aurora orchestra’s
adventures 2013
aurora orchestra london calendar 2013 sun 20 January, 6.30Pm
Riot In Vienna, 1913 ZEITGEIST Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre Schoenberg Chamber Symphony No.1, Op. 9
Sat 9 February, 5Pm
Dance Of The Machines (Paris, 1926) ZEITGEIST Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre Antheil Ballet mécanique
Edmund de Waal Speaker
Rex Lawson Pianola
Sat 23 March, 7.30Pm
Sun 31 March, 7pm Mon 1 April, 2.30 & 7pm
Insomnia
New Moves Lso St Luke’s Britten Nocturne Vivaldi La Notte MacMillan A Deep but Dazzling Darkness
Wallace & Gromit’s Musical Marvels Hammersmith Apollo
Including music by Mozart, Copland, Stravinsky and Britten
Sat 16 March, 7.30Pm
St John Passion
BACH UNWRAPPED
Kings Place Soloists including: John Mark Ainsley Evangelist Roland Wood Christus Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Sat 20 April, 11Am & 12.15Pm
Storytelling With Bach I BACH UNWRAPPED
Kings Place Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier (excerpts)
Thomas Gould Violin
Jessica Maryon Davies Animateur Kate Wakeling Story-writer
Sat 20 April, 7.30Pm
sun 9 June, 5.30Pm
fri 28 June, 8Pm
BACH UNWRAPPED
Why? And For What? (Moscow, 1946)
the gift
Allan Clayton Tenor Thomas Gould Violin
Echoes Of Bach Kings Place Busoni Violin Sonata Schnittke Piano Quintet Bach arrangements by Mozart, Kodály and Busoni
ZEITGEIST Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre Shostakovich (arr. Barshai) Chamber Symphony in F, Op. 73a
Kings Place Beethoven Septet Wagner Siegfried Idyll Henry Goodman Narrator Barry Millington Writer
Principal Conductor: Nicholas Collon Wed 3 July – Sat 6 July
Britten Church Parables Southwark Cathedral James Gilchrist Tenor Frederic Wake-Walker Director Roger Vignoles Musical Director
sun 7 July, 7Pm
Memento New Moves Lso St Luke’s Boulez Mémoriale Ives Three Places in New England Beethoven Symphony No. 7
Sun 29 September, 3pm
Britten films Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre Britten film scores including Night Mail and The Way To The Sea
Jon Frank Film-maker
Samuel West Narrator
Sat 5 October, 7.30pm
Sat 19 October, 11Am & 12.15Pm
Sat 19 October, 7.30Pm
Le Marteau Sans Maitre
Storytelling With Bach Ii
Songs Without Words
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre Stockhausen Kontakte Boulez Le marteau sans maître
BACH UNWRAPPED
BACH UNWRAPPED
Kings Place Bach Goldberg Variations (excerpts)
Kings Place Bach Oboe Concerto in D Anna Meredith New work
Mahogany Opera
Colin Currie Percussion Hilary Summers Contralto
Jessica Maryon Davies Animateur Kate Wakeling Story-writer
Sat 2 November, 7.30pm
Sat 16 November, 7.30pm
Sat 21 December, 7.30pm
Julian Anderson Focus
New Moves
BACH UNWRAPPED
Wigmore Hall Julian Anderson Works including Tiramisu and The Comedy of Change
Earth Song
Lso St Luke’s Britten (arr. Imogen Holst) Rejoice in the Lamb Mahler (arr. Cortese) Das Lied von der Erde Andrew Staples Tenor / Stage director Mezzo-soprano TBC
Erik Bosgraaf Recorder
B-Minor Mass Kings Place Rosemary Joshua Soprano William Towers Counter-tenor Andrew Staples Tenor Benedict Nelson Bass Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
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welcome to aurora orchestra’s adventures 2013 Bursting with virtuosity, eclecticism and intrepid collaboration, Aurora’s 2013 season offers a truly exhilarating array of new projects. Under the inspirational artistic direction of Principal Conductor Nicholas Collon, the orchestra presents its busiest and most diverse calendar of events to date, guided as ever by a commitment to thrill new audiences with great music, brilliantly performed. As Associate Orchestra at LSO St Luke’s, Aurora continues to build on the success of its cross-art form New Moves series, with ground-breaking new collaborations featuring music ranging from Vivaldi to The Beatles via Beethoven, Mahler and Britten. Aurora is also this year formally installed as Resident Orchestra at Kings Place, where it presents several highlights of the venue’s flagship Bach Unwrapped season (including performances of the St John Passion and Mass in B minor alongside the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge). In addition, 2013 sees the launch of the orchestra’s
