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Edinburgh ■ The Dunedin Consort & Players: The Messiah The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £10–£22. John Butt directs the award winning ensemble in its popular annual performance of Handel’s most famous masterpiece, for which the consort has won critical acclaim over the years. ■ Raymond Gubbay: Carols by Candlelight Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £16.50–£30. See Tue 22.
Sunday 27 Glasgow FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3pm. See Sun 20. ■ Lev & Friends Café Cossachok, Trongate 103, 553 0733. 9pm. £6. Violinist Lev Atlas performs everything from jazz standards to operatic favourites.
Monday 28
Glasgow ■ Raymond Gubbay: A Night at the Opera Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £19.50–£32. Jennie Bond hosts as the Orchestra of Scottish Opera and Concert Chorus perform a selection of favourite opera arias, from the tear jerking to the comical to the chest-thumpingly dramatic. With soloists Linda Richardson and Rafael Rojas. Edinburgh FREE Philomusica of Edinburgh: Peacock pie and other tasty morsels St Andrew’s and St George’s Church, 13 George Street, 225 3847. 12.30pm. If the concert name alone isn’t reason enough to attend, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor, John Williams’ theme from Schindler’s List and Bach’s Air on a G string should be.
Tuesday 29
Glasgow ■ Carols by Candlelight Winter Gardens, People’s Palace, Glasgow Green, 429 5599. 4pm. £5. Enjoy entertainment from the Kilbarchan Singers, hot drink and mince pie in hand, as the Christmas lights are switched on. In aid of The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice. Edinburgh ■ Raymond Gubbay: Russian Gala Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £13.50–£30. A spirited Russian feast of music as the Scottish Concert Orchestra performs Rachmaninov, Glinka, Mussorgsky and others. And to finish, nothing says ‘big finale’ like Tchaikovsky’s celebratory 1812 Overture, performed complete with cannon and mortar effects and an indoor firework display.
Wednesday 30 Glasgow ■ Raymond Gubbay: Simply Gershwin Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £17–£29.50. Toe-tapping big-city tunes performed by the Scottish Concert Orchestra and guest vocalists and dancers, including Rhapsody in Blue, ‘S’Wonderful’, ‘Lady Be Good’ and excerpts from Porgy and Bess.
Thursday 31
Glasgow ■ Raymond Gubbay: Hogmanay Gala Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £19.50–£33. Kick off your Hogmanay celebrations with a classical spectacular, featuring the RSNO with tenor John Marshall and 90 THE LIST 17 Dec 2009–7 Jan 2010
baritone Richard Morrison. Bizet’s ‘Toreador Song’ and Sibelius’ Finlandia rub shoulders with ‘Auld Lang Syne’, ‘Flower of Scotland’ and many more favourites. popular choral works in the repertoire. The RSNO and RSNO Chorus’ annual 2 January performance is this year conducted by Roy Goodman, featuring a top line-up of soloists.
Edinburgh ■ Candlelit Concert in St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 7.30pm. £16. A festive concert marking the 250th anniversary of Handel's death. The programme features his Coronation Anthems, including 'Zadok the Priest', JS Bach's Magnificat in D and Alessandro Scarlatti's Cantata Pastorale. Performed by St Giles' Cathedral Choir, directed by Michael Harris with the St Giles' Camerata leader Angus Ramsay. Part of Edinburgh's Hogmanay.
Friday 1
Edinburgh ✽✽ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Viennese New Year Concert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7pm. £10–£26 (concessions available). A spirited concert of lighthearted Viennese classics to bring in 2010. Nicolae Moldoveanu conducts Strauss waltzes and polkas, including the ever popular Blue Danube, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and favourites by Offenbach, Falla and Walton.
Saturday 2 Glasgow ■ RSNO: Messiah Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 3pm. £12–£32. Handel’s masterpiece has remained one of the most enduringly
Edinburgh ■ ERCU: Handel’s Messiah Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. Noon. £11–£25 (concessions available). Edinburgh Royal Choral Union’s annual performance of Handel’s celebrated oratorio. Sunday 3
Glasgow ■ RSNO: Viennese Gala Concert, Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £12–£32 (concessions available). David Danzmayr conducts a glittering selection of Strauss favourites, joined by soprano Heidi Elisabeth Meier. The Blue Danube and music from Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow is performed alongside Tchaikovsky’s waltz from The Sleeping Beauty and works by Léhar, Puccini and Schnitzler.
Edinburgh ✽✽ NYOS New Year Concert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155.
7.30pm. £10–£20 (concessions available). A swashbuckling New Year concert, with fantastical tales of pirates, spirits, seascapes and vikings conducted by Christopher Adey. Korngold’s overture to The Sea Hawk is followed by Sibelius’ The Oceanides, John McLeod’s NYOS commission The Gokstad Ship and Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Pre-concert talk at 6.45pm.
www.list.co.uk/music
Monday 4
Glasgow ✽✽ NYOS New Year Concert Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street,
353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£20 (concessions available). See Sun 3.
Edinburgh ■ RSNO: Viennese Gala Concert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £12–£32. See Sun 3.
Tuesday 5
Glasgow ■ BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Afternoon Performance City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 2pm. £7. Martyn Brabbins leads the BBC SSO through Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade, and Viviane Hagner is soloist in Walton’s Violin Concerto.
Dunfermline ■ RSNO: Viennese Gala Concert Carnegie Hall, East Port, 01383 602302. 7.30pm. £16–£21. See Sun 3. Perth ■ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Viennese New Year Concert Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, 01738 621031. £8.50–£22. See Fri 1.
Wednesday 6 Ayr ■ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Viennese New Year Concert Town Hall, Carrick Street, 01292 611222. 7.30pm. £17–£20 (concessions available). See Fri 1.
PREVIEW CHRISTMAS CONCERTS CLASSICAL MUSIC Even the bah humbugs of the festive season can’t deny that it brings some fabulous music along with the tinsel and the tat. Christmas music straight from movie scores, music for children, carols by candle- light, and, of course, Handel’s Messiah mean that singers and instrumentalists, whether amateur or professional, are in for a busy time over the next couple of weeks. For those who would like to perform but haven’t quite made it to the platform, there are plenty chances to open up the vocal cords and join in whenever the usually cringe-making words ‘audience participation’ appear. There is nothing to beat belting out ‘Hark, the Herald’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ in the company of people who started the evening as strangers but are brought together through shared raising of the rafters.
How else, for instance, would you get to sing with the RSNO under the baton of Christopher Bell, renowned conductor of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the National Youth Choir of Scotland? Their
Christmas concerts (Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 18 Dec; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 19 Dec) feature The Snowman, narrated by Tom Conti (pictured), in the first half and no end of opportunity to sing your heart out in the second.
For those of a more reflective disposition, the Georgian Concert Society offer ‘Le Jardin Secret: In the Still of the Night’ (St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 19 Dec), a baroque celebration of intimate, but lively, settings of traditional carols from France and England. Line-up is soprano with period guitar, viola da gamba and harpsichord.
No Christmas is complete without Messiah and the Dunedin Consort’s version (Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Wed 23 Dec) is nearest to what Handel heard when it was first performed in Dublin in 1742. Just seven singers sing all the choruses and the solo parts. Dunedin’s recording of Messiah won Classic FM’s Gramophone Award for best baroque vocal album on the year in 2007. (Carol Main) ■ Christmas concerts, various dates and venues, see classical listings.