LUCY Gould steps into the soloist’s spotlight next Saturday performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor in the penultimate performance of the Lakeland Sinfonia Concert Society 2018/2019 season, at Kendal Leisure Centre’s Westmorland Hall.

Lucy is well known in classical circles as the leader of the renowned Gould Piano Trio, which has an impressive discography and performs regularly at leading concert halls such as the Wigmore Hall. She is also a leading player in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.

Mendelssohn wrote two violin concertos, the first when he was in his early teens. Until recently, not often played, though there was an excellent performance in the closing concert of last year’s Lake District Summer Music. The second - usually known simply as the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto - was a late work, in fact Mendelssohn’s last major work, and was first performed in 1845, two years before his death. A high spirited and lyrical piece, it has always been widely played and extremely popular, and also very influential, regarded as the model of a romantic concerto. It plays more or less continuously, something that Mendelssohn apparently did to stop applause between the movements - then an accepted practice, coming back into some favour in recent years. In a typical concerto of the classical period, a concerto would start with a long orchestral exposition of the themes, followed by the soloist presenting them. Mendelssohn brings in his soloist right at the start, and the soloist and orchestra jointly present the themes on which the first movement is based. What makes the concerto so popular is no doubt its combination of tunefulness and virtuosity.

The programme for Saturday’s (March 16) concert conducted by Philip Ellis also features Nielsen’s Helios Overture, a joyous song of praise, which the the great Danish composer wrote as a celebration of the sun. It was first performed in 1903.

Adding the fabulous finishing touches to the classical canvas is Dvorak’s 8th Symphony - often overshadowed by his ninth symphony - but also a great work full of tunes from Dvorak’s homeland, Bohemia. It was composed to celebrate his election to the Bohemia Academy of Science, Literature and Arts and first performed in 1890. It is in the conventional four movements, but they are treated in an unconventional way, using Bohemian folk melodies and colourful orchestration, and creating an overall mood of warmth and optimism.

For tickets telephone 0333-666-3366.