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Zeitgeist series at the Southbank Centre, offering a uniquely intimate and immersive experience of key twentieth-century masterpieces. Alongside these year-long series, Aurora also returns to Wigmore Hall for a celebration of the music of Julian Anderson, and makes a debut appearance at the iconic Hammersmith Apollo. In addition to its UK touring schedule, the orchestra is busier than ever on the international stage, with touring appearances including performances at the Shanghai Concert Hall and the Hermitage Theatre in St Petersburg. This season is packed with an unprecedented wealth of guest artists of the very highest calibre. In addition to a host of world-class singers – including John Mark Ainsley, Allan Clayton, Iestyn Davies, James Gilchrist, Rosemary Joshua, Andrew Staples and Hilary Summers – we also welcome instrumental soloists including Colin Currie and Erik Bosgraaf, writer Edmund de Waal, actors Samuel West and Henry Goodman, and the incomparably flexible global stars Wallace and Gromit. We hope you’ll enjoy browsing through this book as much as we’ve relished putting the season together. Do visit auroraorchestra.com for full details of all Aurora projects, including the orchestra’s ambitious programme of learning and participation activity; and to sign up for our regular monthly e-newsletter. Enjoy the adventure! John Harte Chief Executive, Aurora Orchestra
“Electric fizz and pungent colours... the almost belligerent brilliance of Aurora Orchestra.” The Times, November 2012 3
ZEITGEIST AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE Aurora’s debut Southbank Centre series comprises four concerts of extraordinary intimacy which transport the audience to key moments in the development of twentieth-century music. Each based around a seminal work for chamber orchestra, and richly illuminated with historical and artistic context, these programmes present revelatory music in electrifying style.
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ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE SUN. 20 JAN. 6.30 PM
JAN.
20 6.30 PM
AURORA ORCHESTRA PRESENTS
ZEITGEIST 1:
RIOT IN VIENNA, 1913
TICKETS: £10 (£5 CONC.) – WWW.SOUTHBANKCENTRE.CO.UK – 0844 875 0073
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Ceramicist and writer Edmund de Waal (author of The Hare with Amber Eyes) introduces the explosive cultural meltingpot of pre-war Vienna through the prism of his family history, and Aurora transports the audience to the riotous 1913 performance of Schoenberg’s first Chamber Symphony.
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG CHAMBER SYMPHONY NO. 1 (OP. 9)
JOHANN STRAUSS (ARR. SCHOENBERG) EMPEROR WALTZ (EXCERPT) FRITZ KREISLER MARCHE MINIATURE VIENNOISE
Featuring: EDMUND DE WAAL (SPEAKER) NICHOLAS COLLON (CONDUCTOR)
“After Schoenberg’s Op. 9, his Kammersymphonie, one could hear the shrill sound of door keys among the violent clapping and in the second gallery the first fight of the evening began... When Schoenberg knocked on the desk in the middle of the song and shouted to the public that anyone disturbing the peace would be removed by the police, insults, fisticuffs and challenges broke out again... It was not an unusual occurrence when one of the public with breathless haste and with ape-like agility climbed over several rows of seats in order to box the object of his anger on the ears...” Report in Musikblätter des Anbruch on the events of 31 March 1913
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ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE SAT. 9 FEB. 5.00 PM
FEB.
9
5.00 PM
AURORA ORCHESTRA PRESENTS
ZEITGEIST 2:
DANCE OF THE MACHINES (PARIS, 1926)
TICKETS: £10 (£5 CONC.) – WWW.SOUTHBANKCENTRE.CO.UK – 0844 875 0073
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GEORGE ANTHEIL BALLET MÉCANIQUE IGOR STRAVINSKY ‘DANSE SACRALE’ FROM THE RITE OF SPRING (PIANOLA VERSION) GEORGE ANTHEIL JAZZ SONATA JOSEPHINE BAKER (ARR. IAIN FARRINGTON) CABARET SONGS
Featuring: REX LAWSON (PIANOLA) STANTON MEDIA (FILM-MAKERS) NICHOLAS COLLON (CONDUCTOR)
Adventure into Paris of the 1920s, the crucible for George Antheil’s astonishing Ballet mécanique – a visceral rollercoaster for pianola, pianos and a barrage of percussion including aircraft propellors and electric bells. In addition to this rarely-heard work, the programme also features other contrasting ‘Parisian’ music of the period, including an excerpt from Stravinsky’s pianola arrangement of the Rite of Spring and new arrangements of Josephine Baker’s irresistible cabaret songs. Speciallycommissioned film from Stanton Media completes a programme evoking the rich colour and extraordinary juxtapositions of Antheil’s city. (Concert duration: 1 hour.) “Within a few minutes, the concert became sheer bedlam. Above the mighty noise of the pianos and drums arose cat-calls and booing, shrieking and whistling, shouts of ‘thief’ mixed with ‘bravo’. People began to call each other names and to forget there was any music going on at all... For an instant there was a curious lull in the clamour and Ezra Pound took advantage of it to jump to his feet and yell ‘Vous êtes tous des imbeciles!’ He was shouted down from the gallery, of course, with many vulgar epithets, and the music continued... determinedly.” Bravig Imbs on the 1926 première of the Ballet mécanique 9
QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE SUN. 9
JUN.
