An Elgar premiere amid air-raids in Kyiv

The conductor Natalia Ponomarchuk returned home from working as an assistant at the London Philharmonic Orchestra with a burning passion for the music of Edward Elgar.

To her surprise, neither of the symphonies has ever been performed in Ukraine. Natasha contacted the Elgar Society who offered subsidy for performances in the National Philharmonic Hall of Ukraine. The first concert will be on Wednesday.

Natasha tells Slipped Disc: ‘We are in rehearsal just now. It is a bit complicated because of permanent Russian shelling. Our first rehearsal on Thursday was interrupted three times by air aid alarms. We had to go down to the basement-shelter. Yesterday, the Russians attacked at night so we have time to prepare Elgar music carefully in daylight. No one knows what will happen in coming days… But we have strong hope to perform our concert and do the best that we can to introduce our audience to this music.’