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Church, 5 Lothian Rd, 229 1142. 4.30pm. Organ music for Advent and Christmas, with mulled wine and mince pies available afterwards. Jubilo Christmas Concert Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place, greyfriarskirk.com 7.30–9.30pm. £tbc. Christmas carol concert.
Sunday 23
Glasgow BBC SSO: Christmas at the Movies City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 3pm. £10.50–£23.50 (under 16s £5). A celebration of the music that the Academy Awards considered Oscar- worthy this year. Edinburgh The RSNO Christmas Concert: The Snowman Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 3pm. £12.50–£34 (£6.25–£17). See Sat 22.
Thursday 27
Glasgow Raymond Gubbay Christmas Festival: Tchaikovsky Spectacular Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall St, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £22–£32.50. For those who haven’t eaten enough sweets this Christmas, have some Tchaikovsky: Barry Francisco Pérez conducts the finale to Swan Lake and extracts from the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, then Alexandra Dariescu is guest soloist for Piano Concerto No 1. Finally, the ‘1812’ Overture.
Saturday 29 Glasgow Raymond Gubbay: HMS Pinafore Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall St, 353 8000. 3pm. £22–£32.50. Gilbert & Sullivan’s highly entertaining story of naval shenanigans, presented in a semi-staged concert performance with the Scottish Concert Orchestra, Gilbert and Sullivan Chorus and conductor Richard Balcombe.
Sunday 30 Edinburgh Raymond Gubbay: HMS Pinafore Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 3pm. £15.50–£34. See Sat 29.
Monday 31
Glasgow Raymond Gubbay Christmas Festival Hogmanay Gala Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall St, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £24.50–£37.50. Jamie MacDougall presents a series of popular classics by Rossini, Bizet, Strauss and others, plus Scottish favourites. Edinburgh Candlelit Concert in St Giles Cathedral St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 0844 573 8455. 7.30pm. £16. Music of Vivaldi and Bach performed by the St Giles’ Cathedral Choir and Camerata. Part of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay.
Tuesday 1
Edinburgh Scottish Chamber Orchestra: New Year in Vienna Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 7pm. £10–£29. A New Year’s gala evening featuring The Blue Danube and the Radetzky March, among other Austro-Hungarian baubles. Conducted by Thomas Rösner with soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon. In aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Wednesday 2 Edinburgh Edinburgh Royal Choral Union: Messiah Usher Hall, Lothian Rd,
228 1155. noon. £19–£26 (£12–£16). The Union’s annual performance of Handel’s oratorio is, after 126 years, an Edinburgh institution. Martyn Brabbins conducts the Edinburgh Pro Musica Orchestra, St Magnus Festival Chorus and guest soloists.
Tuesday 8
Edinburgh Sax Ecosse: Emerging Artists Series Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 11am. £3 (free for schools and students). The saxophone quartet performs original and specially- arranged pieces. Get Organised: John Kitchen Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 1.10pm. £3. Organ music for celebration, by Praetorius, Handel, JS Bach, Hovland and Lefébure-Wély. Peebles Steven Osborne Eastgate Theatre & Arts Centre, Eastgate, 01721 725777. 7.30pm. £13 (schoolchildren free). See Sat 5.
Thursday 10
Glasgow Maxwell Quartet The Merchant House, 7 West George St, 649 5347. 12.45pm. £8 (£7; students/children £4). Young chamber ensemble plays quartet music by Haydn and others. Edinburgh Scottish Chamber Orchestra: The Great C Major The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk St, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £10–£29 (£5–£27; under 16s free). Beethoven’s ’Coriolan’ Overture, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No 1 with soloist Francesco Piemontesi, and Schubert’s innovative Symphony No 9. Young German maestro David Afkham conducts.
Friday 11
Glasgow Scottish Chamber Orchestra: The Great C Major City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £13–£27 (£5–£25; under 16s free). See Thu 10. Steven Osborne Cairns Church, 11 Buchanan St, Milngavie, stevenosborne. co.uk 7.30pm. £5–£10 (schoolchildren free). See Sat 5.
Saturday 12 Glasgow FREE John Keys Renfield St Stephen’s Church, 260 Bath St, 332 2826. 1pm. Recital by eminent Nottingham organist. One Night in Vienna Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall St, 353 8000. 3pm & 7.30pm. £18.50–£29.50. Can’t get enough of your waltzes? Rainer Hersch presents the Johann Strauss Dancers in collaboration with the Johann Strauss Orchestra featuring soprano Charlotte Ellis. FREE BBC SSO: Hear and Now – John Zorn 60th Birthday City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. Surely the USA’s most mercurial composer can’t be 60? Ilan Volkov conducts a birthday concert of Zorn’s less eardrum-busting and more tuneful repertoire, including Orchestra Variations, La Machine de l’être featuring Finnish soprano Anu Komsi, the world premiere of the BBC-commissioned Suppôts et Supplications, the lovely Kol Nidre and finally Aporias with Stephen Drury (piano). Expect to be stimulated.
