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CLASSICAL & OPERA Music
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BBC SSO: Listen Here! The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s annual weekend of free concerts in their City Halls home is a showcase of their work over a range of styles at different times of day. There’s Swedish contemporary scores, The Pirates of Penzance from G & S and romantic music to stir the heart. City Halls, Candleriggs, Glasgow, Fri 24–Sun 26 Jun.
East Neuk Festival If the weather’s fine, there’s nothing like a trip to the East Neuk of Fife (besides a drive to the Borders, see below), especially with some very fine chamber music to enjoy as part of it. World class artists are informal and intimate in a range of venues across the area. Various venues, East Neuk, Fife, Wed 29 June–Sun 3 Jul.
Music at Paxton More top quality chamber music in a stunning rural setting, this time the Adam splendour of Paxton House and its Picture Gallery, which is home to paintings from the National Galleries of Scotland, including by Raeburn and Wilkie. Festival highlights include the Heath Quartet (pictured), performing Beethoven and Brahms. Paxton House, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Fri 15–Sun 24 Jul.
Wednesday 29
Glasgow Summerfest III: Guitar and Percussion RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £6.50 (£4.50). A programme including new works by staff members Rory Boyle and Gordon McPherson. RSAMD Hansel and Gretel RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.15pm. £19. See Sat 25. Seven Angels Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, 0845 330 3501. 7.30pm. £12 (£8). See Tue 28. Edinburgh FREE Boston Children’s Chorus St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. The Boston Children’s Chorus lands in Edinburgh for the first concert of its British tour. FREE Phoenixville Chancel Choir Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate, 556 3515. 7.30pm. Pennsylvanian choir sings American favourites, a cappella works and other items.
Crail The Goldberg Variations Crail Parish Church, Marketgate North, 01333 312631. 7.30pm. £15–£20. Richard Egarr plays Bach’s epic suite. Part of the East Neuk Festival.
23 Jun–21 Jul 2011 THE LIST 103
PREVIEW PARADISE LOST OPERA SEVEN ANGELS Tramway, Glasgow, Tue 28 & Wed 29 Jun
According to Wikipedia, there are over ten thousand individual lines of verse in Milton’s Paradise Lost. That’s a bit much for an opera. So, for his new Seven Angels, leading young British composer Luke Bedford uses Milton’s epic as the starting point for a piece that takes a modern look at a world with climate change and diminishing resources and the resultant apocalyptic consequences. ‘To turn the entire poem into an opera would be ridiculous,’ says Bedford, ‘but it forms a template, or backcloth, to our story.’ The story told is of seven angels who fall through
space and time and arrive at a landscape, wondering why it is deserted. ‘It is their story of the end of the world,’ says Bedford. ‘The king and queen have a son, a prince to whom they give everything, but he becomes immensely fat. There
are elements of Paradise Lost, but it is our own take on it. The angels are the narrators of the story.’ Seven Angels originated five years ago, when
Bedford – who has form in turning to Milton, either setting his words or borrowing them for titles, such as his BBC orchestral commission Rode with Darkness – along with librettist Glyn Maxwell and director John Fulljames started throwing ideas around. ‘We settled on Paradise Lost very early on,’ says Bedford, ‘and then in 2009 we had our first workshop session and I wrote some tiny bits. It was almost like tricking yourself into starting to write the piece. Previously, I’d not written anything longer than 20 minutes, so with the 90 minutes of Seven Angels, it’s quite a jump up.’ With rising star conductor Nicholas Collon, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and an impressive cast, it’s unlikely that anyone will be looking at their watch to check. (Carol Main)
accompanied by the organ. Part of the West End Festival. Gamelan Gong Music of Naga Mas Kibble Palace, Glasgow Botanic Gardens 730 Great Western Road, 334 2422. 7.15pm. By donation; suggested £5, students and children £3. Music from the Glasgow-based ensemble. Part of the West End Festival. Jonathan Ansell and Friends Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 7.30pm. £31–£42. Former lead singer of opera pop group G4 sings popular favourites. Edinburgh FREE St Giles’ at Six: Coro Edina St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. The chamber choir sings Fauré’s Requiem and Allegri’s Miserere.
Monday 27 Glasgow Summerfest I: Professorial Presentation: The Voice of
Research RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. £6.50 (£4.50). RSAMD Professors Ros Steen and Celia Duffy discuss the role of performance-based research in the modern conservatoire. Featuring a collaborative and interdisciplinary piece performed by students from both the Music and Drama departments. RSAMD Hansel and Gretel RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.15pm. £19. See Sat 25. Edinburgh Get Organised! Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 1.10pm. £3. John Kitchen plays organ music by Grieg, Stanford, Wagner and others. St Mary’s Music School Summer Concert The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £8 (£5). Scotland’s dedicated music school plays Bach, Handel, Haydn, Beethoven, Stravinsky and a new commission from Alasdair Nicolson. Douglas Boyd guest- conducts.
Tuesday 28 Glasgow Summerfest II: Brass and Friends RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £6.50 (£4.50). Works for brass including Janácek’s Capriccio. Das Rheingold – Live from Venice Grosvenor, Ashton Lane Hillhead, 339 8444. 6pm. £7.75 (students £6; seniors £6; children £4.30). Live from the Teatro del Fenice in Venice, Wagner’s rip- roaring evening of girls, gods, gnomes and gold. Part of the West End Festival. Seven Angels Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, 0845 330 3501. 7.30pm. £12 (£8). New opera by Luke Bedford, based on Milton’s Paradise Lost and commissioned by The Opera Group and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Edinburgh FREE Rowan McGirr St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. Lunchtime violin recital.