BBC NOW - Season 2024-25 (English)

AT A GLANCE

HALL, SWANSEA

ABERYSTWYTH ARTS CENTRE PRICHARD-JONES HALL, BANGOR

BANGOR

ASTON HALL, WREXHAM

BRYCHEINIOG, BRECON

CATHEDRAL, CARDIFF

CARDIFF

HALL, BIRMINGHAM

CATHEDRAL

POINT LYNAS, ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES.

WARM MORNING LIGHT SPARKLES ACROSS THE BAY.

A WARM WELCOME FROM OUR DIRECTOR

Step into a world of music with us at BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales with our 24-25 season of concerts. Brimming with brilliant repertoire conducted and performed by some of the world’s foremost musicians, we have a wonderful season ahead for you to enjoy!

If you’ve never experienced a BBC NOW concert before, we can promise you thrilling music, a relaxed atmosphere and a very warm welcome. We make music for everyone in Wales, and we’d love to have you join us at our performances.

So what can you expect from our orchestra and chorus this season?

From well-known classics, to fresh and contemporary music, from the nostalgic sounds of jazz, to cosy Christmas concerts that the whole family will enjoy, there is sure to be something that you will know and love. We will be welcoming back some familiar faces as conductors and soloists, and are delighted to present and discover new artists.

We are committed to working in partnership with community groups and charities and will continue to take our music out of the concert hall and into settings such as schools and hospitals to enable others to experience and be empowered by music.

On screen and on air, BBC NOW’s music will feature in a wide range of broadcasts including Radio 3, Doctor Who, natural history programmes, and radio broadcasts right here in Wales. On our own website we will launch a brand new series of our ever-popular digital concerts and we will be livestreaming specific performances from our home at BBC Hoddinott Hall.

All our work whether in the concert hall, on screen, on air or in the community enables us to fulfil the BBC’s core values to inform, educate, and entertain.

I hope you enjoy a relaxed read through this brochure and discover what is on offer this season. Please do give us a follow on our social media so you can keep up to date with everything we do.

Best wishes Director

HELO A CHROESO TO OUR 2024-25 SEASON.

Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft returns to open the season in an all Brahms affair with his 1st Piano Concerto, performed by the brilliant Stephen Hough, and Schoenberg’s sparkling full orchestral arrangement of Brahms’ G minor Piano Quartet. Other concerts with Ryan not to be missed include Shostakovich’s 6th Symphony along with a world premiere by BBC NOW’s Composer-in-Association Gavin Higgins, and the return of trumpet virtuoso Håken Hardenberger in Weinberg’s Trumpet Concerto. Simon Wills’ concerto, written for our very own principal trombone Donal Bannister, receives its world premiere and we continues our musical exploration into the American modernist Charles Ives, this time with his 1st Symphony. The inimitable James Ehnes returns with Bartók’s 1st Violin Concerto before we turn to one of the greatest works in the repertoire Mahler’s colossal 5th Symphony, and Brahms is back with Ryan at the helm in a concert featuring his 2nd Serenade and Song of Destiny before we turn to Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms in which we are joined by the BBC National Chorus of Wales.

Jaime Martín returns to the Orchestra in his first season as Principal Guest Conductor, kicking off with Dvořák’s 6th Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s ever-popular Violin Concerto with Nemanja Radulović. Later in the season Jaime returns celebrating Bruckner’s 200th birthday with his romantic 4th Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Ellinor D’Melon; and soprano Danielle de Niese joins us for Poulenc’s one act opera La voix humaine alongside Ravel’s fantastical Ma Mère l’Oye. Conductor Laureate Tadaaki

Otaka returns with Rachmaninov’s last symphony, Grace Williams’ Penillion and is joined by Eldbjørg Hemsing for Bruch’s vibrant concerto for violin.

Andrew Manze returns for our Easter offering with the work Beethoven regarded as his greatest, his Missa Solemnis, in which we are joined by the National Chorus of Wales and a sterling line up of soloists. The Chorus and another group of outstanding soloists combine again in Rossini’s Stabat Mater alongside Respighi’s La boutique fantasque, all under the direction of the effervescent conductor Nil Venditti. Antony Hermus conducts a programme of Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen and Stravinsky’s Petrushka, plus the brilliant cellist Laura van der Heijden joins for Martinů’s 1st Cello Concerto. Scottish composer and conductor James Macmillan leads us through more Stravinsky in his Symphonies of Wind Instruments and Symphony in Three Movements plus the world premiere of his own concerto for euphonium, performed by David Childs, and Vaughan Williams’ beautiful In the Fen Country. The German composer, clarinettist and conductor Jörg Widmann conducts Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony alongside the UK premiere of his Violin Concerto, performed by the brilliant Carolin Widmann, and for the 100 year anniversary of the composer/conductor Pierre Boulez’s birthday we present a concert that features his music alongside the music of those he championed.

