Vlad Tepesh is regarded as one of the great figures of Romanian history. Three times he was ruler of Wallachia between 1448 and 1476 and bears no resemblance to Irish novelist Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula.

In the 15th century the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia were Christian Europe’s front-line against the Ottoman Turks. Prince Vlad, known as ‘Vlad the Dragon’ (Dracul) because his shield bore a cross and dragon emblem, campaigned against the Turks, scoring several victories until he was killed in 1476 by a Wallachian rival collaborating with Sultan Mohammed II.

Suite: Pictures From The Carpathians (UK Première)

On poems by Stefan O. Iosif

• Darkness
• Doina (A folksong of heartbreak)
• Little Shepherd’s Scherzo
• Flames Dancing the Hora
• Hermit’s Story
• Evening Star

Irina Odagescu

Fairy-tale for narrator and orchestra: Youth everlasting and life without end based on a story by Petre Ispirescu.

A magic winged horse carries a handsome prince safely over the Land of the Woodpecker, strewn with human bones, to a castle where three beautiful fairies live. He believes he has found the quest he has been seeking...until he strays into the Valley of Tears.

Doru Popovici

Princess Lupu’s Song
Wallachian Dance

London Schubert Players Chamber Orchestra

Special Guest and narrator Angela Rippon Conductor Florin Totan

St. Peter’s Church Kensington Park Road, London W11.