Surbiton Symphony Orchestra returns to St. Andrew's Church, Surbiton, for a programme sure to warm even the coldest of January evenings! Elgar's excquisite Serenade for Strings, op. 22 opens the concert, with its movements variously relaxed, playful and by turns sublimely moving.

The middle movement of Elgar's Serenade makes direct reference to the works of that composer's idol, Richard Wagner. The orchestra performs the Prelude and Liebestod from arguably the composer's greatest work of all: Tristan und Isolde. Opening with the now-infamous Tristan chord that for many commentators marks the beginning of musical modernism, Wagner's portrayal of doomed love and death takes the listener on a journey, with the orchestra at its virtuosic best throughout.

After the break, we perform another composer who's idolism of the works of Richard Wagner, and whose on compositions have come to symbolise the romantic era for many, Sergei Rachmaninov. In his second - and most popular - symphony, the composer takes the listener once again on a journey that inevitably includes sweeping romance, brilliant and ecstatic moments and, as ever, a deeply moving slow movement.

Peter Le Tissier returns to conduct the orchestra for this spectacular event - it is not to be missed!