An afternoon of high drama, romantic love, tragedy and exotic, vibrant dances, featuring music from Eastern Europe, will take place at the Villa Marina this weekend.

The Isle of Man Symphony Orchestra will be joined by international concert pianist Yulia Chaplina to perform ’From Russia With Love’, a concert of Russian classical music at the Villa Marina on Sunday, November 21, from 2.30pm.

The concert will feature music from Glinka, Borodin and Tchaikovsky’s ’Romeo and Juliet’, along with a show stopping performance of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto, one of the best loved and most iconic of all piano concertos.

Yulia Chaplina is a London-based Russian pianist, who has won many international music awards.

Described in the press as ’quintessentially Russian’, Yulia won the Gold Medal in the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians, as well as performing regularly as a soloist in many of the world’s finest venues.

She was asked to play with the Isle of Man Symphony Orchestra after performing for the Ramsey Music Society in the months before the pandemic.

This is the first gala concert held by the orchestra since the beginning of the pandemic and originally ’From Russia With Love’ was to have been performed in 2020. The members are looking forward to finally being able to perform the music on stage.

’It feels very exciting, but also nerve wracking that things could still go wrong with the unpredictability of Covid,’ said Paula Wadsworth, principal cellist and treasurer for the Isle of Man Symphony Orchestra.

’Nothing beats the thrill of playing in The Royal Hall, and especially the appreciation we get from the audience, which can really give you goose-bumps.

’The Rachmaninov 2nd Piano Concerto is so iconic and is incredibly moving to play, so it really is an adrenaline filled, excited feeling to be so close to the performance. I know the members will put their all into every note. I have played this piece a few times but it still completely thrills me to play it. It’s just one of those pieces you never forget.’

Tickets for the gala concert are priced from £14.50 for adults and £13 for seniors, with £5 for under 16s, available from villagaiety.com