Fairy Tale

About

This standalone concert by the Ealing Symphony Orchestra, titled “Fairy Tale,” formed part of the orchestra’s 2022–23 season. The programme offered an eclectic journey through 20th‑century orchestral music, opening with William Wordsworth’s rarely heard Divertimento (1955), noted for its fresh invention. The centrepiece featured pianist Reuben Moisey, winner of the Ealing Festival’s Susan Bicknell concerto award, in his debut with the orchestra. He performed Prokofiev’s youthful and brilliant Piano Concerto No. 1, followed by Lutosławski’s incisive and rhythmically vital Variations on a Theme of Paganini; the appearance was dedicated to the memory of former ESO violist Susan Bicknell. The evening concluded with the work that lent the concert its title: Josef Suk’s lush late‑Romantic suite Fairy Tale, adapted from music for Julius Zeyer’s mythic Czech drama, providing a narrative, emotionally rich finale that contrasted with the modernist sparkle earlier in the programme.