The £100,000 love song

A businessman has paid £100,000 to hire the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to play his girlfriend's favourite piece of music.

John Barker, 40, wants the orchestra to play the rarely performed Janacek's Sinfonietta for girlfriend Heather, 29 - and has privately booked the Royal Festival Hall for them to perform in.

To make sure everything is perfect, he has recruited Britain's hottest new violin star, Nicola Benedetti, to play the lead role.

He said: "She is such a special person that I wanted to do something really special for her. She could not believe her ears when I told her. She said, 'You can't be serious, John.' I explained that it was so important to me to do it for her."

The couple have known each other through work for five years but friendship turned to romance as she nursed him back to health last year after a near-fatal illness. Their love began to grow through a shared passion for classical music.

"We both love music and for several weeks, as I recovered at home, we would sit in my living room and listen to music. One day she brought in a CD of Janacek's Sinfonietta which she said was her favourite piece. She said she would love to hear it live because she had never had the opportunity before. It is seldom performed because it requires a huge orchestra and an extra 12 trumpets."

The couple moved in together at Christmas and Mr Barker, who runs a country outfitters in Dorset, began to hatch a plan to demonstrate his gratitude.

But it was not until February, following a holiday together, that he secretly decided to make her dream come true.

"I thought she deserved something very special for everything she had done for me.

"So I conceived a plan and phoned the Royal Festival Hall and asked if it was possible to book it privately," he said. "Luckily it was and they had a cancellation on 15 May which was perfect as May is Heather's favourite month. So I asked them to reserve it for me.

"Then I rang my first choice of orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, to see if they were available and explained that it was desperately important to me that they should play this piece of music. I couldn't believe my luck when they said they were free on that day."

Finally, Mr Barker, who once played the violin in a youth orchestra, approached Benedetti, last year's BBC Young Musician of the Year.

"I thought she would be a wonderful choice to perform such a beautiful piece of music, and fortunately she was also free on the same day," he said.

It was only after all the arrangements had been confirmed that Mr Barker revealed his plans to an astonished Heather, a website designer who works for Mr Barker's business in Dorchester. The concert takes place on Sunday night with tickets on sale to the public - some seats are still available today. The couple plan to sit in the auditorium rather than taking a box.

To paying concert-goers, the only clue to the romantic gesture will be two words in the programme.

Opposite the page giving details of the concert - which will also feature the world premiere of a new composition by Sir John Tavener - is a blank page with the briefest of messages: "For Heather."

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