ROBERT POWELL is known by many for his big screen portrayal of Jesus in Franco Zefferelli’s epic Jesus Of Nazareth.
Younger people will know him as a Holby City regular and as DC Dave Briggs, one half of bumbling cop duo The Detectives.
Now the silky-voiced actor is taking on an altogether different challenge – in Huddersfield Town Hall.
He will be on stage to join Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
Powell is the narrator for the centre piece of an all-Russian concert to be performed on Saturday, February 9.
Prokofiev’s work introduces the instruments of the orchestra as characters in a story featuring acts of bravery by children and animals, a grumpy grandfather and a forest adventure with a band of hunters.
It’s a real coup for the orchestra to get an actor of the standing of Powell, whose career has included a bit of everything.
His 30 films include the original Italian Job and most recently Colour Me Kubrick with John Malkovich.
TV credits include Jude the Obscure, Pygmalion and two series of Hannay.
The town hall concert begins with the Sabre Dance, a work by Khachaturian guaranteed to wake up the sleepiest audience member.
After Peter and the Wolf the second half of the night features Rachmaninov’s popular Symphony No 2, which will be played almost exactly 100 years after its first performance in St Petersburg on February 8, 1908.
Conductor Natalia Luis-Bassa is on the rostrum for the second concert in the Philharmonic’s season.
The Venezuelan is presently studying for her master’s degree at Huddersfield University and has recently been awarded the Elgar Society Prize for the performance of the composer’s Second Symphony with the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra.
The concert is at 7.30pm and there is a pre-concert discussion in the Old Court Room at 6.45pm.
