On March 14, the St. Petersburg’s Dmitri Shostakovich Philharmonic will dedicate an evening to the music of British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, marking a notable anniversary. This ahead-of-schedule report comes from a Russian press service update cited by TASS.
Under the baton of Maxim Alekseev, the Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra will present a concert in honor of Webber in the Great Hall. The program pays tribute to the enduring influence of one of today’s most prolific composers, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is approaching his 75th birthday on March 22. The repertoire features the renowned Requiem alongside a Fantasy on themes from The Phantom of the Opera, arranged for a live orchestral setting by the Philharmonic.
The concert is part of the philharmonic subscription series labeled Concerts in Jeans and Jeans, a nod to a more relaxed, accessible concert format. The program includes vocal performances by soprano Kristina Gontsa and tenor Ivan Ozhogin. The Petersburg University Choir and the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir join forces for choral moments, while soloists from the House of Music, Ravil Islyamov and Fyodor Amosov, contribute to Fantasia with violin and instrumental solos.
Earlier chatter noted Webber’s varied taste in film adaptations and stage productions, including playful remarks about Hollywood’s modern take on Cats. The composer has been referenced in several light-hearted anecdotes, underscoring his broad cultural footprint across theatre and cinema, as noted in media chronicles cited by arts outlets in the region.