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SCENIC SPOTS, ORCHESTRAL SOUNDS LAMMERMUIR FESTIVAL Various venues, East Lothian, Fri 13–Sun 22 Sep
‘Beautiful music in beautiful places’ is the unambiguous strapline for East Lothian’s Lammermuir Festival, now in its fourth year. It is a dual aim which has been in place from the outset and one which artistic directors Hugh Macdonald and James Waters hold onto very firmly indeed. Beautiful places for this September’s festival include two new venues, the visually striking Loretto School Chapel in Musselburgh and the Abbey Church in North Berwick. Next year, there are likely to be even more, such is the wealth of interesting and often hidden gems East Lothian has to offer.
‘The most exciting thing this year,’ says James Waters, ‘is that we are here, in our fourth year, with continued support from the local authority, Creative Scotland and Event Scotland. People really enjoy the combination of world class – even though I don’t usually like that phrase – high quality music in unusual places.’
Although there is no large-scale spectacular piece this year, as
Waters is keen that the programme itself should be the star attraction, one particular highlight is sure to be the new commission by Bill Sweeney for the festival’s artist in residence, horn player Alec Frank- Gemmill (pictured) and the NYCoS National Girls Choir in Haddington’s glorious St Mary’s Parish Church. ‘Bill did so well for us last year with Tantallon and it’s fantastic that we have this very individual voice writing for the festival again.’ Frank-Gemmill, who is principal horn with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, appears in a number of festival events, including as soloist in Strauss’s Horn Concerto No 1 for the opening concert in Dunbar, and Brahms at Lunchtime – a timeslot that is increasingly popular with audiences – in Haddington’s Holy Trinity Church. Programming is a mix of new and old, and other artists include Red Note Ensemble, the King’s Singers and Hebrides Ensemble with oboist Francois Leleux. (Carol Main)
Saturday 14 Haddington Francois Leleux and Hebrides Ensemble Yester House, Gifford. 3pm. £25. Charismatic French oboe maestro Francois Leleux and the Hebrides Ensemble play Mozart’s Oboe Quartet in F K370, Bridge’s Lament; Britten’s Metamorphoses after Ovid, Bevan- Baker’s Duo and Mozart’s Quintet in C minor K406. Part of Lammermuir Festival. BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra St Mary’s Parish Church, The Sidegate, 01620 829354. 8pm. £12–£25. Martyn Brabbins conducts Glinka’s Overture, ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’, Britten’s Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5. Anthony Marwood (violin) is guest soloist. Part of Lammermuir Festival.
Motherwell Martin Aelred: An Evening in Tuscany Motherwell Civic Centre, Windmill Hill Street, martinaelred.info 7.30–9.30pm. £10. See Thu 29. Selkirk Scottish Chamber Orchestra Victoria Hall, The High Street, 01750 21382. 7.30pm. £5–£14. See Thu 12.
Sunday 15
Edinburgh Stile Antico Loretto School, Linkfield Road, Musselburgh, stileantico.co.uk 7.30pm. £10–£20. Choral works by Morley, White, Weelkes and Taverner, plus Gibbons’ rousing O clap your hands together, Tallis’ Salvator Mundi and Byrd’s magnificent Mass in 5 Parts. Part of Lammermuir Festival.
Dunfermline Scottish Chamber Orchestra Carnegie Hall, East Port, 01383 602302. 7.30pm. £14 (seniors £12; under 16 and other concessions £5). Music for a late summer’s evening, including Beethoven’s lyrical Symphony No 4, Kodály’s wistful and folk-like Summer Evening and Strauss’ melodic Horn Concerto No 1. North Berwick Aronowitz Ensemble Abbey Church, High Street, aronowitzensemble. co.uk 3pm. £15. The Aronowitz Three pieces tinged with fantasy: Bridge’s Phantasy Piano Quartet, Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces Op 88 and Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E Flat K493. Part of Lammermuir Festival.
Pitlochry Royal Scottish National Orchestra Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Port Na Craig, 01796 484626. 8pm. £19–£25 (members £17–£23). Michael Nesterowicz conducts Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersinger and ‘Overture’ to Tannhäuser, Massenet’s ‘Méditation’ from Thaïs, and Brahms’ Symphony No 1.
