edinburgh concert season - sco
TRANSCRIPT
SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRAwww.sco.org.uk
EDINBURGHCONCERT SEASON
OCTOBER 2016 to MAY 2017
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Exploring Mozart’s Monumental Triptych Tom Service 6–– Mozart – The Last Symphonies 7–– The Perfect Form & Performance for Strauss Martin Ennis 8–– Strauss – Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme 9–– Berlioz – L’enfance du Christ 10–– Bruckner – Symphony No 4 ‘Romantic’ 11–– Beethoven – The ‘Pastoral’ 12–– Handel – Israel in Egypt 12–– Maxwell Davies – An Orkney Wedding 13–– Orchestra Profile Nikita Naumov – Principal Double Bass 14–– Mozart – Piano Concertos Nos 20 & 22 16–– Strauss – Wind Concertos 16–– New Year in Vienna 17–– Beethoven – The ‘Emperor’ 18–– Nicola Benedetti plays Beethoven 19–– Maria João Pires plays Mozart 20–– Mozart – Coronation Mass 21
Orchestra Profile Aisling O’Dea – First Violin 22–– Beethoven – Symphony No 2 24 –– The Paris Concert 24–– MacMillan – Stabat Mater 25–– Schumann – Symphony No 2 26–– Schumann – Symphony No 3 ‘Rhenish’ 26–– Beethoven – The ‘Eroica’ 27–– Beethoven – Missa solemnis 28–– Schubert – Symphony No 4 ‘Tragic’ 28–– Beethoven – Symphony No 7 29
A Ceremony of Carols: Music for Christmas 30 –– Chamber Sundays 30
SCO Insights 31–– SCO Connect 32
How to Book / Ticket Prices / Seating Plan 34–– Subscription Prices & Booking Form 36
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TO BOOK TICKETSwww.sco.org.uk
WELCOME TO OUR
16/17 SEASON
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Robin TicciatiPrincipal Conductor
For the last three years the SCO has gone on an exhilarating journey exploring the more familiar music of Berlioz, Schumann, Brahms and Haydn. Our thoughts planning our 2016/17 Season were quite simply – where to from here? The heartbeat of this beautiful ensemble is its desire to give you – our audience – a new experience every evening. An experience filled with a sense of searching, spontaneity, daring and joy. With that in mind we have sought to grow our focus on the living composers, both from Britain and further afield, who are the craftsmen and women of today: the voices that sing for what humanity represents – or doesn’t – in the 21st century. This Season will embrace the new music of Martin Suckling, Helen Grime, Thomas Adès, Anna Meredith, Jörg Widmann, Sir James MacMillan, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Thierry Escaich and Lyell Cresswell and celebrate what is new, what is challenging, what is provoking to our ears. To complement our ever-present Classical narrative of Mozart, Strauss will be celebrated at his most personal this Season. My first meeting with the Orchestra in 2007 included in its programme the operatic Duet Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon played by Maximiliano Martín and Peter Whelan. It ignited within me a passion for the intimate later works of this composer. Often described
as his ‘Indian Summer’, it is here we find nostalgia, whimsical melancholy and above all an acceptance of beauty. Strauss wrote that these pieces embodied “the eternal spirit of Mozart at the end of a thankful life”. Someone even more indebted to the past than Richard Strauss was Anton Bruckner. Written in 1874 (three years earlier than Brahms’ Second Symphony) Bruckner’s Fourth is an archetype of the ultimate Romantic composition. There is a hidden programme in this Symphony which ranges from hunting horns, to bird song, to the first rays of a new day. However, it is intended as ‘absolute’ music, and in it Bruckner calls upon music of the past – Johann Fux, Giovanni Palestrina, JS Bach – to compose a progressive tome perfectly suited to the style, intellect and sound world of the SCO. While in so many ways it will be a new departure for the Orchestra, and you our audience, it will also be one of the peaks in our Season and – for now – a culmination of all our work together on the 19th century. With wonderful guest artists revelling in music from Rameau to Adès, we hope every programme will feel like a gift. Whether it’s Kristian Bezuidenhout weaving Mozart magic on his fortepiano or Tom Poster producing sparks in the world premiere of Martin Suckling’s Piano Concerto, we will be thrilled to have you with us as there is something here for everyone.
Come join us!
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YOUR ORCHESTRA IS ONE OF
THE WORLD’S BEST
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–– The depth and the emotional sphere of the performance was breathtaking and the music was just sublime. What a fabulous evening!
First-time concert attender
–– I took some first- time concert goers along with me and they absolutely loved it. We’ll definitely be returning many more times!
@SCOmusic
–– We have never heard the SCO excel themselves so well. The opening of the second movement of Beethoven 7 was spell-bindingly magical.
Email from Season subscriber
–– There was a tremendous sense of occasion; the orchestra played brilliantly, as ever, with Ticciati utterly in control. Many thanks.
Facebook comment
–– SCO concerts are always memorable for a host of reasons, not least the freshness of the interpretation. Our students enjoyed the evening enormously.
Director of Music, St Mary’s Music School
–– The orchestra was as incredible as always when they played Brahms. It was spine- tingling to say the least and I gained a deeper understanding of the third symphony.
Concert attender
EXPLORING MOZART’S
MONUMENTAL TRIPTYCH
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Tom Service
What are Mozart’s last three symphonies? Yes, of course these are three large-scale orchestral works, each in four movements, composed in 1788 by a 32-year-old composer in Vienna – what could be more obvious? But why were they written, at a time of personal and professional insecurity in Mozart’s life, with apparently little obvious prospect of performance? What did they mean to him as a compositional achievement, and what do they mean to us today as listeners and performers? Should we even think of these symphonies as separate pieces – or rather, are they a single cycle of symphonic possibility and emotional, even spiritual experience? That’s what the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt thinks. He has a theory that the pieces make a three-part ‘instrumental oratorium’, since their expressive and architectural scale is unprecedented in Mozart’s previous symphonic works (apart from the ‘Prague’ Symphony No 38), and the materials they use reflect Mozart’s study of Baroque counterpoint and harmony, especially the way that Bach and Handel transformed compositional technique into ecclesiastical feeling. One example: the last movement of these pieces – the finale of finales that is the cosmic fugue at the end of the 41st Symphony – is based on a four-note idea that can trace a genealogy as far back as a chant written in the 13th century and attributed to Thomas of Aquinas, which was used by composers from Josquin to Joseph Haydn, and which turns up strikingly often in Mozart’s own sacred and secular music, from his very First Symphony to his Credo K192 and 33rd Symphony.
And that’s just four notes! In fact, every bar of these pieces is a palimpsest of musical history that goes back and forward in time in the meanings the music creates: back to the musical past and the specifically late-18th century resonances of Mozart’s musical language, and forward, because of these works’ profound impact on later composers, and in the way that successive generations of conductors, orchestras and audiences have played and interpreted them. Thrillingly, this the first time that Robin Ticciati has led the SCO in these essential but ever-changing cornerstones of their repertoire. I have no idea if Robin agrees with Harnoncourt’s ideas, or whether he’s more influenced by Charles Mackerras, or René Jacobs or Richard Strauss’ performances.
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What I do know is that we’re in for a multi-dimensional musical experience in these concerts that will expand our Mozartian minds, making new meanings, connections and feelings in the catalytic combination of the SCO’s playing and our listening.
