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MUSIC | Classical C L A S S I C A L
SONG CYCLE WATCHING OVER YOU St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow, Tue 19 May; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Wed 20 May
Mother’s Day in the UK will be long over when Red Note Ensemble premiere their new commission in celebration of motherhood. But the equivalent in the US and Canada, both countries with which mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill (pictured) has close associations, will have just happened. The first performance of Watching Over You with Cargill in the solo role is therefore rather timely. A cycle of seven songs with specially written poems by Dilys Rose and set to music by composer Rory Boyle, it explores what it’s like to be a mother, especially in the first, often baffling, early days. The piece has grown out of the developing artistic
relationships between Rose, Boyle and Cargill. ‘Karen was a relatively new mother at the time we started to talk about doing something together and she was really interested in a new piece about motherhood,’ explains Rose. ‘The songs are really varied and cover a wide range of a mother’s emotions.’
Scored for an ensemble of ten instrumentalists plus voice, they move from conception and pregnancy through to the arrival of a baby and post-natal depression. ‘Then there’s looking after a sick child, and trying to get a child to sleep, and then the last, possibly terrifying, moment when a child leaves home and goes to school,’ says Rose. ‘There’s joy there, but also rage and fear. It’s an exhausting business being a mother and it can also be isolating.’ For those audience members who are parents, Rose hopes that there will be emotions with which they can identify. It is not, however, a piece with any sort of overt message. As Rose says: ‘first and foremost, it is music.’ (Carol Main)
CLASSICAL HIGHLIGHTS
HITLIST
SCOTTISH OPERA: JENUFA Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 7, Thu 9 and Sat 11 Apr, atgtickets.com/venues/ theatre-royal-glasgow/ Janá! ek’s Jenufa is an emotional rollercoaster that is moving, dramatic and brimful of stunningly expressive music. Also Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Thu 16 & Sat 18 Apr, edtheatres.com. BBC SSO: BRUCKNER 4 City Halls, Candleriggs, Thu 17 Apr, glasgowconcerthalls. com Bruckner’s 4th Symphony and Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, with English mezzo Alice Coote bringing Mahler’s settings to life. Also Music Hall, Aberdeen, Fri 18 Apr, aberdeenperformingarts. com
TECTONICS GLASGOW The Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Fri 1 May, glasgowconcerthalls. com The BBC SSO’s festival of contemporary music. See feature, list.co.uk
102 THE LIST 2 Apr–4 Jun 2015
20 Apr, hebridesensemble.org.uk. The ensemble plays horn quintets by Mozart and James MacMillan. Also Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, Tue 21 Apr, thebrunton.co.uk and Perth Concert Hall, Mon 20 Apr (lunchtime), horsecross.co.uk
RSNO: SØNDERGÅRD CONDUCTS EROICA Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 24 Apr, usherhall.co.uk Beethoven’s complex, dramatic and varied Symphony No 3 is coupled with Nielsen’s Violin Concerto featuring James Ehnes, and Sibelius’ tuneful Karelia Suite. Thomas Søndergård (pictured) conducts. Also Caird Hall, Dundee, Thu 23 Apr,
NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF SCOTLAND City Halls, Candleriggs, Tue 7 Apr, glasgowconcerthalls.com Nicholas Collon conducts musicians aged between 13 and 25 in Strauss’s Macbeth, Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 2 and a Rachmaninov piano concerto with James Willshire as the featured soloist.
EDINBURGH YOUTH ORCHESTRA Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 11 Apr, usherhall.co.uk Sian Edwards conducts Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Strauss’s Oboe Concerto with guest soloist Julian Scott, and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Also Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Sun 12, boxoffice.rcs.ac.uk
CZECH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
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í B! Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 19 Apr, usherhall.co.uk Ji! conducts Smetana’s Bartered Bride Suite; Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor; Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending and Dvo! ák’s Symphony No. 7 in D minor. With guest soloist Josef Špa! ek (violin).
HEBRIDES ENSEMBLE: HORN QUINTETS Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, Mon
cairdhall.co.uk and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 24 Apr, glasgowconcerthalls.com
A TRIBUTE TO STEVE MARTLAND Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sat 2 May, glasgowconcerthalls.com Steve Martland’s untimely death in 2013 robbed the musical world of one of its most accessible composers. This tribute features a generous fistful of his works, including Drill, Patrol, Starry Night and the jaunty Horses of Instruction, together with pieces by Glass, Reich and others.
SIR JOHN IN LOVE Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, Sat 9, Mon 11, Wed 13, Fri 15 May, boxoffice.rcs.ac.uk The RCS opera department stages Ralph Vaughan Williams’ seldom- seen version of Shakespeare’s rom- com The Merry Wives of Windsor.
SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: THE CREATION Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 14 May, usherhall.co.uk Harry Christophers conducts Haydn’s great oratorio. With guest soloists Sophie Bevan, Andrew Staples, Markus Werba and the SCO Chorus. Also City Halls, Glasgow, Fri 15 May, glasgowconcerthalls.com