celebrated original works were his 24 caprices for solo violin, the last of which was a theme and variations. The simple tune that began it became a symbol of virtuoso technique, inspiring generations of composers to use it as the basis of their own fiendishly difficult variations. The concert also includes Edward Elgar’s magnificent Symphony No 1 in Ab major which was a major sensation when premiered by the Halle Orchestra conducted by Hans Richter in 1908.

“Then there’s William Walton’s majestic Coronation March Crown Imperial, which was composed in 1937 for the Coronation of George VI and has deservedly remained one of the most popular pieces in the genre.

"John Gibbons decided to programme this piece in recognition of the Coronation of King Charles III on May 6.

“Finally, this concert also includes a true rarity: the Sussex Overture by Sussex resident Harold Whibley who died in Worthing in 1984. Little is known about the composer, but the Whibley name is familiar locally due to the iconic jewellery shop which has stood at the end of Warwick Street for decades. Whether there is any connection between the two is unclear.”

The concert starts at 2.45pm and tickets are available online at wtm.uk or call the box office on 01903 206206.

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