MOZART Symphony No 39 (29’)
MOZART Symphony No 40 (35’)
MOZART Symphony No 41 ‘Jupiter’ (31’)–––––ROBIN TICCIATI – Conductor
“Representing no occasion, no immediate purpose, but an appeal to eternity” is how his biographer Alfred Einstein characterised the creation of Mozart’s last three symphonies. Written at a time of personal and professional insecurity in Mozart’s life, with little obvious prospect of performance, what did they mean to Mozart as a compositional achievement, and what do they mean to you the listener today? Are they three separate symphonies, or a symphonic cycle to be enjoyed as one emotional, even spiritual experience? Come and decide for yourself.
This concert opens the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s new Season under the baton of Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati.
Mozart THE LAST
SYMPHONIES
Thursday 6 October 2016Usher Hall – 7.30pm
–––––Proudly sponsored by
ROBIN GENERATES SOMETHING
SPONTANEOUS, SO ONE LITTLE EYEBROW LEADS
IN AN UNEXPECTED DIRECTION AND IT
BECOMES LESS LIKE A SYMPHONY AND MORE
LIKE PLAYING STRING QUARTETS. IT’S A VERY
SPECIAL EXPERIENCE.David Watkin
Robin Ticciati conducts
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THE PERFECT FORM AND
PERFORMANCE FOR STRAUSS
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Martin Ennis
For many concert-goers, the music of Richard Strauss (1864-1949) remains the preserve of the symphony orchestra. Most of the tone-poems with which he established his reputation demand enormous forces; sometimes even a large orchestra will not suffice, as demonstrated by the collaboration of the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras in a recent performance of the ‘Alpine’ Symphony.
Strauss, however, was a master of reinvention. The overt allusions to Mozart in his 1911 opera, Der Rosenkavalier struck many at the time as the work of a revisionist, even a backslider. With the benefit of hindsight, however, we can see that Strauss was helping set the points for a new stylistic direction. He further reduced his orchestra to Mozartian proportions, the equivalent size of the SCO.
Over the coming Season, the SCO will explore this less familiar aspect of Strauss. The works performed range from the incidental music for Molière’s Le bourgeois gentilhomme, in which arrangements of Jean-Baptiste Lully are juxtaposed with pastiche dances by Strauss himself, to two of his last works, the Oboe Concerto and the Duet Concertino, where echoes of Strauss’ beloved Mozart are never far distant. The Second Horn Concerto, with Alec Frank-Gemmill as soloist, also features.
For the SCO and Robin Ticciati, the turn to Strauss is well-timed. Strauss started his conducting career at the Meiningen Court Orchestra, Brahms’ favourite ensemble, and many of his early works, including the First Horn Concerto, blend influences from Schumann and Brahms. The SCO’s experiences over recent Seasons with these two composers, alongside a long-standing commitment to Classical repertoire, are an ideal preparation for Strauss’ more intimate creations.
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Writing in 1912, shortly after the premiere of Der Rosenkavalier, the conductor Felix Weingartner urged composers “to create in the spirit of Mozart using… modern means of expression”. This Season’s works offer a clear realisation of this aim; more, they reveal a side to Strauss’ personality that is all too rarely explored. Prepare to be surprised and delighted in equal measure.
Strauss Le BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME
Robin Ticciati conducts
TICCIATI AND THE SCO, IN SPLENDID FORM, STRIPPED IT TO THE
BONE, MADE IT LEAN, LOW-CALORIE AND VERY
BEETHOVENIAN IN ITS DRAMA AND EXCITEMENT,
AND DELIVERED AN ACCOUNT THAT SEEMED WHIPLASH AND INCISIVE
IN ITS IMMEDIACY… IT WAS UTTERLY BEAUTIFUL.
The Herald
EXPLORE STRAUSS
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See Page 31
Thursday 13 October 2016Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
MOZART Overture, The Marriage of Figaro (4’)
SUCKLING Piano Concerto (c.30’) SCO Commission, World Premiere
STRAUSS Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (36’)–––––ROBIN TICCIATI – ConductorTOM POSTER – Piano
Strauss once claimed that “the human soul was first revealed… in Mozart’s melodies”. Tonight’s programme juxtaposes the sparkling overture to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, an opera Strauss conducted many times, with a distinctly retrospective work – the charming, dance-like incidental music to Molière’s Le bourgeois gentilhomme. The programme includes a new Piano Concerto by Martin Suckling, written for the SCO, Robin Ticciati and Tom Poster. Suckling blurs the lines between soloist and orchestra, abandoning traditional ideas of the concerto as a vehicle for display for one in which “the piano sings the world into existence”.
–––––COMPOSER INSIGHTS: 6.30pm Martin Suckling introduces his new Piano Concerto.
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BERLIOZ L’Enfance du Christ (93’)–––––EMMANUEL KRIVINE – ConductorCHRISTIANNE STOTIJN – MaryBERNARD RICHTER – Centurion, NarratorEDWIN CROSSLEY-MERCER – Polydorus, JosephJÉRÔME VARNIER – Herod, Ishmaelite Father–––––SCO CHORUS GREGORY BATSLEER – Chorus Director
In this grand and impressive music, Berlioz tells the story of Christ’s birth and infancy as an immense choral epic. The beautiful Shepherd’s Farewell has taken on a life of its own as a Christmas carol, but it is just one of the magical moments in this score. The Slaughter of the Innocents is evoked with terrible vividness, the flight to Egypt and the manger scene all bring forth beautiful music from one of the all-time great orchestrators, the French Romantic Hector Berlioz.
Principal Guest Conductor Emmanuel Krivine brings the story to life through the musicians, a quartet of soloists and the SCO Chorus who are expertly coached by Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer.
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IT’S GREAT FUN WORKING WITH KRIVINE. HE HAS
A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOUR AND
HIS CONCERTS ARE ALWAYS
MEMORABLE – VERY FREE AND WITH
LOTS OF ENERGY! Eric de Wit,
SCO Cello Player
Thursday 20 October 2016Usher Hall – 7.30pm
–––––THE QUILTER CHEVIOT KRIVINE SERIES
Berlioz L’ENFANCE du CHRIST
Emmanuel Krivine conducts
with the SCO Chorus
Robin Ticciati conducts
BRUCKNER’S FOURTH IS AN ARCHETYPE
OF ROMANTIC COMPOSITION. IN IT,
HE CALLS UPON MUSIC OF THE PAST – JOHANN
FUX, GIOVANNI PALESTRINA, JS BACH
– TO COMPOSE A PROGRESSIVE TOME
PERFECTLY SUITED TO THE STYLE, INTELLECT AND SOUND WORLD
OF THE SCO. Robin Ticciati
EXPLORE STRAUSS
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See Page 31
Thursday 3 November 2016Usher Hall – 7.30pm
STRAUSS Oboe Concerto (25’)
BRUCKNER Symphony No 4 ‘Romantic’ (70’)–––––ROBIN TICCIATI – ConductorRAMÓN ORTEGA QUERO – Oboe
Tonight’s programme unites two late Romantic masters, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss. In some respects polar opposites – Bruckner obsessed by the spiritual, Strauss a man of the world – both build nonetheless on Wagner’s heritage.
Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, the ‘Romantic’, foregrounds the other-worldliness in Wagner, with its magical horncalls and shimmering evocations of the German forest. By the time of the Oboe Concerto, written for an American soldier who door-stepped Strauss in 1945, Wagner’s grandiloquence had long since been abandoned; however, traces of his distinctive harmonies remain, melded – as so often in late Strauss – with pure Mozartian melody.
–––––CONDUCTOR INSIGHTS: 6.30pm Dr Martin Ennis of Girton College, Cambridge in conversation with Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati.
–––––Proudly sponsored by
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Bruckner SYMPHONY No 4
‘ROMANTIC’
ISRAEL in EGYPT Thursday 24 November 2016Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
HANDEL Israel in Egypt (100’) –––––PETER DIJKSTRA – ConductorILSE EERENS – SopranoSORAYA MAFI – SopranoIESTYN DAVIES – Counter TenorJAMES GILCHRIST – TenorTHOMAS OLIEMANS – BaritoneASHLEY RICHES – Bass Baritone–––––SCO CHORUS GREGORY BATSLEER – Chorus Director
Hailstones and lightning, buzzing flies and leaping frogs… Israel in Egypt leads you excitedly through the plagues of Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea, following Moses and the Children of Israel through the book of Exodus.
The epic nature of the story could not be more suited to Handel’s genius for story-telling and drama. Of all his great oratorios, Israel in Egypt is second only to Messiah in drama. It is dominated by virtuosic choruses, making it the perfect piece for the SCO Chorus.
BEETHOVEN THE ‘PASTORAL’ Thursday 10 November 2016Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
BEETHOVEN Overture, Prometheus (5’)
MÉHUL Symphony No 1 in G minor (26’)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No 6 ‘Pastoral’ (40’) –––––RICHARD EGARR – Conductor
We have come to expect startling adventures every time our Associate Artist Richard Egarr is in town, and this programme will doubtless be no exception. We may not be familiar with the name Etienne Méhul as his scores were lost for many years but, as Paris’ answer to Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven thought highly of his French contemporary. Egarr agrees, reasoning that Méhul’s stormy First Symphony “deserves a much higher status in 19th century music history”. Experience the freedom of the countryside and total harmonic happiness with Beethoven’s homage to nature, his ‘Pastoral’.
–––––Kindly supported by SCO PATRONS
To become an SCO Patron, please see page 37 to make a donation.
–––––CONDUCTOR INSIGHTS: 6.30pm Richard Egarr in conversation with SCO Viola Player Steve King.
Richard Egarr Conductor––
–––––AT THE HEART OF THIS PERFORMANCE WAS GREGORY BATSLEER’S SCO CHORUS, ITS MODEST NUMBERS HARDLY AN ISSUE WHEN THE DICTION, ARTICULATION AND UNANIMITY OF ATTACK WERE DELIVERED WITH SUCH LUSTROUS CLARITY. THEIR PRISTINE SINGING HAD A STAR-LIKE CONSTANCY THAT GAVE A BRILLIANT HEAVENLY SHEEN TO THE PLAYING OF THE SCO.The Scotsman
Maxwell Davies AN ORKNEY WEDDING
SIBELIUS The Tempest: Suite No 2 (17’)
MAXWELL DAVIES Accordion Concerto (c.25’) SCO Commission: World PremiereCommission kindly supported by Mr Roland Williams, PRS for Music Foundation and the Royal Academy of Music
BARTÓK Divertimento (25’)
MAXWELL DAVIES An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise (13’)–––––ALEXANDRE BLOCH – ConductorOWEN MURRAY – Accordion
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ love of Scotland has inspired him to create so much wonderful music imbued with landscape, weather and sea, and also its history and traditional music. This very special concert offers the latest chapter, in the shape of his new Accordion Concerto for Edinburgh-born virtuoso, Owen Murray. We close with one of Maxwell Davies’ most iconic works, An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise. The raucous dances and boozy merriment of this Scottish wedding are strongly evoked as the Orchestra cheer on stage and the conductor even toasts the audience with a dram of whisky…
And how to end the party? The bagpipes herald a blaze of light as the sun rises and it’s time to go home.
A Celebration of Scotland’s Musical Hero
THE EVENING CLOSED WITH “THE PARTY PIECE
OF ALL PARTY PIECES” AN ORKNEY WEDDING,
WITH SUNRISE. IT VIVIDLY BRINGS TO LIFE WHAT ITS COMPOSER CALLS
“A PICTURE-POSTCARD RECORDING OF A
WEDDING ON HOY”.Bachtrack review
Thursday 1 December 2016Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
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NIKITA NAUMOV
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Principal Double Bass
Tell us about your instrument – does it have a story?
I own a French double bass. It’s not very expensive or one of the best basses I have ever played, but it’s what I could afford. On my double bass I use really special strings – gut strings, but wound with metal, called Eudoxa strings. I think they have less pressure on the instrument and the bass sounds much better with them. They make the sound more open, and are very helpful for having a bigger sound and easier articulation. It really fits in with the SCO sound. A lot of our cello players are using all gut strings or Eudoxa as well. My bass is just over 100 years old. I bought it in London from a friend who is a bass dealer.
I have another double bass that I use to practise at home which I don’t play in concerts. That bass came from Kazakhstan. I got it from my teacher, he died about four years ago and he gave it to me – it was the last instrument he played. It’s very special to me. It’s made from many different pieces of wood. In those days in Kazakhstan a lot of people repaired and crafted their own instruments, nowadays this is changing.
I love playing double bass and think it is the most important instrument in the orchestra. It’s like the foundation of a building. So the double bass is the foundation of the orchestra. You usually build up the harmony from the bass. So harmonically it’s one of the most important instruments of course!
What was your first musical experience?
I was seven when I came to music school and that’s when I started to play the little double bass. They gave me a small sized cello with bass guitar strings on it. My father told me recently that we missed the violin audition and so I was given the double bass to play! I remember my first piece when I was seven was a little melody by Mozart. I now know it in English as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I was quite proud of it because it was quite difficult, some people were playing open strings – I was already able to play it using my first and fourth fingers. My father used to play guitar a lot at home and practise. I remember a lot of melodies he was playing and I think this helped me to have my love for music, even before I started school.
What’s the atmosphere like when it is an orchestra colleague playing the solo part?
When the likes of Maxi (Martín) or Peter (Whelan) play a solo in the orchestra it always sounds absolutely incredible. Or Jane (Atkins), her solo that really touched me was in James MacMillan’s Percussion Concerto, Veni, veni, Emmanuel. Towards the end she had this totally crazy part – that was probably one of my best experiences in the SCO.
I played a double bass concerto with the SCO the first year I joined. I was very nervous because I had just joined the orchestra. My colleagues were very supportive, extremely supportive and I really enjoyed it very much. I respect my colleagues very much and it was an amazing feeling to play with them and be supported by them.
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KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT plays
MOZART PIANO CONCERTOS Nos 20 & 22Thursday 8 December 2016Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
ADÈS Chamber Symphony (13’)
MOZART Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor, K466 (30’)
GRIME A Cold Spring (10’)
MOZART Piano Concerto No 22 in E-flat, K482 (34’)––––– ROBIN TICCIATI – Conductor KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT – Fortepiano
The fortepiano is the instrumental ‘technology’ – Kristian Bezuidenhout’s word – that Mozart knew and loved, and for which he effectively created his own genre in Vienna in the 1780s: the piano concertos that he would compose, perform, and sell in his subscription concerts as an independent musician in the capital of the Habsburg Empire.