Sunday 13 Edinburgh One Night in Vienna Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 3pm. £17.50– £30. See Sat 12.
Tuesday 15
Glasgow Steven Osborne Pollok House, Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Rd, 0844 493 2202. 7.30–9.30pm. £6–£16. See Sat 5. Edinburgh Jemma Brown with Maryam Sherhan: Emerging Artists Series Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 11am. £3 (free for students and schools). Brown (mezzo) and Sherhan (piano) in recital. Get Organised: John Kitchen Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 1.10pm. £3. Organ concertos by Handel, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn and JS Bach.
Thursday 17
Glasgow BBC SSO: Volkov conducts Polish Visionaries City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10.50–£23.50. Ilan Volkov conducts Szymanowski’s Songs of a Fairytale Princess and Songs of the Infatuated Muezzin, plus Lutoslawksi’s Symphony No 4 and Concerto for Orchestra. Also featuring Iwona Sobotka (soprano). Edinburgh Navarra String Quartet Brunton Theatre, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, 665 2240. 7.30pm. £14 (£12). Xander Van Vliet, Marije Ploemacher, Simone van der Giessen and Nathaniel Boyd play Smetana’s String Quartet No 1 ‘From My Life’ and Dvorák’s American String Quintet. Scottish Chamber Orchestra: The Little C Major The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk St, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £10–£29 (£5–£27; under 16s free). Richard Egarr (fortepiano) conducts Beethoven’s ’Prometheus’ Overture, Schubert’s Symphony No 6 and Dussek’s Piano Concerto in G Minor Op 49.
Friday 18
Glasgow Women in the Shadows: Rebecca Clarke and the Romantics Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew St, 332 5057. 1pm. £tbc. Works by Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Sofia Gubaidulina and neglected composer Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979), perhaps the greatest British woman composer of the inter-war years, performed by Lawrence Power (violin/viola) and Sophia Rahman (piano). Scottish Chamber Orchestra: The Little C Major City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £13–£27 (£5–£25; under 16s free). See Thu 17. Vicente Amigo and Carminho Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall St, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £23– £20. Flamenco guitarist Amigo shares a bill with Portuguese fado star Carmo Rebele de Andrade, aka Carminho. Edinburgh FREE Edinburgh Quartet Heriot- Watt University Union, Riccarton, 451 5333. 12.30pm. The quartet plays Haydn’s Quartet in E flat Major Op 33 No 2 ‘Joke’ and Purcell’s Fantasy. Edinburgh Quartet Teviot, Bristo Square, 650 4673. 9pm. £tbc. Quartet plays Purcell’s Fantasia and Nigel Osborne’s Star Gazing.
Saturday 19 Edinburgh Le Petit Concert Baroque St Cecilia’s Hall, Niddry St, 668 2019. 7.45pm. £17 (£15; students £5). French sisters Chani and Nadja Lesaulnier play works by le Roux and Couperin along with their own arrangement of Handel’s Water Music on twin harpsichords. Presented by the Georgian Concert Society.
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✽ Ludus Baroque: Christmas Oratorio In
a move from their traditional venue of Canongate Kirk, Ludus Baroque make a shift to the Queen’s Hall for their eagerly anticipated annual period instrument performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 14 Dec.
✽ The RSNO Christmas Concert: The Snowman
Christmas concert for all the family, with the magic of The Snowman on the big screen, accompanied by a symphony orchestra. There are festive melodies and sing-a-long carols to make sure that everyone is very firmly in the mood for Christmas. Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 22 Dec, 2pm & 6pm; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 23 Dec.
✽ BBC SSO: Hear and Now − John Zorn 60th Birthday Punk jazz, klezmer, metal and improvisation are all part of the musical palette of American composer John Zorn. In a 60th birthday tribute, the BBC SSO give Scottish audiences a rare chance to hear his music live. And it’s free of charge. (Carol Main) City Halls, Glasgow, Sat 12 Jan.
Tuesday 22
Edinburgh FREE Edinburgh Quartet Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh, Bristo Square, 651 3212. 1.10pm. Haydn’s Quartet Op 33 no 2 and, by way of contrast, Shostakovich’s sombre Quartet No 8. Get Organised: John Kitchen Usher Hall, Lothian Rd, 228 1155. 1.10pm. A tribute to the organ music of Franck, including Pastorale, Andantino in G minor, Prélude, Fugue et Variation and the Choral No 3 in A minor.
Thursday 24
Glasgow Kiryl Keduk The Merchant House, 7 West George St, 649 5347. 12.45pm. £8 (£7; students/children £4). Belarussian pianist in recital. BBC SSO: Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 2pm. £tbc. Schubert’s Overture to ‘Rosamunde’, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 3 featuring young violin virtuoso Stefan Jackiw; Rossini’s ’Italian Girl in Algiers’ Overture and finally Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 4 13 Dec 2012–24 Jan 2013 THE LIST 129