list.co.uk/music CLASSICAL Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 16 days before publication to classical@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Carol Main & Alex Johnston. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry

Thursday 5

Glasgow FREE Kelvingrove Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle St, 276 9599. 1pm. Free daily lunchtime recitals by different organists. Edinburgh FREE Live Music Now: Laura Margaret Smith & Anne McGregor Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, 624 6200. 6pm. Smith (mezzo-soprano) and MacGregor (piano) perform Schumann’s Maria Stuart Lieder and Geddes’ Seven Scots Songs.

Friday 6

Edinburgh Dunedin Consort: Brandenburg Series I The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £9.50–£22. The ensemble celebrates 15 years with an all- Bach evening. RSNO: A Viennese New Year Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £12.50–£34. Welcome in the new year with Strauss classics, including Overture to Die Fledermaus and The Blue Danube.

Saturday 7

Glasgow Johann Strauss Gala Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall St, 228 1155. 3pm & 7.30pm. £21–£29.50. See Thu 5. Edinburgh FREE David Goodenough St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road, 229 1142. 1.30pm. Organ recital.

Edinburgh Flutes en Route: Emerging Artist Series Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 10.30am. £2. Young flute quartet presenting a new twist on old favourites, as well as Rory Boyle’s Fl(u)ting.

Thursday 12

Glasgow Liquid Architecture Westbourne Music, 7 West George Street, 649 5347. 12.45pm. £8 (£7; children £4). The chamber ensemble plays Ferguson’s Octet Op 4 and Spratt’s Concertini Variations. FREE Viridian Quartet Glasgow University Concert Hall, University Avenue, 330 4092. 1.10pm. Glasgow-based string quartet plays Graft by David Fennessy (of Pass the Spoon fame) and Evangelist by Colin Broom. BBC SSO: Stravinsky’s Firebird City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 2pm. £7–£9. Brahms’ meditative Double Concerto Op 102 is intriguingly paired with Stravinsky’s wonderfully flashy Firebird. Matthias Pintscher conducts, with Alexandra Soumm and Nicolas Altstaedt as the soloists in the Brahms.

Edinburgh ✽✽ Nigel Kennedy Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £35–£45.

Spiky-haired violinist plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and original compositions. Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Handel’s Water Music The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk St, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £9.50–£28 (concessions available). Emmanuelle Haïm conducts the suites in D and G from the harpsichord, together with Rameau’s Suite from Dardanus and Handel’s Cantata: Delirio Amoroso, featuring soprano Camilla Tilling. Tinderbox Orchestra The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298. 8pm. £4 (£3). Contemporary youth orchestra plays pieces by Björk, Hendrix and Radiohead, as well as writing and arranging its own work. Special fundraising show.

Sunday 8 Friday 13

Glasgow FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3–3.45pm. Sunday promenade concerts with different organists.

Edinburgh Johann Strauss Gala Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 3pm. £17.50–£30. See Thu 5.

Tuesday 10 Glasgow RCS Concerto Competition Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 11am. £3. Students

Glasgow RCS Student Piano Duets Part 1 Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew St, 332 5057. 1pm. £9.50. Some of Schubert’s lesser-known piano works. Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Handel’s Water Music City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £12–£26. See Thu 12.

Edinburgh ✽✽ RSNO: Norrington Conducts Brahms Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £11–£34 (concessions available). Sir Roger Norrington conducts Rameau’s Suite from Les Boréades, Haydn’s Symphony No 85 ‘La Reine’, so nicknamed because Marie Antoinette was

compete for a chance to play a concerto with the RCS Symphony Orchestra. especially fond of it, and Brahms’ mischievous Symphony No 2.

CLASSICAL Music

HITLIST THE BEST CLASSICAL & OPERA

Nigel Kennedy Think Nigel Kennedy and think Four Seasons. Bringing Vivaldi’s perennially popular masterpiece to Edinburgh with his unique performance style, Kennedy teams it up with pieces from his latest album, Four Elements, along with his band and the Orchestra of Life. Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 12 Jan.

RSNO: Norrington Conducts Brahms Star of stage and screen, Sir Roger Norrington is the original hero of period performance practice, especially in the symphony orchestra repertoire. But what will he do with the RSNO and Brahms? This is the chance to find out. Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 13 Jan; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 14 Jan.

Scottish Opera/RCS: Betrothal in a Monastery With no sign of a seven-year itch, the partnership between Scottish Opera and the Royal Conservatoire continues to blossom as they enter their seventh successful year together. It’s the third Prokofiev opera they’ve done and promises sparkling wit and unforgettable melodies. Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Fri 20 and Sat 21 Jan; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 26 and Sat 28 Jan.

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £9.50. String students play chamber music.

Saturday 14

Glasgow ✽✽ RSNO: Norrington Conducts Brahms Glasgow Royal Concert

Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £11–£34. See Fri 13.

Edinburgh David Christophersen: Prokofiev War Sonatas 1 Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh, Bristo Sq, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £16 (£9). Piano recital featuring works by Martinu, Kabalevsky and Prokofiev (Sonata Op 82).

Sunday 15 Glasgow FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3–3.45pm. See Sun 8.

Monday 16

Glasgow Lauryna Sableviciute Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £6 (£4). Lithuanian pianist performs works by contemporary Scottish composers, including John De Simone, Drew Hammond and Jane Stanley. FREE BBC SSO: Discovering Music Schoenberg City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 2pm. Presenter Stephen Johnson explores Schoenberg’s brutally uncompromising Erwartung, with conductor Matthias Pintscher and soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet. Tickets limited to two per application. Ages 12+.

Tuesday 17

Glasgow RCS Bach Prize for Harpsichord, Piano and Organ Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew St, 332 5057. 5pm. £3. Keyboard students compete in performances of works by everyone’s favourite Kapellmeister, JS Bach. Edinburgh Emma Versteeg: Emerging Artists Series Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 11am. £2. Emerging soprano performs songs by Haydn, Britten, Ravel, Wolf and Copland. Sam Hutchings (piano) accompanies.

Wednesday 18 Thursday 19

Glasgow Jane Irwin Pollok House, Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, 0844 493 2202. 7.30pm. £16 (£5). Mezzo-soprano in recital. Katherine Jenkins SECC, Finnieston Quay, 0844 395 4000. 7.30pm. £27.50–£65. Welsh crossover star. RCS String Department Concert Glasgow BBC SSO: Schumann Cello Concerto & Pintscher Premiere City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£23. Mendelssohn’s Overture: The Fair Melusine, Schumann’s highly experimental Cello Concerto, Brahms’ Symphony No 3 and a new work by SSO Artist-in- Association Matthias Pintscher.

Never been to the opera? Try it for free. k.

Get a taster at Hansel & Gretel Unwrapped where the orchestra, singers and back stage crew introduce you to the plot, characters and music and let you in on some behind-the-scenes secrets.

Glasgow 7 Feb | Edinburgh 15 Feb

For more info visit scottishopera.org.uk Registered in Scotland Number SCO37531 Scottish Charity Number SCO19787

5 Jan–2 Feb 2012 THE LIST 97