www.list.co.uk/music CLASSICAL BIRTHDAY CONCERT MACMILLAN AT 50 Scottish Ensemble with Tenebrae and Cryptic, City Halls, Glasgow, Fri 2 Apr
7.15pm. £6 (members £3; children free). Diverse music and song featuring international organ star Penny Weedon. Hawick FREE The Trinity Belles Beanscene, Tower Mill, Kirkstile, 01450 376 228. 12.30pm. See Tue 13.
Thursday 15 Glasgow ■ BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: North by North-East 3 City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7pm. £10–£32 (concessions available). The first of three concerts featuring Rachmaninov’s symphonies. The first’s famously disastrous premiere, exacerbated by a conductor who was under-rehearsed and on the sauce, haunted the composer for life. It features alongside Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and Miklos Rosza’s Viola Concerto, with soloist Lawrence Power. Alexander Titov conducts.
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✽✽ Edinburgh Youth Orchestra Spring Concert EYO welcomes back two of its illustrious alumni – violinist Daniel Bell (above), now a member of the Berlin Phil, and internationally acclaimed conductor Garry Walker, who used to play cello with EYO. Who knows which of today’s talented young players will be inspired to follow in their high- flying footsteps? Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 10 Apr; RSAMD, Glasgow, Sun 11 Apr. ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Adventures of Mr Broucek His name means ‘little beetle’, he’s the sort of landlord that no-one should have to put up with and he drinks to excess. Welcome to the satirical, fantastical world of Mr Broucek in Czech composer Janácek’s protest against his country’s bourgeoisie. Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 8, Sat 10 Apr; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 14, Fri 16 Apr. ✽✽ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Zacharias and Schubert One of Germany’s greatest 21st century pianists, Christian Zacharias is an SCO favourite, equally at home on the podium as at the keyboard. Hear him in both roles in an intriguing all-Schubert evening. Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 15 Apr; City Halls, Glasgow, Fri 16 Apr.
8 • 10 Apr Theatre Royal Glasgow 0844 871 7647 14 • 16 Apr Festival Theatre Edinburgh 0131 529 6000 Booking fees apply
Sung in English with English supertitles
Book online at scottishopera.org.uk Registered in Scotland Number SCO37531 Scottish Charity Number SCO19787
1–15 Apr 2010 THE LIST 81
Edinburgh FREE Rudsambee National Gallery Complex, The Mound, 624 6200. 6–6.30pm. A concert of a cappella works by the vocal ensemble.
✽✽ FREE Scottish Opera: The Adventures of Mr Broucek Unwrapped Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street, 529 6000. 6pm. See Fri 9. ✽✽ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Zacharias and Schubert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £8.50–£26 (concessions available). Pianist Christian Zacharias opens this all-Schubert concert with the wonderful, melancholic Sonata in A minor, D 845, before jumping onto the podium to conduct the SCO through the giant Symphony No 9 (‘the Great’), unearthed from among the deceased composer’s belongings by his brother and Robert Schumann, and brought to prominence when Mendelssohn conducted its first performance in 1839.
Dunfermline ■ Band of HM Royal Marines Scotland – Concert Season Carnegie Hall, East Port, 01383 602302. 7.30pm. £8 (£7); season tickets £32 (£28). Ever-popular music season returns with a full spectrum of music ranging from popular classics from the big band era to challenging contemporary works. Check out the GreatOffers on page 6
One good thing – usually among many – about performing groups, composers and ‘big’ birthdays is that the parties tend to go on for a while. The Scottish Ensemble have been marking their 40th anniversary all season, and while the actual date of James MacMillan’s 50th may have been last summer, the Ensemble have opted for an Easter celebration of his music. Joining with virtuoso chamber choir Tenebrae and music theatre company Cryptic, their collaboration centres on his powerful cantata Seven Last Words from the Cross, originally written for the Scottish Ensemble as a BBC commission in 1993. Under the direction of Cryptic’s artistic director Cathie Boyd, the Ensemble’s new interpretation of the piece brings specially commissioned visuals and lighting to its performance. ‘It is such extraordinary music,’ says Boyd, ‘and James Houston, the video artist we’re working with, and I felt that the most important thing is that the visual images must support the music and not upstage it. They are very slow, very beautiful, but in the background.’
The title of the piece refers to the final words of Christ as he is dying on the cross. Without giving too much away, Boyd explains, ‘We’ve taken a word from each of the movements and played with it visually. The last one, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit, is just amazing – it’s almost like being in heaven.’
Alongside the MacMillan are two further Scottish Ensemble commissions, the moving and atmospheric Tears of the Angels by John Tavener and Nigel Osborne’s more recent Seven Words, Seven Icons, Seven Cities, which receives its first performance in Scotland. All three pieces are intensely personal with the MacMillan, for Boyd, being ‘one of these pieces you know you’ll never forget and which will mark you in the most beautiful way.’ (Carol Main)
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