In our BBC NOW – NOW! series we celebrate the best of new musical offerings

from around the world, this time under the baton of Gemma New with music by Huw Watkins, Jessie Montgomery and Elena Kats-Chernin’s violin concerto Fantasie im Wintergarten, performed by Emily Sun for whom the piece was written. Our Grace series continues to celebrate the works of Grace Williams alongside other female composers, conductors and soloists. This year Emilia Hoving returns to the Orchestra to conduct Williams’ 1st Symphony alongside the UK premiere of Cecilia Darmström’s ICE and the world premiere of Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade’s Piano Concerto performed by Clare Hammond. Our wonderful concertmaster Lesley Hatfield appears in her own lunchtime series with a selection of her favourite works, and for the festive season we present Handel’s Messiah and other Christmas celebrations with Pete Harrison and musicals star Louise Dearman, plus our traditional Carols Concert.

On the road we head to North Wales with two programmes, the first featuring Martyn Brabbins and the outstanding mezzosoprano Beth Taylor in a programme of Grace Williams, Elgar and Vaughan Williams. Christoph König returns to the Orchestra for our second tour joined by saxophone sensation Jess Gillam performing Anna Clyne’s Glasslands alongside Ravel, Farrenc and Shostakovich. We also travel to St Asaph for the North Wales International Music Festival and return to St Davids, Swansea, Newtown, Wrexham, Newport and Brecon and perform in the Llais Festival. Further afield we travel to Birmingham, Lichfield, Cheltenham and of course to London for the biggest one of all, the BBC Proms.

community projects with our wonderful partner organisations. We also continue our recording work for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and commercial partners, whilst maintaining a busy schedule of film and television soundtracks.

A fabulous season of diverse and brilliant music conducted and performed by some of the world’s leading musicians with our very own BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. I look forward to seeing you there.

Matthew Wood Head of Artistic Planning and Production (Senior Producer)

FESTIVALS OF SOUND

What better way to ease ourselves into the 2024-25 Hoddinott Hall season than under the baton of our new Principal Guest Conductor Jaime Martín. Opening with Brahms’ musical thank you – his Academic Festival Overture blends traditional students songs with cleverly quirky orchestrations and dynamics to showcase sweeping lyricism, humorous rambunctiousness and an irrepressible feeling of fun.

Also never short on creative ideas, Tchaikovsky wrote his Violin Concerto in an astoundingly short two weeks. Inescapable magic and rousing brilliance interweave enchanting simplicity, all crowned with crackling firework virtuosity from the solo violin, performed here by the fabulous Nemanja Radulović. A brushstroke of Dvořákian maturity is never more present than in his Sixth Symphony, with limitless lyricism, warm expressiveness and fiery Bohemian spirit never far from reach.

LYRICAL BRILLIANT UPLIFTING

SUNDAY 8/9/24 3PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

BRAHMS

Academic Festival Overture

TCHAIKOVSKY

Violin Concerto

DVOŘÁK

Symphony No. 6

–

JAIME MARTÍN

Conductor

NEMANJA RADULOVIĆ

Violin

THREE CLIFFS, GOWER PENINSULA. PANORAMIC VIEW OF A SUNSET OVER THE THREE CLIFFS.

NORTH WALES INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

Join us in St Asaph Cathedral this September for the North Wales International Music Festival where we’ll be joined by dynamically charismatic conductor Nil Venditti.

Cameron Biles-Liddell’s Yr Afon Yn Yr Awyr, inspired by the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, explores the movement of water, from the flowing to the dancelike, the wild and energetic to the playful; before Welsh pianist Ellis Thomas joins BBC NOW to perform William Mathias’ First Piano Concerto in what would have been his 90th birthday year.

Striking a balance between the light-hearted and the noble, Elgar’s Enigma Variations round off this concert in style – an ingenious collection of musical sketches of his friends and an astute self-portrait; an enigma hidden within the score as each variation is tagged with the initials of the friends’ nicknames.

FRIDAY 20/9/24 7.30PM

St Asaph Cathedral

CAMERON BILES-LIDDELL Yr Afon Yn Yr Awyr

MATHIAS

Piano Concerto No. 1

ELGAR

Enigma Variations

–

NIL VENDITTI

Conductor

ELLIS THOMAS

Piano

OGWEN WATERFALLS, ERYRI NATIONAL PARK. BELOW LLYN OGWEN IN THE ERYRI MOUNTAINS.