The E-flat Major and D minor concertos explore the grandest reaches of his virtuosities of technique and feeling: now tragic, now consoling, always contemporary – resonances amplified by music from Helen Grime and Thomas Adès.
–––––Kindly supported by Colin and Sue Buchan
ROBIN TICCIATI conducts
STRAUSS WIND CONCERTOS Saturday 17 December 2016Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
STRAUSSDuet Concertino (18’)
MEREDITH Fringeflower (5’) First performed by the SCO at the 2006 Cheltenham Festival
STRAUSS Horn Concerto No 2 in E-flat (20’)
SCHUBERT Symphony No 1 (29’) ––––– ROBIN TICCIATI – ConductorALEC FRANK-GEMMILL – Horn MAXIMILIANO MARTÍN – ClarinetPETER WHELAN – Bassoon
Strauss’ father was a leading horn player, so it’s not surprising that the horn plays a major role in his music. The First Horn Concerto (1883), written when the composer was in his teens, has a tuneful freshness reminiscent of Schumann; the Second (1942) is nostalgic in mood. Strauss’ Duet Concertino (1947) recreates Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Swineherd, with the two soloists, clarinet and bassoon, representing the Princess and the Swineherd characters. We finish with Schubert’s First Symphony, another work by a precocious teenager. Though it contains echoes of Classical precursors, Schubert’s individuality, not least in his melodic invention, shines through.
–––––Kindly supported by Donald and Louise MacDonald
–––––EXPLORE STRAUSSSee Page 31
–––––MAXIMILIANO MARTÍN AND PETER WHELAN BOUNCED IDEAS OFF ONE ANOTHER WITH WHAT AMOUNTED TO MUSICAL BANTER. ALEC FRANK-GEMMILL’S PLAYING SEEMED TO OOZE RELAXED CONFIDENCE.
Seen and Heard International
NEW YEAR in
VIENNAProgramme includes:
J STRAUSS II Viennese Spirit Blue Danube WaltzChampagne PolkaLaughing Song from Die Fledermaus
STOLZ March from Spring Parade You shall be the Emperor of my soul from Der Favorit
E STRAUSS Posthaste! – PolkaClear the Tracks! – Polka
LEHÁR My Lips’ Fiery Kiss from Guiditta
WALDTEUFEL Skaters’ Waltz––––– NICHOLAS McGEGAN – Conductor ELIZABETH WATTS – Soprano
There is nothing quite like the atmosphere in the concert hall on New Year’s Day: anticipation, celebration of a new start, sharing time with family and friends, and of course the captivating Orchestra with Soprano Elizabeth Watts adding a touch of sparkle to the evening. With twirling cellos, party poppers, waltzes and polkas, expect a skip in your step as you leave the concert hall feeling upbeat.
Join us for a night to remember
I COULDN’T HAVE ENJOYED MYSELF
MORE IF I HAD BEEN LUCKY IN THE
VIENNA BALLOT!
2016 concert attender
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Sunday 1 January 2017Usher Hall – 7.00pm
–––––Collection in aid of
BOOKING FOUR OR MORE CONCERTS?The SCO offers flexible subscriptions – simply choose any four or more Season 2016/17 concerts. As well as substantial discounts on regular ticket prices, you can enjoy priority booking and many other exclusive benefits.
–––––WHY TAKE A SUBSCRIPTION?
Save moneySave up to 35% (40% for seniors) on single ticket prices – the more you book, the more you save.
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–––––HOW TO BOOK A SUBSCRIPTION
By postSCO Subscriptions, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, 4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB
If you have any enquiries regarding your subscription please call the SCO on 0131 557 6800.
Please note: Chamber Sundays, Greyfriars Choral Concert and Explore Days cannot be included in a subscription, but you can book them at the same time as your subscription.We regret that tickets, including subscription tickets, are non-refundable.
LLYR WILLIAMS plays
BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTO No 5 ‘EMPEROR’Thursday 12 January 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
MOZART Overture, La clemenza di Tito (5’)
MOZART Violin Concerto No 4 in D, K218 (24’)
BERGLyric Suite (15’)
BEETHOVENPiano Concerto No 5 ‘Emperor’ (38’) ––––– ALEXANDER JANICZEK – Director / Violin LLYR WILLIAMS – Piano
A majestic close to the acclaimed two-year journey Llŷr Williams and Alexander Janiczek have been taking with the SCO through the concertos of Mozart and Beethoven. ‘Emperor’ was never Beethoven’s title, but it well becomes such a grand, imposing work: tragically, it is the only one of his piano concertos that Beethoven never played. His deafness made it impossible.
In contrast, Mozart’s youthful Violin Concerto is pure sunshine. Between them lies “…a small monument to a great love.” Berg’s hyper-Romantic Lyric Suite conceals in its notes the story of a passionate love affair.
–––––FEAST YOURSELVES ON THE CONCERTOS FROM JANICZEK AND WILLIAMS, AS AN EVENING BECOMES NOT ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL IN FRONT OF THE SCORE, BUT TWO EQUAL MINDS STRIVING FOR THE MEANING BEHIND THESE WONDERFUL CONCERTOS.Robin TicciatiUNDER 26 ?
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IF YOU’RE UNDER 26 TICKETS COST £6
BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No 1 (10’) Symphony No 4 (34’) Violin Concerto (42’)–––––JOSEPH SWENSEN – ConductorNICOLA BENEDETTI – Violin
“Tender, and sensitive, and intimate… I’m just so unbelievably moved by his music”, is how Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti describes Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, the centrepiece of this brilliant all-Beethoven programme.
Thomas Edison once said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. This certainly applies to tonight’s Overture. Leonore No 1 was one of Beethoven’s four attempts at writing an overture to Fidelio. The Fourth is the most Classical of Beethoven’s mature symphonies – in form if not in content. But, within the ‘Classical’ frame lurks something wonderfully subversive and original.
Beethoven VIOLIN
CONCERTO
Nicola Benedetti plays
THERE WERE FULL HOUSES ALL
WEEKEND FOR THE SCOTTISH CHAMBER
ORCHESTRA, SUCH IS THE PHENOMENON
THAT IS VIOLINIST NICOLA BENEDETTI.
HER TONE WAS CLEAN AND
FOCUSED, AND SPIRITEDLY
SUPPORTED BY THE RESPONSIVE SCO.
The Scotsman
Thursday 19 January 2017Usher Hall – 7.30pm
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Mozart PIANO
CONCERTOS
Maria João Pires plays
DVORÁK Legends Op 59: Nos 1-5 (25’)
MOZART Piano Concerto No 21 in C, K467 (29’)
DVORÁK Legends Op 59: Nos 6-10 (21’)
MOZART Piano Concerto No 27 in B-flat, K595 (30’)–––––ROBIN TICCIATI – ConductorMARIA JOÃO PIRES – Piano
It’s hard not to hear Mozart’s last Piano Concerto No 27, K595 as a valedictory statement: its slow movement of luminous simplicity, the harmonic fantasy and experimentation of its first movement, the restrained joy of its finale. But this music’s special sound world – exquisitely matched to the radiance of Maria João Pires’ pianism – could so easily have heralded a new departure for Mozart’s piano concerto writing.