9
5.3 0 PM
AURORA ORCHESTRA PRESENTS
ZEITGEIST 3:
WHY? AND FOR WHAT?
(MOSCOW, 1946)
TICKETS: £10 (£5 CONC.) – WWW.SOUTHBANKCENTRE.CO.UK –
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JUN. 5.30 PM
0844 875 0073
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (ARR. RUDOLF BARSHAI) STRING QUARTET NO. 3 (CHAMBER SYMPHONY IN F, OP. 73A) Featuring: NICHOLAS COLLON (CONDUCTOR) STANTON MEDIA (FILM-MAKERS)
Aurora delves into the shattered landscape which played host to the première of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.3 – a heartfelt and intensely personal response to conflict, performed here in Rudolf Barshai’s masterly arrangement for chamber orchestra. (Concert duration: 1 hour.) “Only once did we see Shostakovich visibly moved by his own music. We were rehearsing his Third Quartet. He’d promised to stop us when he had any remarks to make. Dmitri Dmitriyevich sat in an armchair with the score opened out. But after each movement ended he just waved us on, saying, ‘Keep playing!’ So we performed the whole quartet. When we finished playing he sat quite still in silence like a wounded bird, tears streaming down his face. This was the only time that I saw Shostakovich so open and defenceless.” Violist Fyodor Druzhinin recalls Shostakovich attending a rehearsal by the Beethoven Quartet
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QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE SUN. 29 SEP. 3 PM
S E P.
29 3 PM
AURORA ORCHESTRA PRESENTS
ZEITGEIST 4:
BRITTEN FILMS
TICKETS: £10 (£5 CONC.) – WWW.SOUTHBANKCENTRE.CO.UK – 0844 875 0073
An Aldeburgh Music production supported by Arts Council England’s 2013 Britten Centenary commissioned grant fund.
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Aurora presents a London première of Britten’s complete existing documentary film scores, performed alongside the original films.
BENJAMIN BRITTEN NIGHT MAIL THE WAY TO THE SEA MEN BEHIND THE METERS THE TOCHER COAL FACE THE KING’S STAMP GOD’S CHILLUN PEACE OF BRITAIN SIXPENNY TELEGRAM Featuring: SAMUEL WEST (NARRATOR)
With subjects ranging from postage stamps to pacifism, the abolition of the slave trade to the electrification of the London–Portsmouth railway, the films are wonderfully made and fascinating historical documents. Britten’s music brilliantly reflects, amplifies and underpins the screen images with scores of rich variety, invention and no little wit. A celebration of composer’s craft and film-maker’s technique, and a remarkably vivid insight into 1930s Britain. “The fuss caused by the Censor for not passing [Peace of Britain] is colossal. ½ centre pages of Herald & News Chronicle, & Manchester Guardian – BBC news twice. Never has a film had such good publicity!” Britten recalls the initial refusal of the official censor to pass the pro-pacifist film Peace of Britain Touring performance: 8 November, Turner Sims Southampton 13
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AURORA AT KINGS PLACE
From 2013 Aurora becomes Resident Orchestra of Kings Place. This year’s projects focus principally on the incomparably rich music of J S Bach, encompassing two of the great liturgical masterpieces; chamber arrangements by later composers; a collaboration with recorder player Erik Bosgraaf; and Bach-inspired children’s concerts.
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BACH UNWRAPPED 1
ST JOHN PASSION J S BACH ST JOHN PASSION, BWV 245 (SUNG IN GERMAN) FEATURING: JOHN MARK AINSLEY EVANGELIST ROLAND WOOD CHRISTUS MALIN CHRISTENSSON SOPRANO IESTYN DAVIES COUNTER-TENOR ANDREW TORTISE TENOR DAVID STOUT PILATE/BASS CHOIR OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE (DIR: GRAHAM ROSS) NICHOLAS COLLON CONDUCTOR
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SATURDAY
Evangelist: ‘And then, behold, the veil of the Temple was rent into twain e’en from the top unto the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent; and the graves were opened up; and there arose many bodies of the saints.’
