Music Classical
Stirling
I Duncan Chisholm and Ivan Drever Stirling Folk Club. Stirling County Rugby Football Club. Bridgehaugb Park. Causewayhead Road. ()125‘) 218521. 8pm. ()rcadian guitarist and singer Drever (Wolfstone) is joined by his superb musical partner. fiddler Duncan Chisholm.
Tuesday 3’“
Edinburgh
I Alastair McDonald, Nancy Nicholson and Gus Ferguson’s Jazzers Leith Dockers Club. Academy Street. Leith. 467 787‘). 7.30pm. £5. Glasgow-born entertainer. known from his radio and TV shows. plus the popular Thurso songwriter and local instrumentalists. I’m‘! oft/1e Leith Festival.
I Victoria Vox Leith Folk Club. The Village. South Fort Street. 478 7810. 7.30pm. £6. Sensitive songs filled with charm and wit from the quietly celebrated Wisconsin ukulele player. I’m! oft/1e Leilh I'eslil'ul.
I Ceilidh Club The Lot. (irassmarket. 225 ‘)‘)22. 8pm. £6. Dance to accordion- led music from the .limi Shandrix lixperience. See Tue 27.
' *'
Glasgow
I Daniela Mercury, Samba Y Samba and Abolicao Carling Academy. liglinton Street. 0844 477 2000. 7pm. £23. The Latin (irammy- award winner (she‘s had more than a dozen top ten hits at home) brings the sounds of her native Brazil to (ilasgow. See page 71 for a chance to win CDs and tickets.
FREE Singing Session Morrison‘s Bar. Clyde Street. below Riverside Club. 8.30pm. 'l'raditional song. All welcome. I Michael Simons Tchai ()vna. Deanston Drive. 64‘) 7258. 8pm. £2. See Wed 28.
Edinburgh
I Jeff Warner lidinburgh Folk Club. Cabaret Bar. The Pleasance. 650 2458. 8pm. £7 (£6). Quality acoustic music. with banjo and concertina. from a teacher and authority on America folk traditions. work. fishing and social songs.
I Shurman The Village. South Fort Street. Leith. 478 7810. 8pm. £8. Bluesey/Rocky Americana from a time- served 1} S duo. Part of the Leith I'esriml.
Thursday}?
Glasgow
I Jeff Warner St Andrew‘s in the Square. St Andrew's Square. 55‘) 5902. 7.30pm. £7 (£5). A slice of real American traditional music. See Wed 4.
Edinburgh
I Judy Collins Group Queen‘s Hall. Clerk Street. 668 201‘). 7pm. £17. The veteran 11S singer and international star. with the astonishing voice and a repertoire from Scots ballads to Jaques Brel.
I Andy Chung Leith Dockers Club. Academy Street. Leith. 225 l 155. 7.30pm. Broad-based acoustic music from the accomplished folksy Fife singer- songwriter. I’ur! oft/1e Leith festival.
Falkirk
I Falkirk Folk Club Session Falkirk Folk Club. The Polish Club. Arnot Street. 01324 613395. 8.30pm. £2. informal music and song.
84 THE LIST 2?. May—6 Jun 2008
Classical
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to suzannealist.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black and Carol Main.
3: Indicates Listpicks entry
Glasgow
FREE Kelvingrove Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art (iallery & Museum. Argyle Street. 276 ‘)5‘)‘). Mon Sat 1pm. Free lunchtime organ recitals every day by different organists.
FREE RSAMD Ye Cronies Opera Award RSAMl). 100 Renfrew Street. 332 5057. 5.30pm. Vocal Studies Department showcase event offering a further opportunity to hear senior students singing from the opera stage. I Scottish Opera: A Night at the Chinese Opera Theatre Royal. 282 Hope Street. 08700606647. 7.15pm. £9 £58. A Night at the Chinese Opera. a new production directed by Lee Blakeley. involves a colourful range of characters including canal workers. explorers. limperors and even Marco Polo. A combination of catchy folk melodies with parodies of Chinese and Italian opera creates a tale within a tale with its tongue firmly in its check.
I NYOS Staffa Award The Merchant House. 7 West (ieorge Street. 332 831 1. 7.30pm. £tbc. Three young musicians compete for the first prize of £3000.
Edinburgh
FREE Edinburgh University Music Degree Students Reid Concert Hall. lidinburgh lTniversity'. Bristo Square. 650 2427. 12.30 3pm & 6.30 ‘).45pm. See (and hear) the culmination of years' work with a recital by the University's final year music students.
FREE Edinburgh University Music Degree Students St Cecilia‘s Hall. Niddry Street. 650 2427. 3.30 5.30pm. See Thu 22.
I Oliver Latry St Mary's lipiscopal Cathedral. 23 Palmerston Place. 523 ()l06. 8 ‘).l5pm. £8. All the way from the .\'otre Dame. Paris. Latry plays a selection of music by 'l'ournemire. Durulle. Alain. Florentz. Messiaen. liscaich and improvisation.