The C Major Concerto, written just a few years before, belongs to another world of extrovert manners and expressive generosity – qualities that Dvořàk’s Legends distil in refined but rustic miniature.
PIRES WAS AN IDEAL MATCH
FOR THE SCO… ADDING SHAPELY
PHRASING, UNDERSTATED
VIRTUOSITY AND A WARM,
SINGING TOUCH.
The Herald
Thursday 26 January 2017Usher Hall – 7.30pm
–––––Kindly supported by DUNARD FUND
20
BEETHOVEN Overture, Coriolan (8’)
MOZART Symphony No 36 in C ‘Linz’, K425 (36’) Overture, The Magic Flute, K620 (7’) Mass in C ‘Coronation’, K317 (25’)––––– RICHARD EGARR – Conductor ELIZABETH WATTS – Soprano DANIELA LEHNER – Mezzo SopranoJAMES GILCHRIST – TenorANDREW FOSTER-WILLIAMS – Bass Baritone–––––SCO CHORUSGREGORY BATSLEER – Chorus Director
What’s in a key? The scales of C Major and C minor might start from the same note, but the music they inspired from Mozart and Beethoven couldn’t be more different. For Mozart, C Major was a region of self-confident optimism and cosmic order, as in the so-called ‘Linz’ symphony – written in just a few days in 1783 – and his 1779 ‘Coronation’ Mass, one of the most joyfully life-affirming of the many Missa brevis settings that Mozart composed in Salzburg. But Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture turns to C minor to create a single-mindedly tragic experience, a musical journey to self-annihilation written for Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s play. And the Magic Flute Overture? It’s in E-flat Major, C minor’s jubilant cousin…
Mozart CORONATION
MASS
Richard Egarr conducts
I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO RICHARD
EGARR’S CONCERTS WITH THE SCO BECAUSE
HE IS SUCH A GREAT COMMUNICATOR.
THAT’S TRUE IN TERMS OF THE MUSIC, WITH HIS ABILITY TO MAKE
FAMILIAR THINGS FRESH AND EXCITING. Simon Thompson
Thursday 23 February 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
2121
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AISLING O’DEA
–––––
First Violin
Tell us about your childhood music memories.
Music has always played a very important role in my life, what with my mother being a concert pianist and my father a tenor, I found myself at an early age going in the same direction. There was always practising or a rehearsal of some kind happening at home. Violinists, cellists passing through on a regular basis; an aria from some Mozart opera coming from the music room was all perfectly ‘normal’ in the O’Dea household in Dublin! Of course I grew up thinking, “does this not happen in everyone’s home?” A special musical memory was when I was in the European Union Youth Orchestra, playing at the Proms in London under the baton of Bernard Haitink. The programme included Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. This is such an exciting piece to play and is still one of my absolute favourites. Being part of this performance on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall with 120 other young musicians from all of the countries of the European Union and Bernard Haitink conducting was nothing other than fantastic. I guess the combination of the exuberance of youth, energy and musical imagination all made for a great experience. I still get the same feeling today performing with the SCO. When totally absorbed in ‘that’ moment, the music takes you to another place. There are very few, if any, better feelings than this.
When did you join the SCO?
I have been a member of the first violin section of the Orchestra since 2007. Being a member of the SCO opens up so many different and interesting opportunities in addition to performing regularly on the concert platform throughout Scotland.
What other opportunities are there as an SCO member?
That ‘feeling’ in performance I mentioned earlier is one I love, and enjoy to share. I am lucky to be a part of the many different projects run by the Creative Learning team, SCO Connect, which enables me to do just that. Sharing and creating music on many different levels, be it with SCO VIBE (for 11-18 year olds) or working in schools with children and young adults from underprivileged backgrounds through creative space workshops, to name but a few, is a wonderful aspect of being a musician with the SCO. Seeing the difference it makes to people in the moment when they realise they are an important part of the creative process is brilliant. Tapping into, encouraging creativity and just simply having fun on these projects and workshops helps not only build confidence but gives a sense and real understanding of collaboration and teamwork… it helps to keep it all ‘real’ and that works for me!
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ANDREW MANZE conducts
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No 2 Saturday 4 March 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
BRITTEN Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (25’)
MACMILLAN Concertino for Horn and Strings (c.15’) SCO Commission: World Premiere
BEETHOVEN Symphony No 2 (32’) –––––ANDREW MANZE – ConductorALEC FRANK-GEMMILL – Horn
The SCO’s superb Principal Horn, Alec Frank-Gemmill, is in the spotlight for Sir James MacMillan’s new arrangement of his thrillingly theatrical Horn Quintet.
MacMillan grew up playing in brass ensembles and he cherishes the horn of fanfares and hunting calls as much as the soft-voiced instrument of matchless lyrical beauty. Either side of the premiere we have youthful tours-de-force by two of the great ‘Bs’ of history. Conductor Andrew Manze is rightly acclaimed as an outstanding interpreter of both Britten and Beethoven.
–––––This concert forms part of a month-long celebration of recent works by Sir James MacMillan in partnership with the BBC SSO, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Hebrides Ensemble and Glasgow Life.
LAURENCE CUMMINGS conducts
THE PARIS CONCERTThursday 9 March 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
RAMEAU Suite from Les Boréades (25’)
MOZART Symphony No 31 in D ‘Paris’ (17’)
JC BACH Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat for flute, two clarinets, two horns and bassoon (17’)
HAYDN Symphony No 92 in G ‘Oxford’ (28’) –––––LAURENCE CUMMINGS – Conductor / Harpsichord SCO Wind Soloists
Have you ever strolled round the streets of Paris and wondered how to spark that creative genius in you? A city that has long been a great source of inspiration to many was the compositional base for all the works in this programme.
The opening of Mozart’s ‘Paris’ is one of the grandest, most thrilling sounds, with Mozart making use of clarinets for the first time in a symphony. Haydn’s ‘Oxford’ was so-called because he conducted it when he was awarded an honorary doctorate at Oxford University – but it was a case of ‘here’s one I wrote earlier’ (in Paris). Rameau and JC Bach will have you searching for your favourite dancing shoes.
–––––Proudly sponsored by KRIVINE SERIES
Andrew Manze Conductor––
–––––PLAYING AND MUSIC THAT EXUDES ELEGANCE, SPARKLES WITH JOY AND CHUCKLES WITH GOOD HUMOUR.
BBC Radio 3: CD Review (on SCO Wind Soloists)
24
MACMILLAN Tryst (30’) Stabat Mater (60’)
Commissioned by the Genesis Foundation for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen: Scottish Premiere–––––SIR JAMES MACMILLAN – Conductor (Tryst)HARRY CHRISTOPHERS – Conductor (Stabat Mater)THE SIXTEEN
The glorious choral sound of The Sixteen captivates and inspires Sir James MacMillan – and his latest major work for them is the climax of this special concert.
In the first half the composer himself conducts Tryst – one of the very first pieces he wrote for the SCO back in the late 1980s. Inspired by his folksong of the same name, this is a showpiece that the Orchestra has performed to great effect all over the world.
–––––COMPOSER INSIGHTS: 6.30pm Sir James MacMillan introduces his Stabat Mater in conversation with Svend Brown.
–––––This concert forms part of a month-long celebration of recent works by Sir James MacMillan in partnership with the BBC SSO, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Hebrides Ensemble and Glasgow Life.