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MARCH, 7.30PM HALL ONE, KINGS PLACE TICKETS: £9.50 / £29.50 / £39.50 / £49.50 / £59.50 (ONLINE RATES)
John Mark Ainsley
Malin Christensson
Iestyn Davies
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BACH UNWRAPPED 2
ECHOES OF BACH J S BACH (ARR. W A MOZART) SELECTION OF FUGUES FROM THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER, BWV 846–893 J S BACH (ARR. ZOLTÁN KODÁLY) CHROMATIC FANTASY AND FUGUE IN D MINOR, BWV 903 J S BACH (ARR. FERRUCIO BUSONI) CHORALE PRELUDES FOR ORGAN (TRANSCRIBED FOR PIANO) FERRUCCIO BUSONI MOVEMENT IV FROM VIOLIN SONATA NO. 2 IN E MINOR, OP. 36A ALFRED SCHNITTKE PIANO QUINTET FEATURING: JOHN REID PIANO THOMAS GOULD VIOLIN JAMIE CAMPBELL VIOLIN MAX BAILLIE VIOLA OLIVER COATES CELLO
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SATURDAY
No composer has had a more profoundly transformative impact on Europe’s musical landscape than Bach. For this sparkling chamber programme, Aurora principal players pair arrangements of his works by later composers with twentieth-century chamber music inspired by Bach. Highlights include the final movement of Busoni’s second Violin Sonata, based around the chorale Wie bor Wir wohl is mir; Kodaly’s virtuosic arrangement for solo viola of the Chromatic Fantasy; and Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Quintet, a searing masterpiece written in memory of his dead mother, the central waltz of which is constructed around the letters B-A-C-H. “In his music one ceases to be conscious of the boundary between what is spiritual and what is physical, or, to be more precise, the spiritual is a continuation of the physical, not something quite distinct from it.” Alfred Schnittke on Bach
20 APRIL, 7.30PM HALL ONE, KINGS PLACE TICKETS: £9.50 / £14.50 / £19.50 / £24.50 / £29.50 (ONLINE RATES)
John Reid
Max Baillie
Oliver Coates
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BACH UNWRAPPED 3
SONGS WITHOUT WORDS J S BACH OBOE CONCERTO IN D, BWV 1053 (PERFORMED WITH SOLO RECORDER) ERIK BOSGRAAF BACH ARRANGEMENTS ANNA MEREDITH NEW WORK FOR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA AND SOLO RECORDER FEATURING: ERIK BOSGRAAF RECORDER PRINCIPAL PLAYERS OF AURORA ORCHESTRA
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SATURDAY
Established as one of the world’s most gifted recorder players, Erik Bosgraaf ’s richly varied musical background – including a period spent playing in a rock band – underpins a truly omnivorous approach to music-making. This unique Bach Unwrapped programme includes the ravishing concerto BWV 1053 (originally for oboe), new Bach transcriptions created by Bosgraaf for this concert, and the première of a new work for chamber orchestra and recorder by Anna Meredith, one of the UK’s most celebrated young composers. “A tour de force... greeted with a standing ovation, richly deserved.”
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OCTOBER, 7.30PM HALL ONE, KINGS PLACE TICKETS: £9.50 / £14.50 / £19.50 / £24.50 / £29.50 (ONLINE RATES)
Erik Bosgraaf
Anna Meredith
The Guardian on Anna Meredith’s 2012 BBC Proms commission HandsFree
Concert supported by Borletti-Buitoni Trust
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BACH UNWRAPPED 4
B-MINOR MASS J S BACH MASS IN B MINOR, BWV 232 FEATURING: ROSEMARY JOSHUA SOPRANO WILLIAM TOWERS COUNTER-TENOR ANDREW STAPLES TENOR BENEDICT NELSON BASS CHOIR OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE (DIR: GRAHAM ROSS) NICHOLAS COLLON CONDUCTOR
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SATURDAY
Acknowledged as one of the greatest achievements not only of sacred choral music but of European culture, the B-minor Mass is performed at Kings Place for the first time with a world-class team of soloists and one of the UK’s finest mixed-voice chamber choirs.