OPERA & ELGAR WITH BBC NOW

Join BBC NOW and New Generation Artist Niamh O’Sullivan for ‘A Night at the Opera’ this September. Firecracker conductor Nil Venditti will lead us in this gala of operatic favourites. From Bizet’s iconic and seductive Carmen, to Donizetti’s yearningly romantic O mio Fernando, journeying via Puccini’s dramatically passionate and soaring Preludio Sinfonico and Mascagni’s hymnal Intermezzo Cavalleria there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Similarly to character depiction in opera, a man equally skilled in his ability to depict characters through music is Elgar in his Enigma Variations, so what better to round off the evening. Light-hearted yet noble, these variations are an ingenious collection of musical sketches of his friends and an astute self-portrait; an enigma hidden within the score as each variation is tagged with the initials of the friends’ nicknames.

SATURDAY 21/9/24 3PM

Hafren, Newtown

SUNDAY 22/9/24 3PM

The Riverfront, Newport

BIZET

Carmen Overture

BIZET

Habanera from Carmen BIZET

Chanson Bohème from Carmen

PUCCINI

Preludio Sinfonico

DONIZETTI

O mio Fernando from La Favourite

MASCAGNI

Intermezzo Cavalleria

RUPERTO CHAPI

Al pensar (Carceleras) from Las hijas del Zebedeo

ELGAR

Enigma Variations –

NIL VENDITTI

Conductor

NIAMH O’SULLIVAN

Mezzo Soprano

NEWPORT CITY FOOTBRIDGE, RIVER USK. SUNSET BEHIND THE BRIDGE.

STEPHEN HOUGH PLAYS BRAHMS

World renowned pianist Sir Stephen Hough joins BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft to launch the 2024-25 season in Swansea with a programme of Brahms and some of his most iconic works for piano.

Uncompromising and masterful, his First Piano Concerto remains a favourite with audience and performer alike. From the radiant slow movement to its jaunty finale, this concerto shows a fascinating blend of musical heritage with a progressive outlook that is uniquely Brahmsian.

Premiered in 1861, and orchestrated by Schoenberg in 1937, Brahms’ Quartet is an ingenious display of variation and transformation. Taking musical ideas and immediately exploring their possibilities paves the way for a constantly-developing large scale showcase of elegance, radiance and exhilaration.

THURSDAY 3/10/24 7.30PM

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

BRAHMS

Piano Concerto No. 1

BRAHMS ARR.

SCHOENBERG

Piano Quartet No. 1 –

RYAN BANCROFT

Conductor

STEPHEN HOUGH

Piano

LLYN OGWEN, NORTH-WEST WALES. TRYFAN, WITH VIEWS OF WATER OVER ROCKS AND RIBBON LAKE.

BBC NOW – NOW!

BBC NOW – NOW!, our series dedicated to the best music being written today, is back this autumn with two UK premieres, plus a symphony by our former Composer-in-Association, Huw Watkins.

First up, the UK premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Coincident Dances. Frenetic energy and a multicultural aural palette radiate in this depiction of the sounds of New York. The second UK premiere comes in the form of Elena Kats-Chernin’s violin concerto Fantasie im Wintergarten, written for tonight’s soloist, Emily Sun. Inspired by a 1920s silent film set in the fairground circus Wintergarten in Berlin, the concerto explores the contrast of love and betrayal – from light to shadow, tango to chaos, virtuosity to suspended lyricism. To close we turn to Huw Watkins’ Second Symphony, written during the pandemic this large scale work, whilst relatively short, packs a punchy delivery of ravishing texture and expansive melody.

THURSDAY 24/10/24 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

JESSIE MONTGOMERY

Coincident Dances [UK Premiere]

ELENA KATS-CHERNIN Fantasie im Wintergarten [UK Premiere]

HUW WATKINS Symphony No. 2 –

GEMMA NEW Conductor

EMILY SUN Violin

LANGLAND BAY, GOWER, SWANSEA. SUNRISE OVER THE BAY ALONG THE GOWER COAST.

ROMANTIC RHAPSODIES

Written for his dear friend Ferdinand David, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto oozes charm and elegance. Brimming with lyricism and structural inventiveness, it is little wonder that this concerto has firmly established itself as one of the most popular and best loved of all concertos. To perform we’re delighted to welcome rising star and multi award winner, Ellinor D’Melon.

