Highlights | MUSIC Highlights | MUSIC CLASSICAL
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CLASSICAL / CONTEMPORARY SEAN SHIBE: SOFTLOUD St Monans Church, St Monans, Thu 29 Jun; Dreel Hall, Anstruther, Fri 30 Jun; The Space @ Niddry Street, Edinburgh, Mon 21–Sat 26 Aug
Proudly bearing a highly coveted Royal Philharmonic Society trophy, awarded in London in May, it’s the second time that the East Neuk Festival has received this prestigious endorsement of its work in engaging audiences. But never complacent, each year’s festival brings something new to East Neuk followers. This year, guitarist Sean Shibe premieres his project softLOUD which brings together Scottish music of the 16th–18th centuries by the likes of James Oswald and Lady Wemyss with contemporary music for electric guitar, inspired by current affairs in his native Scotland.
As an initiative which aims to break down genre barriers in music, it’s an innovative approach that is also a tangible reminder that rock’s electric guitar started off life way back as the much gentler lute. ‘When I was asked by East Neuk what I might want to do, I was feeling angry,’ says Shibe. ‘We’d had Brexit and Trump, and as someone in my early 20s I wanted to play raucous, loud music on electric guitar. I wanted to do something that would sum up the emotions of Scotland’s young people. There’s been a lot of political flux and I sometimes feel classical music hasn’t represented that enough.’ In softLOUD, Shibe plays classical guitar repertoire, some of it very definitely in the soft and sweet category, but also Peter Maxwell Davies’ universally loved ‘Farewell to Stromness’, written as an anti-nuclear protest, driving the programme towards the louder music to come. ‘The show ends in a cathartic outpouring of grief and anger,’ he says. ‘Slowly wailing, ancient, grieving, “LAD” was written after the death of a friend of its composer Julia Wolfe, and David Lang’s “Killer” is abrupt and ironclad in its fury’. (Carol Main)
CLASSICAL HIGHLIGHTS
HITLIST
GLASGOW EDINBURGH
RSNO: MAHLER THREE Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 3 Jun Bringing their 2016/17 season to a close, the RSNO and music director Peter Oundjian turn to Mahler and one of the biggest symphonies ever written, his third. The orchestra is specially expanded for the occasion, with mezzo soloist, female chorus and RSNO Junior Chorus all joining in. Also Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 2 Jun.
CALTON CONSORT Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Jun Top notch voices of the Calton Consort are heard in a summery programme inspired by the theme of flowers. American composer Morten Lauridsen turns to the French poetry of German writer Rainer Maria Rilke for his setting of five songs about roses. For Britten, daffodils, primroses and marsh flowers are the inspiration of his Five Flower Songs.
SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE: EASTERN EUROPE EXPRESS Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, Wed 7 Jun, scottishensemble. co.uk The Scottish Ensemble whizz their audience to Poland and the inventive style of Graznya Bacewicz, then France, where Polish composer Frederic Chopin wrote his Op 37 and Op 55 Nocturnes, and finally off to the Czech Republic and the rich romanticism of Dvorák‘s String Quintet in G major arranged for string orchestra. All in the capable hands of tour guide violinist Bartosz Woroch.
HANS ZIMMER The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Sun 18 Jun, thessehydro.com He’s written music for over 150 films and there will no doubt be some that are very familiar in Hans Florian Zimmer’s Glasgow appearance as part of a UK/European tour. Often integrating electronic music with classical orchestral sounds, his scores include The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Dark Knight trilogy.
TINDERBOX ORCHESTRA Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, Sun 4 Jun, hiddendoorblog.org A contemporary youth orchestra that’s a fusion of instruments, styles and people, including original compositions and collaborations. Part of Hidden Door festival.
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SCOTTISH OPERA: LA BOHÈME Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Sun 4, Tue 6, Thu 8 Jun, edtheatres. com Inspired by the jazz age,
this new production of Puccini’s classic score is set in the flea markets of Paris, with all the colour and style that the director / designer team of Renaud Doucet and André Barbe are known for.
SUNDAY CLASSICS: SWR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA STUTTGART Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 25 Jun, usherhall.co.uk The Usher Hall’s highly successful Sunday afternoon series comes to a close with the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart. Hear them in Mahler’s first symphony with the outstanding conductor Christoph Eschenbach.
OUT OF TOWN
MUSIC AT PAXTON Paxton House and Country Park, Paxton, Sat 15 Jul Award-winning Carducci Quartet join forces with Scottish harp and wind players, including Emma Wilkins (flute) and Calum Robertson (clarinet) for Ravel’s shimmeringly beautiful Introduction and Allegro. String quartets in the first half by Shostakovich and Philip Glass.
1 Jun–31 Aug 2017 THE LIST 95