No selection of County School of Music favourites would be complete without reference to Glinka’s overture Russlan and Ludmilla. It entered the orchestra’s repertoire in 1963 and was still there in 1976 when it opened Eric Pinkett’s farewell concert at De Montfort Hall. Looking through the concert programmes in the archives it has probably been performed more often than any other work, pushing the Enigma Variations into second place. Along with Nimrod this is the piece everybody associates with the orchestra and it made a popular choice for inclusion in the reunion concert at Guthlaxton in 1998, from which the sound clip is taken.

Press articles relating to Russlan and Ludmilla can be seen in the reviews section of this website.