Wednesday 12th November 2025 @ 7.30pm

ESO: The Joker’s Wild – Mischief in Music

The renowned English Symphony Orchestra return to Malvern Theatres with a rollicking programme celebrating the adventurous spirit of the 1920s. 

Erwin Schulhoff’s suave Suite for Chamber Orchestra takes listeners on a guided tour of 20s dance crazes, from the Shimmy to the Tango. Milhaud’s zany ballet score “The Ox on the Roof” was inspired by the comedy of Charlie Chaplin and the dance music of Brazil, while Kurt Weill’s songs reflect the life in and around the cabaret scene in all its humour and sensuality. The programme opens with Haydn’s Symphony No. 60 “The Absent Minded Gentleman”, quite possibly the funniest and most surreal symphony ever composed!

The Worcestershire-based ESO, the International Orchestra of Elgar Country, is an ensemble which in recent years has become synonymous with artistic excellence, innovative and visionary programming. This concert sees a welcome return for April Frederick, who memorably performed Samuel Barber’s Knoxville 1915 with the orchestra in Malvern last year.

Programme:

Haydn – Symphony No. 60 (Il Distratto)
Weill – Cabaret Songs
Interval
Schulhoff – Suite for Chamber Orchestra
Milhaud – The Ox on the Roof

Artists:

English Symphony Orchestra
April Fredrick, soprano
Kenneth Woods, conductor