Glasgow I Friday Lunchtime Concert Series: Vocal Studies Department Recital RSAMl). 100 Renfrew Street. 332 5057. lpm. £7 (£5). Showcase of vocal pieces that have been rehearsed throughout the year
Glasgow I Scottish Opera: Falstaff Theatre Royal. 282 Hope Street. 0870 060 6647. 2.15pm. £‘)~£58. Sir John Falstaff. the self-indulgent. lecherous. larger-than-life glutton first brought to the public's notice in Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. gets his own spin-off opera courtesy of Verdi. Dominic Hill directs a new production for Scottish Opera which promises both Rabelaisian frolicking and a showcase for Verdi‘s exquisite melodic invention.
I Glasgow Chamber Orchestra Sherbrooke St (iilbert's Church. Nithsdale Road. Pollokshields. 7.30pm. £9 (£6). Conducted by Peter (‘ynfryn Jones. and with Brian McCiinley on trumpet. the orchestra presents Haydn‘s 'l'rmnpe! ('mti'erlu, Mendelssohn‘s lluliun Symphony“. JC Bach‘s .S'irtfimiu and two lntermezzi by l)elius. For tickets see wwwgcoorg.uk/concerts
PREVIEW OPERA
OPERA CIRCUS: DIFFERENCES IN DEMOLITIONS Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 27 & Thu 28 May;
Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 31 May
Think of Bosnia and Herzogovina and the chances are that ethnic cleansing and bloodshed spring to mind. Yet, this Balkan country, where east meets west, has a rich cultural heritage, particularly its traditional music known as ‘sevdah’, which is not especially well known in Western Europe. In his magical new chamber opera, Differences in Demolitions, composer Nigel Osborne draws on the sevdah tradition to present a powerful story of conflict, greed and desire in a world surrounded by
demolition and destruction.
Music that is highly emotive, about the ecstasy of love, but with a characteristic melancholy yearning, sevdah has a unique beauty. ‘It is a form I had known for a long time,‘ explains Osborne, ‘but I had never written in it before. In a way, the opera evolved of its own volition and wrote itself. Sevdah music is all beautiful, sad, about lost love and the scenarios in the opera developed from the songs and the episodes to which they relate. Only one sevdah song is actually quoted, but there are lots of echoes of it. One thing that I am really pleased about is that the sevdah musicians are happy with what I have written.’
An urban style that grew up in the 16th and 17th centuries, sevdah was originally for voice and saz, a sort of Turkish guitar. Other influences, notably Arabic and Turkish, but even 18th century Italian opera, were imperceptibly absorbed. The opera tells of a migrant worker who daydreams about how different his life would be in his own country where the ghosts and spirits of the building would come to life. As he cherishes his secret love of his girlfriend back home, he enters an extended reverie where ghosts do come to life and survival, whether of sevdah, of culture, of
Edinburgh
I The Edinburgh Light Orchestra Queen's Hall. 878‘) Clerk Street. 668 2()1‘). 7.30pm. £5.50 £‘). Light classical favourites from stage and screen featuring mttsic by Cole Porter. Rodgers 8; Hammerstein and Duke lillington with mezzo-soprano Carole Clarke. leader Lawrence Dunn and conductor James Beyer.
I The Sixteen: Treasures of Tudor England (ireyfriars Kirk. (ireyfriars Place. 225 1900. 7.30pm. £8 £16
(£4 £8). Conducted by Harry Christophers. the ethereal voices of The Sixteen devote their 2008 Choral Pilgrimage to music from three composers born around the time of Henry VIII. Robert Parsons. Christopher Tye and Robert White created some of the most sublime music ever written. This is a chance to hear it live from some of its best interpreters.
St Andrews
I Differences in Demolition Byre Theatre. Abbey Street. 0| 334 475000. 7.30pm. £15 (£12). Scottish composer Nigel ()sborne's enchanting new chamber opera draws on the Bosnian music of ‘Sevdah'. meaning love or longing and features Bosnian poet and librettist (ioran
a people, is the optimistic future. (Carol Main)
I. ‘" ’ "r E?
Simic. Drawing on mythical archetypes. ()sbornc‘s soulful work details a wrought world overpowered by greed. conllict and desire.
Edinburgh EEEE Sunday Morning Music National Museum of Scotland. Chambers Street. 247 4422. 1 lam. Wake up to the sounds of Flutes en Route. a vibrant young llute quartet from (ilasgow. as part of the museum's regular monthly series. FREE St Giles’ at Six: Chorale Excelsior St (iiles‘ Cathedral. Royal Mile. 451 3705. 6pm. The Choir of Heriot-Watt l’niversity performs a programme of sacred and secular choral music from Josquin l)eprez to the present day.
I The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace Queen's Hall. 87 8‘) Clerk Street. 668 201‘). 7.30pm. £10. Christopher Bell conducts a ‘come and sing' performance of Karl .lenkins' powerful and compelling mass for peace. featuring soloists Alison Beck. Morag Campbell and Mike Towers. Supporting Waverley Care. Scotland‘s 111V charity. To participate as a singer contact 0131 226 2206.