Monday 16
Edinburgh Aronowitz Ensemble Loretto School, Linkfield Road, Musselburgh, aronowitzensemble.co.uk 7.30pm. £10–£20. The ensemble plays Strauss’ Sextet from ‘Capriccio’, Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 28 in the rarely heard quintet version, featuring pianist Tom Poster, and Brahms’ String Quintet No 2. Part of Lammermuir Festival. Ayr The Organist Entertains Ayr Town Hall, Carrick Street, 01292 611222. 12–1pm. £2. See Mon 26.
Dunbar Stile Antico St Anne’s Episcopal Church, Westgate, stileantico.co.uk 3pm. £15. Renaissance music by Tomkins, Sheppard, Clemens non Papa, Lassus, Byrd, Tallis, Vivanco and Praetorius and also John McCabe’s contemporary Woefully arrayed, written especially for the group. Part of Lammermuir Festival.
Tuesday 17
Haddington Music at Lennoxlove Lennoxlove House, lammermuirfestival.co.uk 8pm. £25. Katy Bircher (baroque flute) and James Johnstone (harpsichord) play 18th century music by Corelli, Telemann, Muffat, Locatelli and Bach in the medieval great hall of Lennoxlove House. Part of Lammermuir Festival.
Wednesday 18
Glasgow Matthew Collings City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 8pm. £6 (£3). Contemporary electronic music. With support from Seth Rozanoff. Presented by sound lab. Mr McFall’s Chamber: Freak Out The Glad Café, 1006a Pollokshaws Road, 636 6119. 8pm. £10. Music by American mavericks, including Zappa’s exhilarating G-Spot Tornado and Crumb’s Idyll for the Misbegotten, as well as new works by Paul Harrison (The Dust Blows Forward) and an as yet untitled piece by Martin Kershaw. Haddington Brahms at Lunchtime Holy Trinity Church, 01620 823738. 1pm. £10 (students £5). Alec Frank-Gemmill plays Beethoven’s Horn Sonata Op 17 and Brahms’ Horn Trio Op 40 with Alexander Janiczek (violin) and Simon Smith (piano), who also plays Brahms’ sublime Intermezzi Op 117. Part of Lammermuir Festival.
Classical | MUSIC
HITLIST THE BEST CLASSICAL & OPERA
✽ Mr McFall’s Chamber: Freak Out You can rely on McFall’s to put a different slant on instrumental music performance in Scotland. For their September tour, they turn to the controversial subjects of Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart (pictured), George Crumb and California’s 1960s freak scene. The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, Wed 18 Sep; Liquid Room, Edinburgh Thu 19 Sep; Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, Fri 20 Sep.
✽ BBC SSO: Thomas Hampson Sings Mahler
Total knock-out evening of Mahler – plus a little bit of Britten – gets the BBC SSO’s season off to a flying start. Mahler’s wonderfully evocative song settings will be heard in sensational style from American baritone Thomas Hampson, who even keeps going to perform post-concert classic American songs with conductor Donald Runnicles on the piano. City Halls, Glasgow, Thu 19 Sep.
The King’s Singers St Mary’s Parish Church, The Sidegate, 01620 829354. 7.30pm. £10–£25. Motets from Gesualdo and Poulenc as well as pieces by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns, Sullivan and Stainer. Part of Lammermuir Festival.
Thursday 19
Glasgow BBC SSO: Thomas Hampson Sings Mahler City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £11–£24. American baritone sings a selection of songs from Mahler, preceded by Britten’s The Building of the House and all wrapped up with Mahler’s majestic Symphony No 5. Donald Runnicles conducts. Edinburgh Mr McFall’s Chamber: Freak Out The Liquid Room, 9c Victoria Street, 225 2564. 8pm. £14 (£12). See Wed 18.
Dunfermline The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Scotland Concert Series Carnegie Hall, East Port, 01383 602302. 7.30pm. £13 (£11; season £52 concession £44). Military band concerts featuring a variety of styles, from big band to classical pieces. Also a chance to see the famed Royal Marines Corps of Drums. Haddington Literary Britten Holy Trinity Church, 01620 823738. 7.30pm. £15. Andrew Kennedy sings Britten and Auden’s On this Island and Fish in the Unruffled Lakes with accompaniment from Iain Burnside (piano) and readings from Auden’s work by Alex Jennings (who recently played Britten in Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art). Part of Lammermuir Festival.
22 Aug–19 Sep 2013 THE LIST 81