MUSIC | Classical
Scottish Opera’s Anamchara – Songs of Friendship Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 2.30pm & 6.30pm. £6. See Fri 25. Scottish Ensemble Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 8.30pm. £5. The Scottish Ensemble, the UK’s only professional string orchestra, is one of the most versatile and exploratory ensembles in the country. Jonathan Morton directs Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Interspersed with Vivaldi’s Concerto for 4 violins in B minor, RV 580, ‘Autumn’ from The Four Seasons, featuring Nicola Benedetti, and Concerto for strings in G minor RV 156. Classics Marathon Day.
Sunday 27
Glasgow Scottish Opera’s Anamchara – Songs of Friendship Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 2.30pm. £6. See Fri 25. Berwick upon Tweed Pure Brass Paxton House and Country Park, Paxton, 01289 386291. 3–4pm. £7.50 (free). Versatile young brass quintet of Andrew Connell-Smith (trumpet), Ian Archibald (trumpet), Christopher Gough (French horn), Christopher Mansfield (trombone) and Danielle Price (tuba), with a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. An open-air concert (weather permitting). Music at Paxton. Scottish Ensemble Paxton House and Country Park, Paxton, 01289 386291. 6pm. £22 (£11). The Scottish Ensemble, the UK’s only professional string orchestra, is one of the most versatile and exploratory ensembles in the country. Richard Strauss’ Sextet from Capriccio, Boccherini’s Sextet in F minor, Op 23 no 4, Puccini’s Crisantemi and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence. Music at Paxton.
Tuesday 29
Glasgow FREE Musical Interludes Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 3.30–6.30pm. See Sat 26. Scokendia Ensemble Glasgow Green, Greendyke Street, glasgow.gov. uk 4.30pm. £tbc. See Thu 24. Scottish Opera: Madama Butterfly Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 7.15pm. £11–£73. Puccini’s famous tale of Cio-Cio San and her abandonment by her dashing American husband, in a revival by Elaine Kidd of the highly successful 2000 production originally directed by David McVicar. Edinburgh FREE Cameron Grant Henderson’s Vegetarian Restaurant, 94 Hanover Street, 225 2131. 6.45pm. See Tue 15.
Glasgow FREE Musical Interludes Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 3.30–6.30pm. See Sat 26. Stirling Scottish Chamber Orchestra Stirling Castle, Old Town, 01786 450000. 8pm. £tbc. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is recognised as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world and tours extensively in Scotland as well as internationally. Alexandre Bloch conducts this concert which also features young guitar virtuoso Sean Shibe.
Wednesday 30
Glasgow ✽Scokendia Ensemble Glasgow Green, Greendyke Street, glasgow.
gov.uk 1pm. £tbc. See Thu 24.
106 THE LIST 10 Jul–21 Aug 2014
FRIENDSHIP OPERA ANAMCHARA Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Fri 25–Sun 27 Jul Scottish Opera makes its mark on the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme with a new opera – Anamchara. The title, meaning ‘soul-friend’, is taken from ancient Celtic tradition, and it’s the inspiration for the work’s ‘Songs of Friendship’, written by Scottish novelist Alexander McCall Smith with a new score by composer Pippa Murphy. Appropriately for a cultural celebration of the Commonwealth Games, the performances will involve a multicultural cast, with two of the principal roles taken by Scottish Opera emerging artists, and a chorus of 35 voices from Maryhill bringing a direct link with Glasgow’s own diverse local community. Countries including India, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Botswana (with which McCall Smith has a particular bond) and Scotland are all represented. There are seven songs in the new opera, each symbolising different themes of friendship as experienced through everyone’s lives, from children to teenagers, from young adults to the twilight years. It’s about sharing, drawing on commonality and the reflection that life is better when people are brought together. ‘Anamchara takes us through the journey of what friendship is – what friendship can be, what it means to us,’ says co-director and Scottish Opera emerging artist Lissa Lorenzo. ‘It can be the struggles we sometimes have to keep friendships alive, and the support we get from having people in our lives who we can call friends.’ In recognition of how friendships grow from small beginnings, Scottish Opera’s technical team is creating an onstage garden. In the same way as flowers with colour and beauty start off as tiny seeds, good friendships blossom best through careful nurturing – with thoughtful feeding and watering never going amiss. ‘With friends in our lives, our lives are improved,’ says Lorenzo. ‘We bask in the warmth of having good people around us.’ (Carol Main)
Thursday 31 Saturday 2
Glasgow FREE Musical Interludes Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 3.30–6.30pm. See Sat 26. Scokendia Ensemble Merchant Square, 71–73 Albion Street, 552 3038. 6.30pm. £tbc. See Thu 24. Scottish Opera: Madama Butterfly Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 7.15pm. £11–£73. See Tue 29.
Friday 1 Glasgow FREE New Music Biennial Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. Times vary. Special weekend showcase featuring a broad range of new work, by composers including Matthew Herbert, Mary Ann Kennedy, Dobrinka Tabakova and LAU. FREE Musical Interludes Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 3.30–6.30pm. See Sat 26. Scokendia Ensemble Kelvingrove Bandstand and Amphitheatre, Kelvingrove Park. 5pm. £tbc. See Thu 24.
Glasgow FREE New Music Biennial Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. Times vary. See Fri 1. FREE Musical Interludes Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 3.30–6.30pm. See Sat 26. FREE Matthew Herbert: 20 Pianos Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 4.45pm. See feature, page 29. Mr McFall’s Chamber: On the Shore of the Mind Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7pm. £5–£9. Soprano Susan Hamilton joins the McFall’s strings for this special programme examining
Scotland’s links with the Caribbean. National Youth Orchestra of Scotland Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £15 (£10; under 16s £6). A 35th Anniversary Gala Concert: Michael Francis conducts Walton’s Johannesburg Festival Overture, Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony and Sally Beamish’s Trumpet Concerto featuring the great Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet) as soloist.
Sunday 3 Glasgow Scottish Opera: Madama Butterfly Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 4pm. £11–£73. See Tue 29.
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