Chichester Symphony Orchestra offer date for Festival of Chichester

The concert in St Paul’s Church comes as part of this year’s Festival of Chichester. CSO will also perform Sibelius' Symphony No 2 and Dvorak's The Noon Witch. Simon Wilkins conducts.

For Pavlos, who has performed with Chichester Symphony Orchestra once before about four years ago, the concert is a happy coincidence. He will be playing the Tchaikovsky with the Sussex Symphony Orchestra the very next day in Brighton Dome.

“I was thinking it would be so nice to do this with another orchestra and I thought ‘Shall I approach Chichester?’ And then the day after, I got an email saying would I like to do something with them. And the day they offered was the day before Brighton! They asked me for some ideas and I said I will do whatever they liked but it would be great if I could do this one with them and they agreed. It was just great.”

So two different orchestras in two days... How will the performances differ?

“I think it very much depends on the conductor and the relationship with the orchestra and how flexible he is. I always try to adapt so that it is much more a collaborative experience. I have my own ideas but it is really nice to share those ideas and realise the vision the conductor has as well. That's why you never have the same concert twice. Some conductors if you are doing a symphony will give all their attention to that and less to the concerto but with other conductors, they treat the concerto as part of the performance as well and it is always so much nicer if you are able to have a conversation.

“As for the differences there will be obvious things. It can be question of tempi which changes especially from conductor to conductor. But it also depends on the size of the orchestra and their whole dynamic. There are limits to how quietly you can play if you've got a big orchestra but really the conductor can change the whole ambience of the performance and if you can get that rapport across to the audience then that is great.”

The concert will be Pavlos’ fifth concert at this year’s Festival of Chichester: “I always feel very grateful to Chichester. At a time when I was younger and needed to somewhere to play, Chichester was always very warm and welcoming to me. One always needs somewhere to play but especially when you are young and I know how hard it is to find venues. But Chichester was always very very supportive and encouraging towards me right from the beginning. And whatever happens with the whole Covid situation, it's a relationship that I want to nurture and sustain and stay part of, but also being part of a festival that is full of so much that is weird and wonderful, I just love that great continuity you get. You see old faces and you see new faces and I love the relationship that I have developed.”