A VIRTUOSO conductor and a charismatic young soloist promise a concert of much excitement in Huddersfield next month.

Opera North’s music director Richard Farnes returns to the Town Hall on December 5 to lead the Orchestra of Opera North in an orchestral programme packed with melodies.

And the soloist will be the young violinist and Classical Brit winner, Jack Liebeck making his Kirklees season debut with a Violin Concerto by Philip Glass which consistently makes its way into the Classic FM Hall of Fame.

The orchestra will celebrate some of the nation’s favourite symphonies.

The recital opens with Rachmaninov’s final orchestral work, which is, for many, his greatest achievement and this is certainly also the case of Sibelius’s Symphony No.5.

“Richard Farnes is on just amazing form,” says Dougie Scarfe, former concerts manager for Opera North. “He’s conducting Wagner with Opera North and has been up to his arms in five and a half hours of Wagner.

“One piece that Richard always talks about is the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances. It is an amazing piece. It is a totally brilliant use of an orchestra. With Richard’s ability to control an orchestra and with the acoustic in the town hall it should be wonderful,” he said.

On the subject of Jack Liebeck, he said: “He’s very well established and is working with really serious orchestras across the world.

“He knows Richard quite well but they’ve never had the chance to work together so I’ve brought them together for the Glass which is a gorgeous tune.”

Richard Farnes read Music at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar, and went on to study at the National Opera Studio, Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School of Music.

Since becoming Opera North’s music director in 2004 he has conducted works such of The Makropulos Case, From The House of Dead and is currently working through Opera North’s four year cycle of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, with Siegfried premiering in June next year.

Violinist Jack Liebeck made his concert debut with the Hallé Orchestra when he was just 15.

Two years ago, he won the Classical BRIT Award for ‘Young British Performer of the Year’.

He is now established as one of the most compelling young violinists on the concert platform and has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Belgian National and London Philharmonic.

The final piece of the concert programme will be Sibelius’s Symphony no 5.

“Sibelius was so important to his nation,” said Dougie Scarfe.

“He was trying to define a nation through his music and this is a work that suits Richard Farnes down to the ground.

The concert begins at 7.30pm and tickets are available from the Kirklees box office on 01484 223 200 or from www.kirklees.gov.uk/townhalls.

There will be a pre-concert talk at 6.40pm.