MACMILLAN’S STABAT MATER IS
A WORK WITH DEEP ROOTS AND
A UNIVERSAL MESSAGE. THE
STABAT MATER IS A CELEBRATION BOTH
OF TRADITION AND OF RADICAL
RENEWAL.
Thursday 23 March 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
MacMillan STABAT MATER
SCO and The Sixteen perform
25
PHILIPPE HERREWEGHE conducts
SCHUMANN SYMPHONY No 2Saturday 1 April 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
BACH The Art of Fugue, Contrapunctus I & IV (8’)
MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No 2 in D minor (25’)
SCHUMANN Symphony No 2 (38’) ––––– PHILIPPE HERREWEGHE – Conductor MARTIN HELMCHEN – Piano
The premiere of Schumann’s Second Symphony was conducted by his friend Felix Mendelssohn, and the work incorporates Bach’s ‘musical signature’ quoted in The Art of Fugue – the notes B-A-C-H (in English B-flat, A, C, B) – so surely he would nod approval at this programme.
It was during the composition of this Symphony that Schumann began to experience the early signs of the mental disorder that would eventually bring his creative life to a premature halt. He wrote, “my resistant spirit had a visible influence on [the symphony] and it is through this that I sought to fight my condition.”
Philippe Herreweghe Conductor ––
EMMANUEL KRIVINE conducts
SCHUMANN SYMPHONY No 3 ‘RHENISH’Thursday 6 April 2017 Usher Hall – 7.30pm
SCHUBERT Symphony No 5 (27’)
MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No 1 in G minor (21’)
SCHUMANN Symphony No 3 ‘Rhenish’ (32’) ––––– EMMANUEL KRIVINE – Conductor BERTRAND CHAMAYOU – Piano
Inspired in part by a visit to the recently completed cathedral in Cologne, Schumann’s ‘Rhenish’ combines the energy of Beethoven (the ‘Eroica’ and ‘Pastoral’ Symphonies are clearly among its influences) with Schumann’s own highly lyrical gift.
By contrast, Mozart is a constant presence in Schubert’s Fifth Symphony. In 1816 (the year of the Symphony’s composition) Schubert confided to his diary, “O Mozart, immortal Mozart, how many, oh how endlessly many such comforting perceptions of a brighter and better life hast thou brought to our souls!”
–––––THE QUILTER CHEVIOT KRIVINE SERIES
Jean-Guihen Queyras Cello
––
BEETHOVEN THE ‘EROICA’Thursday 20 April 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
ESCAICH Baroque Song (16’)
HAYDN Cello Concerto in D (25’)
BEETHOVENSymphony No 3 ‘Eroica’ (47’)––––– ALEXANDRE BLOCH – Conductor JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS – Cello
The ‘Eroica’. The symphony that changed the musical world, casting aside the familiar forms of Haydn and Mozart and announcing the beginning of the Romantic age with the most expansive and heroic sounds the world had yet heard. Be inspired, energised and discover the transformational nature of this seminal work.
Before this, relish Haydn’s supremely assured Cello Concerto, played by the virtuosic soloist Jean-Guihen Queyras.
–––––Proudly sponsored by
27
BY GIVING TO US WE CAN CONTINUE TO GIVE BACK TO YOU…PLAY YOUR PART
Now, more than ever, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra needs your help.
Ticket income accounts for less than a third of what it costs the SCO to operate and we face challenging times in terms of public sector funding cuts. The SCO would simply cease to exist without generous financial support from our family of Patrons, Corporate Partners and trusts.
You can help by making a donation on your subscription form or by visiting us online at
www.sco.org.uk/support-us
BEETHOVEN MISSA SOLEMNISwith the SCO CHORUS
Thursday 27 April 2017Usher Hall – 7.30pm
BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis (80’)–––––JOHN STORGÅRDS – ConductorRACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN – SopranoKAREN CARGILL – Mezzo SopranoJOHN MARK AINSLEY – TenorNEAL DAVIES – Bass Baritone –––––SCO ChorusGREGORY BATSLEER – Chorus Director
Beethoven wished that “music should come from the heart, that it may go to the heart”. Missa solemnis was a four-year labour of love and nothing else Beethoven composed surpasses it for scale, sincerity or sheer vision. Not only does he place extreme demands on his musicians, he also requires amazing ability from the SCO Chorus and a team of first-rate soloists.
SCHUBERT SYMPHONY No 4‘TRAGIC’Thursday 4 May 2017Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm
STRAVINSKY Pulcinella Suite (24’)
CRESSWELL Llanto: Clarinet Concerto (18’) SCO Commission: World Premiere
SCHUBERT Symphony No 4 in C minor ‘Tragic’ (31’) –––––CLEMENS SCHULDT – ConductorMAXIMILIANO MARTÍN – Clarinet
Charismatic and compelling on stage, SCO Principal Clarinet Maximiliano Martín is a superb concerto soloist. Here, he premieres Llanto (‘Lament’), written especially for him by Lyell Cresswell whose own track record with concertos is formidable – including a commission for the BBC Proms. The drama of pitching soloist against orchestra inspires him to compose powerfully dramatic music. Award-winning young conductor Clemens Schuldt gives us playful (Stravinsky at his most hilarious) and ‘tragic’ – though Schubert’s Symphony has many more upbeat than sombre moments.
–––––COMPOSER INSIGHTS: 6.30pm Lyell Cresswell and Professor William Sweeney from the University of Glasgow discuss writing for the clarinet.
Gregory Batsleer SCO Chorus Director ––
Maximiliano Martín SCO Principal Clarinet
––
EXPLORE BEETHOVEN’S MISSA SOLEMNIS See Page 31
29
WIDMANN Con Brio (12’)
BRAHMS Double Concerto (32’)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No 7 (36’)–––––ROBIN TICCIATI – ConductorCHRISTIAN TETZLAFF – ViolinTANJA TETZLAFF – Cello
Brahms’ Double Concerto, with its signature melodies and grand sweeping phrases, delights audiences the world over. It requires soloists who are at the top of their game, and you can’t get much better than the brother-sister Tetzlaff duo sharing the limelight. One of Germany’s most sought-after composers, Jörg Widmann, designed his virtuosic Con Brio to acknowledge the brilliance of Beethoven’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies.
Since it was chosen as the backdrop to Colin Firth’s dramatic address in The King’s Speech, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony has become one of his most recognised and popular pieces, in particular the expressive, slow second movement, the Allegretto. Be prepared to feel uplifted.
THERE IS NATURAL CHEMISTRY BETWEEN
THE TETZLAFF SIBLINGS, A REAL
SENSE OF MUSICAL COMMUNICATION,
BRINGING OFF PERFECTLY
THE ALMOST IMPROVISATORY,
MUSING TO-AND-FRO OF IDEAS.
The Arts Desk
Thursday 11 May 2017Usher Hall – 7.30pm
Beethoven SYMPHONY
No 7
Robin Ticciati conducts
A CEREMONY OF CAROLS: MUSIC FOR CHRISTMASThursday 15 December 2016 Greyfriars Kirk – 7.30pm
Programme includes:
BRITTEN A Ceremony of Carols (22’)
TAVENER The Lamb (4’)
POULENCChristmas Motets (12’)
MACMILLAN O Radiant Dawn (4’)
LAURIDSENO Magnum Mysterium (6’) –––––SCO ChorusGREGORY BATSLEER – Conductor
Tickets available from the Queen’s Hall Box Office or online at www.sco.org.uk.
