Prokofiev's "2nd Violin Concerto" dates from 1935, the same year as Berg's "Violin Concerto". Each of these works had it's premeire, synchronously so, in Spain (Prokofiev: Madird, Berg: Barcelona).

History is full of examples of "What if?"s. What if Mussorgsky's artist friend Viktor Hartmann had lived longer? Would we have "Pictures at an Exhibition"?

Variety is the spice of life as it is said.  Given that, tonight's "Evening Concert" should be 'spicy' as there's a great variety on the program.

The "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31", is a song cycle written in 1943 by English composer Benjamin Britten. It is a setting of a selection of six poems by British poets on the subject of night, including both its calm and its sinister aspects.

A serenade by the Illinois Symphony Chamber Orchestra, tenor William Burden and principal horn Stephen Hanrahan.