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DECEMBER, 7.30PM HALL ONE, KINGS PLACE TICKETS: £9.50 / £29.50 / £39.50 / £49.50 / £59.50 (ONLINE RATES)
Rosemary Joshua
‘‘The greatest musical work of art of all times and nations.” Hans Georg Nägeli, 1818 William Towers
Andrew Staples
Benedict Nelson
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CHILDRENS’ CONCERTS
STORYTELLING WITH BACH STORYTELLING WITH BACH I: WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER 20 APRIL, 11AM & 12.15PM J S BACH (ARR. IAIN FARRINGTON) EXCERPTS FROM THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER STORYTELLING WITH BACH II: GOLDBERG VARIATIONS 19 OCTOBER, 11AM & 12.15PM J S BACH (ARR. IAIN FARRINGTON) EXCERPTS FROM THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS FEATURING: JESSICA MARYON DAVIES ANIMATEUR KATE WAKELING STORY-WRITER PRINCIPAL PLAYERS OF AURORA ORCHESTRA
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SATURDAY
The Count couldn’t sleep. The Count couldn’t sleep. He counted comets. He counted sheep. He counted his fingers. He counted his toes. He counted up (twice) all the hairs in his nose... Join Jessica Maryon Davies and principal players of Aurora Orchestra as they explore Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier and Goldberg Variations. Two interactive family concerts bring these sparkling masterpieces to life with speciallycommissioned stories from writer Kate Wakeling, interwoven with lively musical performances.
20 APRIL 11AM & 12.15PM
SATURDAY
19
OCTOBER 11AM & 12.15PM
HALL TWO, KINGS PLACE TICKETS: £4.50 (CHILD) / £6.50 (ADULT). FAMILY DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE. (ONLINE RATES)
Meet a sleepless Count in need of a musical cure, dance with raindrops, hop with tree frogs and help solve the mystery of a lost fugue, last spied roaming the woods in search of a family.* *Reward of tapping toes, twirling brains and warm ears for his safe return. 25
THE GIFT WAGNER SIEGFRIED IDYLL BEETHOVEN SEPTET FEATURING: HENRY GOODMAN NARRATOR NICHOLAS COLLON CONDUCTOR
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FRIDAY
As part of the ‘Wagner 200’ celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth, Aurora presents a narrated re-creation of his Siegfried Idyll, composed as a birthday gift for his wife Cosima. With a new script created especially for this concert by Barry Millington. “When I woke up I heard a sound, it grew even louder, I could no longer imagine myself in a dream, music was sounding, and what music! After it had died away, R came in to me with the five children and put into my hands the score of his ‘Symphonic Birthday Greeting’. I was in tears, but so, too, was the whole household; R had set up his orchestra on the stairs and thus consecrated our joyous home for ever!”
28 JUNE, 8PM
HALL ONE, KINGS PLACE TICKETS £9.50 / £14.50 / £17.50 / £21.50 / £26.50 (ONLINE RATES)
Henry Goodman
From the diary of Cosima Wagner, Christmas Day 1870.
www.wagner200.co.uk
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New Moves at LSO St Luke’s
Since its launch in 2010 the New Moves series has pioneered a radically new kind of orchestral concert, infused with adventurous cross-art collaboration, inventive presentation, and eclectic programming. Come and discover why recent press plaudits have described ‘exquisite perfection’ and ‘an almost belligerent brilliance’. Cross-art form commissioning supported by:
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New Moves 1 Saturday
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March, 7.30pm LSO St Luke’s Tickets: £12 / £18 / £25 / £30
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Insom
Aurora Barbiturate (100mg) Uses: – Haunting musical experience for application during the darkness of a troubled night. – Particularly effective when taken in a venue marking its 10th anniversary. Active ingredients: – 1 award-winning tenor, Allan Clayton – 22 minutes of James MacMillan’s A Deep but Dazzling Darkness (formula first discovered at LSO St Luke’s in 2003) – 7 instrumental soloists in Britten’s Nocturne – 100 metronomes (Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique) – 1 new Beatles arrangement. When using this product: – Excitability may occur – Swelling of euphoria possible – Operating machinery inside concert hall not advised. Directions: – 1 performance (recommended dose) before sleep. Warning: – May not induce drowsiness – Keep in the reach of children.