CHAMBER SUNDAYS
Sunday 30 October 2016Queen’s Hall – 3.00pm
Programme includes:
BEETHOVEN Sextet in E-flat, Op 71 (18’)
MOZART Serenade in B-flat ‘Gran Partita’, K361 (43’)–––––SCO Wind Soloists RCS Stevenson Winds–––––The SCO/RCS side-by-side project bridges the transition between conservatoire training and professional life for students who show great promise as chamber musicians.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Sunday 4 December 2016Queen’s Hall – 3.00pm
MOZART Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Winds, K452 (25’)Fantasie in C minor, K475 (12’)
BEETHOVEN Quintet in E-flat for Piano and Winds (26’) Duo for Clarinet and Bassoon, WoO 27 (12’)–––––KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT – Fortepiano SCO Wind Soloists
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Sunday 26 March 2017Queen’s Hall – 3.00pm
Programme includes:
BEETHOVEN Serenade in D, Op 25 (23’)
REGER Serenade in G, Op 141a (15’)
MOZART Flute Quartet No 1 in D, K285 (14’)–––––STEPHANIE GONLEY – Violin JANE ATKINS – ViolaALISON MITCHELL – Flute
SCO Chorus––Pristine singing that gives a brilliant heavenly sheen to the playing of the SCO.
31
this dramatic work. He will be joined by SCO Chorus Director, Gregory Batsleer. This Explore Day links to the performance of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis conducted by John Storgårds, on Thursday 27 April 2017 at the Usher Hall.
–––––Each Explore Day is £35 (includes tea and coffee).Places are limited. For more information and to book tickets visit www.sco.org.uk.
–––––In association with The University of Edinburgh
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
WIDER CONNECTIONSNational Library of ScotlandGeorge IV BridgeEdinburgh EH1 1EW
–––––SCOTLAND’S MUSIC
Tuesday 22 November 2016 6.00pm - 7.00pm
The music and traditions of Scotland have frequently provided creative inspiration to classical composers. Composer Laureate, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, is one such composer who has often drawn on Orcadian, or more generally Scottish influences. Come and hear invited guests explore this theme, referring in particular, to the music being performed on Thursday 1 December 2016 at the Queen’s Hall.
–––––MUSIC AND RELIGION
Tuesday 14 March 2017 6.00pm - 7.00pm
Over the centuries, many composers have been inspired to set the 13th century Catholic Hymn to Mary, the Stabat Mater including, most recently, Sir James MacMillan. Come and hear invited guests discuss the relationship between music and religion. This event is linked to Sir James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater being performed on Thursday 23 March 2017 at the Queen’s Hall.
–––––Book tickets at www.sco.org.uk (free).
–––––In partnership with the National Library of Scotland
SCO INSIGHTS give you the opportunity to delve deeper into our repertoire. Choose from:
• Explore Days in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Short Courses
• Wider Connections, early evening talks in partnership with the National Library of Scotland
• Pre-concert Insights with our artists
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
SCO EXPLORE: STRAUSS Saturday 10 December 201610.30am - 4.30pm
University of EdinburghReid Concert HallBristo SquareEdinburgh EH8 9AG
This Explore Day links to the theme of Strauss’ more intimate works which runs through this Season. Dr Raymond Holden of the Royal Academy of Music (London), the award-winning author of Richard Strauss: a Musical Life, is a passionate and engaging expert on Strauss. Join him and guests in a fascinating study of this composer. The presentation includes rare recordings and films by, and of, the composer.
–––––
SCO EXPLORE: BEETHOVEN’S MISSA SOLEMNISSaturday 22 April 201710.30am - 4.30pm
University of EdinburghSt Cecilia’s HallNiddry Street, CowgateEdinburgh EH1 1NQ
Beethoven described the Missa solemnis as his “greatest work.” It was composed around the same time as his celebrated Ninth Symphony and is one of his very few religious compositions. Some might even claim that it is the greatest work by any composer. Others, however, have been bewildered by its complexity and by the unorthodox treatment of the text. Come along to this SCO Explore Day with musicologist, composer and the editor of the Beethoven Compendium, Barry Cooper (University of Manchester) to unravel the intricacies behind
SCO INSIGHTS
–––––
YOUR ORCHESTRA
GIVING BACK TO
YOU–––––
–– Excellent. Great to get the children engaged in listening to real instruments, live music and storytelling.
Family Workshop participant
–– The most beautiful introduction to classical music. Best workshop I have been to!
Creative Workshops participant
–– Most of us play in amateur orchestras and ensembles. Playing with SCO players takes us to a completely new level. Feels like driving a Formula One super car!
Scrapers and Tooters participant
–– You can be very proud of the work you invest in these young people, hearing them this afternoon I realise how much they have learned with you all.
Parent of SCO VIBE participant
To find out more visitwww.sco.org.uk/creative-learning
–– Excellent session – really different to anything else we’ve done and it’s inspired us to do more at home.
Creative Workshops participant
–– Many SCO Connect projects are funded by trusts, foundations and members of the SCO 250 Society.
TICKET PRICESAll single tickets, including discounts, are on sale from 1 June 2016. Subscriptions are taken from 16 March 2016.
–––––CHAMBER SUNDAYSTickets: £14, Concessions: £12, U26 and U18: £6
–––––GREYFRIARS CHORUS CONCERTTickets: £14, Concessions: £12, U26 and U18: £6 (book at www.sco.org.uk)
–––––TICKET DISCOUNTSAll concerts except New Year in Vienna and Benedetti plays Beethoven.
Senior Citizens – £2 off full price.
Under 26s, students and unemployed people – £6.
Under 18s – free. Under 16s must accompanied by a paying adult. Maximum of 2 free children’s tickets per adult ticket. Additional children £5 each (excludes New Year in Vienna and Benedetti plays Beethoven – Under 18s – £5 each).
People with a disability – 50% off full price tickets for people with a disability and, where one is required, 50% off for their carer.
Group discounts – groups of 6 or more booking together save 20% off full price tickets.
School groups – teachers and/or accompanying adults go free when bringing a school group. For more information, contact SCO Marketing on 0131 557 6802 or [email protected].
Please note: all discounts are subject to availability. We regret that tickets are non-refundable. Every effort is made to ensure that all information is correct at the time of going to press. The SCO does, however, reserve the right to change dates, artists or programmes if necessary.
Queen’s Hall Box OfficeClerk Street Edinburgh EH8 9JG
0131 668 2019www.thequeenshall.net
10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday open until the end of the interval on performance days.
All major credit cards except American Express are accepted. Telephone, internet and postal bookings carry a £1 transaction fee (before Postage charge of 80p). The fee does not apply on counter bookings. The Queen’s Hall Box Office sells tickets for all SCO concerts in Edinburgh, including those at the Usher Hall, Greyfriars Kirk and the Assembly Rooms.
Please note: Telephone, internet and postal bookings carry a £1 transaction fee (before Postage charge of 80p).
–––––Tickets for Usher Hall concerts only also available at:
Usher Hall Box OfficeLothian Road Edinburgh EH1 2EA
0131 228 1155 www.usherhall.co.uk
10am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday and on concert evenings.
