list.co.uk/music list.co.uk/music C L A S S I C A L
I T N A G L R A K
: O T O H P
Classical | MUSIC
MUSIC THEATRE HEBRIDES ENSEMBLE: RESTLESS LOVE Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Mon 20 Nov; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Wed 22 Nov
At first glance, cabaret artist Meow Meow – who captivated full houses at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival – and German lieder by Schubert and Schumann sound an unlikely, if not impossible, pairing. However, in Dutch composer Reinbert de Leeuw’s transformational reimagining of the romantic texts of Schubert’s ‘Winterreise’ and Schumann’s ‘Dichterliebe’ – ‘A Poet’s Love’ – the intimacy of emotion becomes something raw and guttural, and Meow Meow is just the person for the job. With two performances of Restless Love, orchestrated for 14-piece classical forces, Hebrides Ensemble presents this darkly compelling take on love and loss for the first time in Scotland. ‘It’s a piece I’ve wanted to do for a long time’, says artistic director, William Conway. ‘The question was who to do it with, but we always had Meow Meow in mind as someone who would really get under the skin of it. When you meet her, she is actually a very quiet person, and you wouldn’t expect what she can do on stage, but she is a stage animal, a huge extrovert.’ Reinbert de Leeuw has structured 21 songs by Schubert and
Schumann – including the title number ‘Im wunderschönen Monat Mai’ – in three groups of seven (similar to Schoenberg’s ‘Pierrot Lunaire’) and although their music is very clearly present, he has reworked it into a music-theatre piece in which the words are sometimes sung, sometimes spoken, or delivered in sprechgesang, a vocal technique somewhere between the two. Sharply focused, direct and earthy, ‘it’s expressing the emotions in an exaggerated way,’ says Conway, ‘and is a legitimate interpretation of the music that has inspired it. If Hebrides is about anything, it’s about keeping people guessing, and not following patterns. Just as long as Meow Meow doesn’t do any crowd-surfing this time.’ (Carol Main)
CLASSICAL HIGHLIGHTS
HITLIST
SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE AND VANISHING POINT: TABULA
RASA Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 9–Sat 11 Nov See preview, page 118. Also Tramway, Glasgow, Wed 22–Fri 24 Nov.
SONICA Tramway, Glasgow, Wed 1 & Thu 2 Nov Much to tantalise in this visual sonic arts festival, but Shorelines is a highlight. Inspired by the North Sea Flood of 1953, which devastated the Netherlands and took almost 400 lives in the UK, this latest Cryptic show explores the beauty and catastrophic power of the sea at a time of increased uncertainty surrounding climate change.
SCOTTISH OPERA: LA EDINBURGH QUARTET
TRAVIATA Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Wed 15, Sun 19, Tue 21, Thu 23, Sat 25 Nov Sir David McVicar’s production is a stunner, featuring Russian- Dutch soprano Gulnara Shafigullina. Also Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 30 Nov, Sat 2 Dec.
RSNO: MENDELSSOHN VIOLIN CONCERTO
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 8 Dec Stunning young American- Korean violinist Esther Yoo makes her RSNO debut Also Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 9 Dec.
City Halls, Glasgow, Thu 9 Nov What a great programme of string quartets from Scotland’s longest established and busiest string quartet. What’s not to like about Janácˇ ek’s ‘Intimate Letters’, inspired by a married woman almost 40 years younger than him, a new quartet by young Scottish composer Tom Harrold, and the darkly coloured gorgeousness of Tchaikovsky’s second quartet. Also Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 12 Nov.
ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, Sat 18 Nov At just over 100 miles, it’s not too far for the Northern Sinfonia to whizz up the east coast to Musselburgh for a rare orchestral
P H O T O :
I
N C H O N G L E R U M
Sonica
night at the Brunton. And it’s all good, popular stuff with No 1’s from Bach (Brandenburg Concerto), Bruch (Violin Concerto) and Mendelssohn (Symphony).
FRETWORK St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, Edinburgh, Sat 18 Nov Described as ‘the finest viol consort on the planet’, there’s nothing else quite the same as Fretwork. They’ve won all sorts of prizes and accolades in their 25 years of existence and their consistently high standards have brought many new ears to the
inspiring sound-world of the viol, an instrument that started life in the 15th century.
SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 7 Dec Not something that’s at all well known, and pretty much eclipsed by his violin and cello concertos, Dvorˇák’s piano concerto is championed by one of the piano’s greatest champions, Sir Andras Schiff, who will no doubt intrigue and delight in equal measure in his interpretation of this rarity. Also City Halls, Glasgow, Fri 8 Dec.
1 Nov 2017–31 Jan 2018 THE LIST 113