nia
Ivor Gurney (arr. Iain Farrington) Sleep Antonio Vivaldi La Notte (‘The Night’) James MacMillan A Deep but Dazzling Darkness György Ligeti Poème Symphonique John Lennon / Paul McCartney (arr. Iain Farrington) Blackbird Benjamin Britten Nocturne Featuring: Allan Clayton Tenor Thomas Gould Violin William Reynolds Designer Nicholas Collon Conductor
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New Moves 2 Sunday
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July, 7pm LSO St Luke’s Tickets: £12 / £18 / £25 / £30 Touring performance: 30 June, Deal Festival
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Claude Debussy Syrinx Pierre Boulez Mémoriale Charles Ives Three Places in New England (with new film by Jon Frank) Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Featuring: Jane Mitchell Flute Jon Frank Film-maker Nicholas Collon Conductor Charles Ives’ mysterious, beautiful Three Places in New England evokes the sound and soul of three landscapes from the composer’s homeland, here performed alongside a new film from award-winning Australian photographer and film-maker Jon Frank. Memento pairs Ives’ masterpiece with Beethoven’s seventh symphony – premièred in 1813 at a charity concert in aid of wounded soldiers returning from the Battle of Hanau – and Pierre Boulez’s haunting Mémoriale for flute and eight instruments.
Meme
‘We walked in the meadows along the river, and heard the distant singing from the church across the river. The mist had not entirely left the river bed, and the colours, the running water, the banks and elm trees were something that one would always remember.’ Charles Ives
nto
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New Moves 3 Saturday
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November, 7.30pm LSO St Luke’s Tickets: £12 / £18 / £25 / £30
Benjamin Britten (arr. Imogen Holst) Rejoice in the Lamb Gustav Mahler (arr. Glen Cortese) Das Lied von der Erde Featuring: Mezzo-soprano TBC Andrew Staples Tenor Choir of Clare College, Cambridge (Dir: Graham Ross) Nicholas Collon Conductor
Touring performance: 15 November, Apex, Bury St Edmunds
Earth So 34
For I will consider Aurora Orchestra’s ‘Earth Song’. For it pertains to the manifold colours of life. For it wreathes with elegant quickness among dreams, fears, beauty and darkness. For it features the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, and singer/director Andrew Staples. For together they will semi-stage Britten’s jubilant Rejoice in the Lamb. For it sings praise for all living things, from the mouse to the lion to the flowers to the cat Jeoffry. For its poetry was written by Christopher Smart in 1759 while confined to an asylum. For there too will be heard Das Lied von der Erde. For Mahler’s great work is a hymn to earth, wine, spring, the leaves and mortality. For its poetry is drawn from the Tang Dynasty of the eighth century. For 浩歌待明月 (For ‘wildly singing I waited for the moon to rise’.) For by listening to all these I have found out electricity. For Aurora can tread to all the measures upon the musick. For it can play for its life. For it can sing. After Christopher Smart
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Aaron Copland Fanfare for the Common Man Benjamin Britten ‘Storm’ from Four Sea Interludes Camille Saint-Saëns Danse macabre Vittorio Monti Csárdás Igor Stravinsky ‘The Infernal Dance of King Katschei’ from The Firebird Claude Debussy (arr. André Caplet) Clair de lune W A Mozart Overture to The Magic Flute Wallace My Concerto in Ee, Lad Julian Nott A Matter of Loaf and Death Featuring Thomas Gould Violin Nicholas Collon Conductor/Presenter 36
Following a sell-out hit at the 2012 BBC Proms, Aurora again teams up with Wallace and Gromit to reprise Musical Marvels: a show for all the family combining dazzling orchestral highlights with specially-filmed new Wallace and Gromit animations. Audiences will experience the dynamic duo’s backstage exploits as they prepare for the first performance of Wallace’s brand new work, My Concerto in Ee, Lad. The BAFTA Awardwinning film A Matter of Loaf and Death is also screened with live orchestral accompaniment. Wallace talks to to The Telegraph’s Ivan Hewett about his recent commission ‘My Concerto in Ee, Lad’, as premièred at the 2012 BBC Proms. I imagine it’s hard work putting all those notes on paper. How do you keep your strength up? Aha! Well, that’s where being an inventor comes in handy. I simply use my Semi-Quaver Time-Saver, and that puts the notes on the page while I put my feet up with a nice cup of tea. Though I must admit, it does tend to make a few blots on the manuscript paper, which is a little confusing for the conductor.
Sunday
31 March 7pm
Monday
1
April 2.30 & 7pm Hammersmith Apollo
When you have an idea do you try it out on Gromit first?
Tickets: £10–40
I did used to hum some of my major themes to him at first, but you have to be careful about industrial espionage, you know. Between you and me, I suspect Gromit has a hankering to become a composer himself, and I don’t want him stealing all my best tunes.
