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conductor Derek Clark and all-female ensemble Scottish Voices for a performance of new works by Edinburgh and Glasgow composers.
Thursday 1
Glasgow FREE Concerto Caledonia Concert Hall, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, 330 4092. 1.10pm. David Greenberg, Chris Norman and David McGuinness – all three skilled traditional instrumentalists – give a Homecoming concert, with art music from 18th century Scotland rubbing shoulders with gutsy traditional tunes from English, French and Gaelic- speaking Canada. Edinburgh FREE Live Music Now: Pure Brass National Gallery Complex, The Mound, 624 6200. 6pm. The young, dynamic brass quintet plays music inspired by the gallery’s collection including excerpts from Rossini’s William Tell and Maxwell Davies’ Farewell to Stromness.
Peebles ■ From Burns to Broadway Eastgate Theatre & Arts Centre, Eastgate, 01721 725777. 8pm. £10 (£8). The Scottish Romance Orchestra is joined by singers Marcella Holmes and John Marshall for an evening of romantic songs, classical favourites and music from film and television.
St Andrews ■ Fitzwilliam Quartet Younger Hall, North Street, 668 2019. 8pm. £10 (£8). The distinguished Cambridge ensemble celebrates its 40th – and Haydn’s 200th – anniversary. Two Haydn quartets (The Bird and The Frog) are performed alongside the ‘Hunt’ Quartet of his friend and contemporary Mozart, and a work by 18th-century Chichester composer John Marsh. Stirling ■ Guitar Recital Albert Halls, Dumbarton Road, 01786 473544. 7.30pm. £7 (£5). Accomplished performers David McGirr and Jan Straczynski play guitar music from a range of Spanish and Italian composers.
Friday 2 Glasgow ■ Flute and Piano Recital RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £5 (£3). Flautist Ruth Morley is joined by her regular recital partner, pianist Scott Mitchell, in the world première of Thief by the RSAMD’s Head of Composition Gordon McPherson, as well as a globe- spanning selection of other works. FREE BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: In Tune City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 5pm. Sean Rafferty introduces a live edition of BBC Radio 3’s drive-time programme, featuring a performance by early keyboard specialist Mahan Esfahani of Poulenc’s boisterously theatrical Concert champêtre, along with works by Debussy, Mahler and Dvorák. ■ John Innes Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £13–£22.50. Scottish tenor John Innes – or ‘The People’s Tenor’ as he is known, presumably thanks to the poperatic mix of arias and popular songs he has brought to shopping malls across the UK – follows up his sell out concert of November 2008. He is joined by the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Scottish Festival Orchestra and chorus. FREE Organ Recital: John Butt Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 7.30pm. Works by Bach and Purcell along with a new commission by Errollyn Wallen.
Edinburgh FREE Clarinet and Organ Recital Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh University, Bristo Square, 650 2427. 1.10pm. Calum Robertson and John Kitchen perform Walther, Telemann and Bach. ■ RSNO: Arabian Nights Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £10–£32 (concessions available). Stéphane Denève opens the 2009/10 season with an orchestral tour de force in a colourfully pictorial programme, featuring Oliver Knussen’s Flourish with Fireworks and The Way to Castle Yonder, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s exotic Scheherazade. Leading pianist Lars Vogt also performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 24.
Saturday 3
Glasgow FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3pm. Sunday promenade concerts with different organists. ■ RSNO: Arabian Nights Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£32 (concessions available). See Fri 2.
Edinburgh ✽✽ ERCU 150th Anniversary Gala Concert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £10–£24 (concessions available). The SCO, city organist John Kitchen and the Edinburgh Youth Choir join the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union for its 150th birthday. Includes the world premiere of Judith Bingham’s Shadow Aspect and a rare outing for Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 2 (‘Lobgesang’), written to commemorate the invention of the printing press. ■ Fitzwilliam Quartet St Cecilia’s Hall, Niddry Street, 668 2019. 7.45pm. £14 (£5–£11). See Thu 1. Dundee FREE Choired for Sound Caird Hall, City Square, 01382 434940. Times vary. A celebration of song from around the world, showcasing some of Scotland’s finest community choirs. See www.festnfurious.co.uk for more details. Part of Fest’n’Furious.
Kirkstile ■ Hawick Music Club: Philomusica of Edinburgh Tower Mill, Heart of Hawick, 01450 360680. 7.30pm. £9 (£2–£8). Orchestral favourites by Bach and Handel among others from this collection of talented young musicians.
Sunday 4
Glasgow FREE RSAMD Percussion Day RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 10.30am–5.30pm. A day of all things percussive for performers and teachers. Take part in workshops, hear performances and eye up the latest kit. Dundee FREE Choired for Sound Caird Hall, City Square, 01382 434940. 10am–2pm. See Sat 3.
