Hear George IV's own cello being played in Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's Sunday performance

Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Church Street, Sunday, November 8, 2.45pm, from £11.50, call 01273 709709

A CELLO formerly owned and played by the Prince Regent, later King George IV, features in Sunday's Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's performance.

Exciting young cellist Gemma Rosefield will join the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Tchaikovsky’s Variations On A Rococo Theme.

The piece reflects the composer’s great admiration for the music of Mozart, as seen through the prism of Tchaikovsky’s own individual style and temperament.

Gemma plays on a cello made in Naples in 1704 by Alessandro Gagliano, which is currently housed in the Royal Pavilion. George was considered to be a very superior player of the cello, and the instrument was allegedly given to him as a gift from the King of Spain.

Gagliano, apprenticed in turn to the two great Cremona violin makers, Nicolo Amati and Antonio Stradivari, produced only a few cellos and not all are of such a high order. The instrument has a soft red varnish, and has been described as having "a living quality, which changes with the light, the season and the time of day".

The concert opens with Elgar’s exquisite and enchanting score for the ballet, The Sanguine Fan.

Written in the composer’s lightest and most fanciful vein, it shows the composer seeking to escape from the horrors of the First World War, even as he wrote works such as this to aid the war effort.

The main work in the concert is Schubert’s ‘Great’ C Major Symphony, a truly monumental work praised by Schumann for its "heavenly length".

In this piece the master craftsman of long unfolding melodies created a powerful musical drama that never fails to delight and excite in equal proportions.

Peter Back