Touring performances: 30 March, Brighton Dome
What’s the biggest problem with writing a piece of music? For me, the composition process is fraught with challenges – Writer’s Cramp, Tennis Elbow, Lumbago. And that’s before I even sit down to start composing. Have you enjoyed writing the piece? Would you like to write another one? Just try and stop me! But I don’t think the Concerto is a big enough platform for my musical genius. I’m currently working on my first opera, you know, with a starring role for Gromit – Il Pugliacci is the working title. Or maybe Dog Giovanni. Or the Barker of Seville…
Thomas Gould
© Ivan Hewett / Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012. Used with permission.
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3 –6 J ULY BR I T TEN CHUR CH PARABLES Benjamin Britten Curlew River The Prodigal Son The Burning Fiery Furnace Featuring: James Gilchrist Tenor Rodney Earl Clarke Bass Samuel Evans Bass Lukas Jakobski Bass John McMunn Tenor Frederic Wake-Walker Director Roger Vignoles Musical Director Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra 38
2013 marks the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth, and the composer’s music features prominently in Aurora’s programming this year, with performances of the Noctune, Rejoice in the Lamb and the film scores elsewhere in the season. In June and July, Aurora principal players join forces with Mahogany Opera for one of the highlights of the Britten 100 celebrations. Mahogany’s new production of the complete cycle of his ‘Church Parables’ – Curlew River, The Burning Fiery Furnace and The Prodigal Son – tours not only to venues in England but also to St Petersburg for the first-ever performances of the work in Russia. Based on the Japanese Noh play Sumidagawa, Britten’s Curlew River reimagines the haunting story of a mother’s search for her lost son as an English medieval mystery play. Frederic Wake-Walker’s production takes this principal – merging East with West – as the starting point for his staging of all three parables. For Curlew River, Japanese Noh is mixed with Medieval Western iconography; The Burning Fiery Furnace brings together Balinese dance drama with stained glass; whilst for The Prodigal Son Middle Eastern Sufism is juxtaposed with the work of Rembrandt and Bosch. An outstanding cast including James Gilchrist is directed from the keyboard by Roger Vignoles.
3–6 July
Southwark Cathedral For timings and ticket details please see www.colf.org
James Gilchrist
Roger Vignoles
MAHOGANY OPERA
Touring performances: 4–8 June: St Petersburg (Hermitage Theatre and Church of St Catherine) 16–19 June: Aldeburgh Festival (Orford Church) 14–15 July: Buxton Festival (St John the Baptist Church) 39
Modern Chamber Classics / 1
LE MAR
Saturday
5 October 7.30pm
Ticket details to be announced Part of International Chamber Music Season 2013/14 at Southbank Centre
Pierre Boulez Le marteau sans maĂŽtre
TEAU SA
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre
Karlheinz Stockhausen Kontakte Gesang der JĂźnglinge
Hilary Summers Contralto Colin Currie Percussion Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra
NS 40
E R IA T
E
Modern Chamber Classics / 2
JULIAN
Saturday
TIRAMISU AND OTHER WORKS
November 7.30pm
ANDERSON
2
Wigmore Hall Ticket details to be announced Promoted by Wigmore Hall
Hans Abrahamsen Walden Salvatore Sciarrino Da un Divertimento Julian Anderson Works including: Tiramisu The Comedy of Change Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra
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venues and booking information
1. southbank centre
www.southbankcentre.co.uk 0844 875 0073 Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
3. LSO St Luke’s
www.lso.co.uk/lsostlukes 020 7638 8891 161 Old Street, London EC1V 9NG
4. Hammersmith Apollo www.hammersmithapollo.com 0844 249 1000 45 Queen Caroline Street London W6 9QH
2. kings place
www.kingsplace.co.uk 020 7520 1490 90 York Way, London N1 9AG
4
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5. SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL (CITY OF LONDON FESTIVAL) www.colf.org 020 7583 3585 London Bridge, London SE1 9DA
6. wigmore hall www.wigmore-hall.org.uk 020 7935 2141 36 Wigmore Street
2
3 6
1
5
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adventures beyond london 6–9 March
16 May
18 May
Glyndebourne
Apex Bury St Edmunds
Orlando Gough, Imago
‘Battle’ Tour
glyndebourne.com
theapex.co.uk With Rory Macdonald (conductor)
Norfolk and Norwich Festival (St Andrew’s Hall)
30 March Brighton Dome Wallace and Gromit’s Musical Marvels
brightondome.org
3–5 May Shanghai Tour Shanghai Concert Hall shanghaiconcerthall.org With Rory Macdonald (conductor)
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17 May St Mary’s Ashford ‘Battle’ Tour
revelationstmarys.co.uk With Rory Macdonald (conductor)
‘Battle’ Tour
nnfestival.org.uk With Rory Macdonald (conductor)
4–8 June
30 June
8 November
St Petersburg (Hermitage Theatre and Church of St Catherine)
Deal Festival MEMENTO
Turner Sims Southampton
dealfestival.co.uk
Britten Films
turnersims.co.uk
Britten Church Parables
mahoganyopera.org.uk
16–19 June Aldeburgh Festival Britten Church Parables
aldeburgh.co.uk
14–15 July
15 November
Buxton Festival Britten Church Parables
buxtonfestival.co.uk
Apex Bury St Edmunds Earth Song
theapex.co.uk Further international tours to be announced – see auroraorchestra.com for latest information.
