Music Classical
Classical
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to suzanne@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black and Carol Main. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry Thursday 24
Glasgow FREE Kelvingrove Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 1pm. Free lunchtime organ recitals every day by different organists. Kelso ■ Borders Music & Arts Guild Concert Mellerstain House, Gordon, 01835 864120. 7.30pm. Non-members £17.50 (members £12.50). Concert pianist William Howard returns to Mellerstain with a luscious Romantic era programme featuring, among other works, Chopin’s magnificent Ballade in G minor and Schumann’s Études Symphoniques. A light dinner is available after the concert for an extra £5.50. Tickets are not available on the door.
Friday 25
Glasgow FREE Scottish Opera: The Elixir of Love Unwrapped Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0870 060 6647. 6pm. If the thought of sitting through a full- length opera fills you with trepidation, or if you’re a seasoned opera-goer with an interest in what happens backstage, this hour-long taster is a perfect introduction to the workings behind the scenes and an introduction to the principal characters and plot.
Saturday 26
Love Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Glasgow ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Elixir of Street, 0870 060 6647. 2.30pm. £10–£49 (£7–£43). A revival of Giles Havergal’s massively successful 1994 production of Donizetti’s charming opera buffa. The comedy of errors follows the peasant Nemorino’s misguided attempts to win the love of the haughty Adina with a love potion, and features some of Donizetti’s most sparkling and moving music. Francesco Corti conducts and soloists include Elena Xanthoudakis and Edgaras Montvidas. ■ RSNO: Classic Bites Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 6pm. £10. Enjoy an appetising taster menu from the RSNO and conductors Stéphane Denève and David Danzmayr as they perform a selection of bite-sized previews of what’s to come in the 2009/10 season, which kicks off in October.
Edinburgh ✽✽ Artisan Trio St Andrew’s and St George’s Church, 13 George Street.
7.30pm. £10 (£5). Aisling O’Dea (violin), Clea Friend (cello) and Simon Smith (piano) perform Joseph Suk’s Piano Trio in C minor, Op 2, Johannes Brahms’ Piano Trio No 2 in C major, Op 87 and Piano Trio ‘The Devil and St Stephen’ by Edward Harper, who died earlier this year. Tickets available on the door.
Sunday 27
Glasgow FREE Aria Adventures Merchant City. 1.45–4.45pm. Stroll through the Merchant City to the soothing sounds of arias and duets performed by singers and musicians from Scottish Opera. Part of the Merchant City Festival. FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & 78 THE LIST 24 Sep–8 Oct 2009
Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3pm. Sunday promenade concerts with different organists. ■ The Orchestra of Scottish Opera St Andrew’s in the Square, St Andrew’s Square, 0844 847 1645. 3pm. £8.50–£11.50. Conductor Francesco Corti leads the orchestra through Mendelssohn’s famous ‘Italian’ Symphony and Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, while mezzo soprano Louise Collett performs a selection of arias. Part of the Merchant City Festival. ■ Battleship Potemkin City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7pm. £12. Crowning many a ‘greatest films’ list, Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 classic following the uprising of the crew of the titular battleship against their Tsarist officers is accompanied by Edmund Meisel’s visceral, pulsating score. At this screening Ilan Volkov and the BBC SSO bring the music to life for a powerfully immersive experience. Edinburgh FREE Gillian Maitland: Marimba Recital St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. 4.30pm. In a 45- minute recital on her newest instrument, a shiny five octave marimba, Gillian Maitland is sure to captivate in music by Evelyn Glennie, Keiko Abe and a couple of Bach and Handel arrangements. ■ St Giles’ at Six: The Waverleys St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. Retiring collection. An early evening performance of Britten’s Missa Brevis, Leighton’s Elizabethan Lyrics and Stanford’s The Blue Bird.
Monday 28
Edinburgh ■ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Masterworks The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £12 (concessions available). Get to grips with James MacMillan’s melodic tone poem Tryst as presenter Paul Rissmann joins the SCO and conductor James Lowe to fully explore the work. Part of Homecoming Scotland 2009. Perth ■ Khatia Buniatishvili Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, 01738 621031. 1pm. £6–£7 (meal deal £9.50–£10.50). The young pianist won critical plaudits for her all-Chopin debut last May, and now returns to Perth with the full-blooded Romanticism of an all-Rachmaninov concert. Meal deal includes soup and sandwiches before the concert – must be booked by 10am on the day.
Tuesday 29 Glasgow FREE Floating World Ensemble Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 6.30pm. Traditional Japanese ensemble music of sankyoku performed on the koto (13-string zither) and shakuhachi (bamboo flute). Sankyoku has its roots in the 17th century and was passed down exclusively by blind male musicians.
Edinburgh FREE Edinburgh Quartet Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh University, Bristo Square, 650 2427. 1.10pm. A lunchtime performance of quartets by Wilson and Dohnanyi. ■ Get Organised! St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road, 229 1142. 1.10pm. £3. John Kitchen is joined by trombonist John Kenny for music by Holst, Ives and more.
Wednesday 30 Glasgow FREE Orchestra of Scottish Opera with Scottish Voices Bute Hall, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, 330 4092. 6pm. The orchestra takes time out from the big stage to join
CLASSICAL AUTUMN SEASON PREVIEW Stéphane Denéve
It’s autumn, the leaves are turning and it’s that time of year when classical music’s own type of seasons start up again to keep everyone going through until the spring. A major difference this year is that the orchestras are returning to their favourite east coast symphony hall. The Usher Hall opened its doors for the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival and even though refurbishment work isn’t quite complete, the doors are staying open for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, who are first in there on 2 October, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, who are hot on their heels on 8 October, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, who are hoping that the transformed hall will transform their Edinburgh audience figures into healthier ones than those of the past. All three orchestras are fielding high flyer maestros in some stunning
programming to draw the crowds to their Edinburgh dates. Stéphane Denève, RSNO Music Director, introduces his orchestra’s season in one of the most colourful concerts. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, and its exotic tales of Arabian nights, sits alongside Knussen’s Flourish with Fireworks. The SCO’s trump cards for their opening concert are conductor Louis Langrée and soprano Lisa Milne in pieces of music which were famously left unfinished – Schubert’s Symphony No 8 and Mozart’s C minor Mass. New Chief Conductor of the BBC SSO is Edinburgh-born Donald Runnicles who turns to two of the greatest symphonies ever written – Mahler’s Symphony No 1 – Titan and Beethoven’s Symphony No 1. All programmes can, of course, be heard in Glasgow too. Chamber and early music lovers are not missed out of the season
openings. Milngavie Music Club is one of many such clubs up and down the country that puts on consistently good chamber music events. Their opening event is the Wihan String Quartet from Czech Republic, who play music of their homeland in the form of Janácek, Smetana and Dvorák. Earlier quartets can be heard in the Georgian Concert Society’s first concert, when the Fitzwilliam Quartet turn their attention to the great master of string quartets, Haydn. (Carol Main) ■ See listings for full details of all events. RSNO, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 2 Oct; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 3 Oct. SCO, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 8 Oct, City Halls, Glasgow, Fri 9 Oct. BBC SSO, City Halls, Glasgow, Thu 8 Oct; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 11 Oct. Wihan String Quartet, Cairns Church, Milngavie, Fri 9 Oct. Fitwilliam String Quartet, St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 3 Oct.