BBC Phil continues Great Russians series in Manchester

Feb 10 2009 by Michael Green, Chester Chronicle

THE BBC Philharmonic continues its Great Russians series with a tribute to Prokofiev on Friday, February 20 at 7pm.

The BBC Phil will be conducted by Yutaka Sado, who will make his debut at The Bridgewater Hall. The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 7pm.

Sado takes the baton for Prokofiev’s Symphony No 5, contrasted with excerpts from the composer’s thrilling music for the ballet Romeo and Juliet.

Yutaka Sado, 49, was born in Japan and embarked on his conducting career with a fellowship to Tanglewood Music Festival in 1987.

After assistant posts under Seiji Ozawa and Charles Dutoit, he studied with Leonard Bernstein and Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

Sado is artistic director of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Kobe, Japan which opened in 2005 as a symbol of regeneration and rebirth, a decade after the region was devastated by an earthquake.

Sado’s profile in Europe is building with engagements this season with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the London Philharmonic.

Full price tickets cost from £9 to £31, with discounts and concessions available. They can be purchased from The Bridgewater Hall on 0161 907 9000.