UK touring activity supported by:
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aurora people Principal Conductor & Artistic Director Nicholas Collon principal players Principal First Violin & Leader Thomas Gould Co-principal First Violin Alexandra Wood Second Violin Jamie Campbell Viola Max Baillie Cello Oliver Coates
Matthew Gee
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John Reid
Double Bass Ben Griffiths Flute Jane Mitchell Oboe Thomas Barber Clarinet Timothy Orpen Bassoon Chris Cooper
Jamie Campbell
Oliver Coates
Simon Cox
Horn Nicolas Fleury Trumpet Simon Cox Trombone Matthew Gee Piano John Reid Percussion Henry Baldwin
Alexandra Wood
Timothy Orpen
Nicolas Fleury
administration Chief Executive John Harte Projects Manager Kate Green Orchestra Manager Sarah Roseblade Creative Planning Associate Jane Mitchell Concerts Administrator Jack Lowe
Henry Baldwin
Nicholas Collon
Thomas Gould
Finance Manager Craig Macartney Media Relations Claire Willis, ElevenTenths PR Arranger-in-Residence Iain Farrington Writer-in-Residence Kate Wakeling Designer-in-Residence Nick Eagleton
Thomas Barber
Jane Mitchell
trustees Jonathan Deakin Emily Ingram Sanjivan Kohli Thomas Ponsonby Julia Thaxton Louis Watt Honorary Patron Sir Colin Davis Honorary Advisory Patron Dr Jill White
Chris Cooper
Max Baillie
Ben Griffiths
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acknowledgments PRINCIPAL SERIES SPONSORS
cross-art form commissions supported by the jerwood charitable foundation
PATRONS Monica Bertoni Eduardo Tamraz An Anoymous Foundation An Anonymous Donor Graham and Jackie Brown Thomas Ponsonby The Paul Morgan Foundation Helen and Richard Sheldon Chair Sponsors Helen and Richard Sheldon Principal Conductor Paul Barber Principal Oboe Dominique Collon Principal First Violin Gill and Andy Cooper Principal Bassoon Alastair and Elisabeth Colquhoun Principal Flute Toni Griffiths and Peter Scott Principal Clarinet Eleanor and David Harte Principal Cello Valli and Gregorio Kohon Principal Percussion Anne Lee Principal Horn Richard Lee Principal Second Violin Irene Mackay Principal Trumpet Roger Mears and Joanie Speers Principal Trombone John Rhodes Co-Principal First Violin Clive Tulloch Principal Viola Louis Watt Principal Double Bass
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GML Ltd.
MEDIA AND DIGITAL PARTNERS Classical Recording Company ElevenTenths PR FUSE Ltd Stanton Media digital people Videojuicer WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO Aldeburgh Music City of London Festival Choir of Clare College, Cambridge Nick Eagleton International Classical Artists Jim Jefferies-Hinson Jerwood Space Kings Place Music Foundation London Symphony Orchestra Orchestras Live Rayne Foundation Simon Weir Southbank Centre St Paul’s School Kate Wakeling BOOK CREDITS Design Nick Eagleton Illustration Rob Ball (robertmball.com) & Nick Eagleton Text Kate Wakeling & John Harte Print Cantate Aurora Orchestra The Music Base Kings Place , 90 York Way London N1 9AG +44 (0)20 7014 2806 info@auroraorchestra.com www.twitter.com/auroraorchestra www.facebook.com/auroraorchestra www.auroraorchestra.com Aurora is a UK registered charity, no. 1116352. All listings correct as of January 2013. Aurora reserves the right to make changes to published artists and programme details where necessary.
Nicholas Collon Principal Conductor & Artistic Director Photo: Simon Weir
aurora orchestra’s adventures 2013 “There seems to be no end to what this young ensemble is willing, hungry and able to do.” The Times “Playing beautiful enough to make you weep.” Gramophone “Aurora has taken music by the neck and shaken it – and many perceptions will have been changed forever.” The Times
www.auroraorchestra.com resident at:
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