Monday 5
Glasgow FREE Scottish Voices, Rosie Staniforth and Kevin Bowyer Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 6pm. Female voices, cor anglais and organ/harmonium respectively in a performance of Graham Hair’s Seven Words and Jonathan Stephens’ Laudate Dominum and Paean. Edinburgh ■ Jon Lord in Concert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £22–£27. The joint forces of a rock band, a full orchestra and Hammond organ in
the composer and rock legend’s fusion masterpiece Concerto for Group and Orchestra. The work has been acclaimed all over the world and now receives its Scottish premiere with the help of students from Stevenson College, the RSAMD and Edinburgh schools.
Tuesday 6
Glasgow FREE Organ Recital: Kevin Bowyer Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 1.10pm. The organist performs Vierne’s Pièces de Fantaisie, Suite 1.
Edinburgh FREE Piano Recital: Simon Smith Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh University, Bristo Square, 650 2427. 1.10pm. The pianist performs works by two late Edinburgh composers, Kenneth Leighton and Edward Harper. Dundee ■ Scottish Opera: Katya Kabanova Whitehall Theatre, 12 Bellfield Street, 08717 029486. 7.30pm. £13 (£5). Janácek’s deeply moving opera – inspired by Madame Butterfly and by a woman with whom he himself was infatuated – follows the titular heroine and the tragic consequences of her unhappy marriage and forbidden love. A piano accompanied production directed by Kally Lloyd-Jones in her directorial debut with Scottish Opera. Sung in English.
Wednesday 7
Glasgow ■ Vocal Recital: Victoria Simmonds Pollok House Arts Society, Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, 07703 131457. 7.30pm. £15 (£10 if attending first concert). Pianist Roger Vignoles accompanies mezzo-soprano Victoria Simmonds, who has performed with English National Opera and in the title roles of several opera productions in recent years, in an intimate, Romantic programme of works by Berlioz, Schumann, Fauré, Bizet and others. Edinburgh FREE Edinburgh Quartet Glass Arcade, Scottish Agricultural College, King’s Building, Mayfield Road. 1.05pm. A varied programme of classical chamber music from Edinburgh’s string quartet stalwarts.
Thursday 8
Glasgow FREE Lunchtime Concert: Katharine Durran and Kirsteen Kelly Concert Hall, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, 330 4092. 1.10pm. The duo performs an arrangement on Holst’s Planets for two pianos. ■ BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Maestro’s Choice 1 City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£23 (£8–£21). The BBC SSO’s 2009/10 season kicks off with early works by three contrasting greats, conducted by Donald Runnicles. Beethoven’s Haydnesque Symphony No 1 is followed by two richly scored late Romantic works: Mahler’s Symphony No 1 (‘Titan’) and Berg’s Seven Last Songs, sung by soprano Heidi Melton. With a Pre-Concert Prelude at 6.45pm, and Melton gives a short recital in a Post- Concert Coda. Edinburgh ■ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Unfinished Masterpieces Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £8.50–£26 (concessions available). Louis Langrée conducts a programme of tantalisingly incomplete masterpieces. Schubert’s Symphony No 8 (‘Unfinished’), which the composer put aside and never completed, is followed
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✽✽ ERCU 150th Anniversary Gala Concert World premiere of Shadow Aspect, commissioned from composer Judith Bingham by Edinburgh Royal Choral Union to mark their 150th anniversary year. Taking poems, texts and other writings by Robert Louis Stevenson as its inspiration, this powerful new work involves not only ERCU, but the Edinburgh Youth Choir, baritone soloist, timpani soloist and city organist John Kitchen. Phew. Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 3 Oct. ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Elixir of Love Deservedly popular with audiences when first unveiled over ten years ago, Giles Havergal’s witty production is revived as Scottish Opera get their new season underway. Good fun, if a bit silly, the music is easy on the ear, especially in the expert hands of the company’s Music Director Francesco Corti. Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Sat 26 Sep. ✽✽ Artisan Trio The warmest of welcomes to this new piano trio in their first concert. Brahms and Suk are on the programme, along with the piano trio by Edinburgh-based Edward Harper, a fabulous piece, which hasn’t been heard since it was premiered in 1992, and a fitting tribute to the composer, who died earlier this year. Violin is Aisling O’Deo of the SCO, cellist is Clea Friend and pianist is Simon Smith. St Andrew’s & St George’s, Edinburgh, Sat 26 Sep.
by Mozart’s great Mass in C minor, whose unfinished status hasn’t diminished its enormous power and grandeur. The orchestra is joined by the SCO Chorus and a top line-up of vocal soloists. Dundee ■ RSNO: The Best of All Possible Worlds Caird Hall, City Square, 01382 434940. 7.30pm. £12.50 (concessions available). Conductor Kristjan Järvi opens with Bernstein’s playful Overture and Suite from Candide, followed by a move to lush late Romanticism with Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto, performed by Emmanuel Laville, and finally Brahms’ Symphony No 1. With a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm.
24 Sep–8 Oct 2009 THE LIST 79