All major credit cards are accepted. Telephone and online bookings carry a £1 transaction fee. Tickets for collection are available from the box office from one hour before the performance.
Please note: an allocation of tickets for SCO concerts at the Usher Hall is available from the Usher Hall Box Office in person, by phone and online from Wednesday 1 June 2016 Tickets are also available from the Queen’s Hall Box Office.
UNDER 26 ? –––––
IF YOU’RE UNDER 26 TICKETS COST £6
HOW TO BOOK
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I£32.50
II£28.00
III£21.50
IV£16.50
V£11.00
––––– –––––
SEATING PLANSQueen’s HallClerk Street, EdinburghEH8 9JG
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Usher HallLothian Road, EdinburghEH1 2EA
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Wheelchair accommodation is available in the centre and side stalls. Ramps are fitted at the front and rear of the hall, and there is a toilet at stalls level.
Guide dogs are welcome.
An induction loop is fitted for people withhearing difficulties.
Please notify the Box Office when booking.
Wheelchair accommodation is available.Parking spaces for blue badge holdersare located across from the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Grindlay Street and in Cambridge Street across from the Traverse Theatre.
Guide dogs are welcome.
An induction loop is fitted for people withhearing difficulties.
Please notify the Box Office when booking.
An NCP car park is located on Castle Terrace. SCO ticket holders can park here for a flat fee of £7. Simply scan your parking token at the box office to receive this discount.
Please note: customers must park after 5pm and leave before midnight Monday – Friday. Parking is available all day Saturday and Sunday.
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SUBSCRIPTION PRICES
Please note: disability subscription packages start from four concerts. The discount is 50% off full price tickets when you purchase tickets for four or more concerts in one transaction. If you are under 26 you can also take advantage of the subscription benefits outlined on page 18, when you purchase tickets for four or more concerts in one transaction.
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Please note: postal transaction fee subject to change if postage costs rise. Your details will be shared with the Queen’s Hall Box Office who issue the tickets.
4. Where applicable, do you have a preference on seating area
Stalls Upper CircleUsher Hall: Grand Circle (I and II only) Stalls GalleryQueen’s Hall:
6. Please help us by making a donation to the SCO You can round up your subscription or specify your amount (e.g. £10 / £50 / £100) £
Thursday 6 Oct (UH)Thursday 13 Oct (QH)Thursday 20 Oct (UH)Thursday 3 Nov (UH)Thursday 10 Nov (QH)Thursday 24 Nov (QH)
Thursday 1 Dec (QH)Thursday 8 Dec (QH)Saturday 17 Dec (QH)Sunday 1 Jan (UH)Thursday 12 Jan (QH)Thursday 19 Jan (UH)
Thursday 26 Jan (UH)Thursday 23 Feb (QH)Saturday 4 Mar (QH)Thursday 9 Mar (QH)Thursday 23 Mar (QH)Saturday 1 Apr (QH)
Thursday 6 Apr (UH)Thursday 20 Apr (QH)Thursday 27 Apr (UH)Thursday 4 May (QH)Thursday 11 May (UH)
1. Please choose your Season concerts (tick boxes) Tick for ALL 23 CONCERTS:
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THANK YOUOur sincerest thanks to everyone who supports the work of the SCO. Your generosity significantly adds to the considerable investment of the Scottish Government and means the SCO can continue performing across the world, making award-winning recordings and delivering meaningful creative learning projects.
–––––Principal SponsorVirgin Money
BenefactorDunard Fund
Corporate SponsorsAberdeen Asset ManagementBaillie GiffordQuilter CheviotStewart InvestorsTurcan Connell
Corporate SupportersThe Balmoral HotelCapital Document SolutionsThe Co-operative MembershipCorney & BarrowDavid Macdonald LimitedHeritage PortfolioKinloch AndersonLinn RecordsPulsantRadio ForthSheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, EdinburghStac Polly RestaurantsWaldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian
–––––SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of RothesayPatron
Donald MacDonald CBELife President
Colin BuchanChairman
Roy McEwan OBEChief Executive
Robin TicciatiPrincipal Conductor
Emmanuel KrivinePrincipal Guest Conductor
Joseph SwensenConductor Emeritus
Sir Peter Maxwell DaviesComposer Laureate
Martin Suckling Associate Composer
Karen Cargill Associate Artist
Richard EgarrAssociate Artist
Alexander JaniczekAssociate Artist
Gregory BatsleerChorus Director
–––––The SCO would also like to thank Local Authorities, Corporate Partners, Patrons, Subscribers, 250 Society Members and many trusts and foundations.
Core funded by
Please note that all timings (shown in brackets) are approximate and do not include intervals or platform changes.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Design Owen | O’Sheaowenoshea.com
PhotographyMarco BorggreveFelix BroedeEoin CareyChris ChristodoulouFabrice Dell’Anese
Rhys FramptonMichiel HendryckxBen McKeeJen OwensEuan Robertson
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––––– LARGE PRINT, BRAILLE AND TALKING NOTES VERSIONS OF THIS BROCHURE ARE AVAILABLE. CALL 0131 557 6802
Thursday 6 OctoberUsher Hall – 7.30pm MOZART The Last Symphonies
Thursday 13 October Queen’s Hall – 7.30pm STRAUSS Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Thursday 20 OctoberUsher Hall – 7.30pm BERLIOZ L’enfance du Christ
Thursday 10 NovemberQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm BEETHOVEN The ‘Pastoral’
Thursday 24 NovemberQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm HANDEL Israel in Egypt
Thursday 1 DecemberQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm MAXWELL DAVIES An Orkney Wedding
Saturday 17 DecemberQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm STRAUSS Wind Concertos
Sunday 1 JanuaryUsher Hall – 7.00pm NEW YEAR in VIENNA
Thursday 12 JanuaryQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm BEETHOVEN The ‘Emperor’
Thursday 26 JanuaryUsher Hall – 7.30pm Maria João Pires plays MOZART
Thursday 23 FebruaryQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm MOZART Coronation Mass
Saturday 4 MarchQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm BEETHOVEN Symphony No 2
Thursday 23 MarchQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm MACMILLAN Stabat Mater
Saturday 1 AprilQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm SCHUMANN Symphony No 2
Thursday 6 AprilUsher Hall – 7.30pm SCHUMANN Symphony No 3 ‘Rhenish’
Thursday 27 AprilUsher Hall – 7.30pm BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis
Thursday 4 MayQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm SCHUBERT Symphony No 4 ‘Tragic’
Thursday 11 MayUsher Hall – 7.30pm BEETHOVEN Symphony No 7
Thursday 3 NovemberUsher Hall – 7.30pm BRUCKNER Symphony No 4 ‘Romantic’
Thursday 8 DecemberQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm MOZART Piano Concertos Nos 20 & 22
Thursday 19 JanuaryUsher Hall – 7.30pm Nicola Benedetti plays BEETHOVEN
Thursday 9 MarchQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm The Paris Concert
Thursday 20 AprilQueen’s Hall – 7.30pm BEETHOVEN The ‘Eroica’
4 Royal Terrace Edinburgh EH7 5AB telephone: 0131 557 6800email: [email protected] www.sco.org.uk–––––The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC015039 Company registration No. SC75079
–––––
TO BOOK TICKETSwww.sco.org.uk