FOLLOWING their last sold-out performance of Handel’s Messiah, Skipton’s own professional chamber orchestra Skipton Camerata, sponsored by Skipton Building Society, return to Christ Church next month to perform music of a fiery, even diabolical nature.

Influenced by the Sturm und Drang - ‘storm and stress’ - literary movement that swept through Germany in the 1760s and 1770s, the ‘Dance of the Furies’ from Gluck’s opera Orpheus and Eurydice is an extraordinary example of the romantic passion that typified this period.

For this concert, Skipton Camerata will be joined by soprano Charlotte Hoather, who will perform the arias: ‘Che faro senza Euridice’ from Orpheus and Eurydice, ‘JC Bach’s ‘Ebben si vada’, and Mozart’s concert aria ‘Ah lo previdi’.

Charlotte has taken great pleasure in translating and researching the final work,and has written about it in her blog, which can be read in full at:charlottehoatherblog.com/

The programme also includes three ‘Sturm und Drang’ symphonies - Haydn’s ‘Fire’ Symphony, symphony subtitled They House of the Devil’ by Luigi Boccherini, and the dark and dramatic G minor Symphony by Johann Christian Bach.

The concert will be conducted by Ben Crick, Skipton Camerata’s always entertaining conductor and artistic director, who will give a short introduction to each work.

Ben has established a reputation as an innovative and original conductor, comfortable working with diverse and challenging repertoire.

As a former BBC Music Fellow, he has conducted concertos with Tasmin Little, Raphael Walfisch, Peter Donohoe, Nicholas Daniel, Jennifer Pike and Benjamin Frith.

Skipton Camerata, Dance of the Furies will be at Christ Church, Skipton, on Friday, March 6 at 7.30pm. Tickets from £5 - £22, are available from the website: skiptoncamerata.com by phone 0333 666 3366 - £1.75 fee - or on the door.

Created in 2004 by its founder and artistic director, Ben Crick, Skipton Camerata is a professional orchestra based in Skipton.

The orchestra’s core purpose is to perform classical music to a national standard in areas of limited to nil provision, making it possible for audiences in rural locations to experience artists and repertoire that their urban counterparts take for granted.