Radio 3 in Concert: Transfigured Night

Ian Skelly presents a concert recorded in May 16 in Cardiff's BBC Hoddinott Hall, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales joined by conductor Jac van Steen to perform three exceptionally powerful pieces of music. They begin with the world premiere of The Celestial Stranger, a BBC commission by Stephen McNeff that was inspired by newly rediscovered poetry by Thomas Traherne, and also features verse by Walt Whitman, Dylan Thomas, and Queen Lydia Kamakaeha Lili'uokalani. Tenor Gavan Ring joins the orchestra to tell the tale of the titular alien who discovers Earth and revels in its beauty and, eventually, its imperfections. On either side of the interval are Fauré's Pelléas and Mélisande, and Schoenberg's ravishing Verklärte Nacht, or Transfigured Night. Stephen McNeff: The Celestial Stranger. Fauré: Pelléas and Mélisande, Op 80. Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op 4. Gavan Ring (tenor), BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jac van Steen (conductor)