In a nod to his 200th birthday year Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony takes centre stage in the second half of this concert, conducted by our Principal Guest Conductor, Jaime Martín. Spectacular horn solos soar against shimmering strings, funeral marches weave with German chorales and the drive of hunting music leans into gentle trios reminiscent of Haydn or Beethoven in this colourful symphony.

THURSDAY 7/11/24 7.30PM

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

MENDELSSOHN

Violin Concerto

BRUCKNER

Symphony No. 4 ‘Romantic’ –

JAIME MARTÍN

Conductor

ELLINOR D’MELON

Violin

SPECTACULAR COLOURFUL RHAPSODIC

MENAI SUSPENSION BRIDGE, ANGLESEY. THE BRIDGE OVERLOOKS THE MENAI STRAIT.

PICTURES OF BRITAIN

Martyn Brabbins takes to the podium in a programme of British masterpieces as we travel to Aberystwyth and Bangor this November.

Opening with Barry-born Grace Williams’ overture

Hen Walia, which takes its inspiration from folk tunes, in particular the lullaby Huna Blentyn, we move on to Elgar’s quintessentially British and sumptuous song cycle, his Sea Pictures – a vivid musical portrait of the sea and its changeable characters. To perform this sensational work we’re delighted to be joined by Cardiff Singer of the World finalist Beth Taylor.

For the second half we delve into a symphony by Grace Williams’ teacher, Vaughan Williams. Composed during World War II, his Fifth Symphony is a contemplative yet rhythmically exciting and exquisitely flowing antithesis to the surrounding turmoil.

DISTINCTIVE GRAND SUMPTUOUS

THURSDAY 14/11/24 7.30PM

Aberystwyth Arts Centre

FRIDAY 15/11/24 7.30PM

Prichard-Jones Hall, Bangor

GRACE WILLIAMS

Hen Walia

ELGAR

Sea Pictures

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Symphony No. 5 –

MARTYN BRABBINS

Conductor

BETH TAYLOR

Mezzo Soprano

COWBOIS RHOS BOTWNNOG A’R GERDDORFA

Following the success of the release of their fifth studio album Mynd A’r Tŷ am Dro and a sold-out tour in the spring, Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog’s stunningly beautiful music will be performed with the Orchestra in a career spanning concert arranged and conducted by John Quirk. The evening will be presented by BBC Radio Cymru’s Aled Hughes.

ENTERTAINING INTIMATE UNIQUE

SAVE THE DATE

PONTIO GIG

Pontio, we’ll be back with another collaboration with BBC Radio Cymru in March. Keep your eye on our social media later this year for more information.

SATURDAY 16/11/24 8PM

Pontio, Bangor

COWBOIS RHOS BOTWNNOG

–

JOHN QUIRK Conductor

SATURDAY 15/3/25 8PM

Pontio, Bangor

COWBOIS RHOS BOTWNNOG

HOW TO BOOK

BBC HODDINOTT HALL

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5AL

Tickets: 02920 636464 wmc.org.uk

BRANGWYN HALL

Guildhall Road, Swansea, SA1 4PE

Tickets: 01792 475715 brangwyn.co.uk

ABERYSTWYTH ARTS CENTRE

Aberystwyth University

Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth SY23 3DE

Tickets: 01970 623232

aberystwythartscentre.co.uk

BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY HALL

Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2EA

Tickets: 0121 289 6343

bmusic.co.uk/bclassical

NEWPORT CATHEDRAL

Stow Hill, Newport, NP20 4ED

Tickets: newportcathedral.org.uk

PRICHARD-JONES HALL AND PONTIO, BANGOR

Bangor University, Pontio

Deiniol Rd, Bangor LL57 2TQ

Tickets: 01248 382828

ST ASAPH CATHEDRAL

High Street, St Asaph, LL17 0RD

Tickets: nwimf.com/

THEATRE HAFREN, NEWTOWN

Llanidloes Road, Newtown, Powys, SY16 4HU

Tickets: 01686 948100

thehafren.co.uk

THE RIVERFRONT

Kingsway, Newport, NP20 1HG

Tickets: 01633 656757

newportlive.co.uk

Find out more about BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales at bbc.co.uk/now or through our social media channels:

Twitter: @BBCNOW @BBCNOWCYMRAEG

Facebook: BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Instagram: @_bbcnow

Don’t forget to give us a follow for all your latest BBC NOW news and content, and we’re always delighted to hear from you so please do get in touch via any of the above, or via email at now@bbc.co.uk

LIGHT SHINING THROUGH BEAUTIFUL STAINED GLASS.

DANCING & DEITIES

Imagine dancing dolls in a magical toy shop, and a pair of fabulous can-can dancers plotting to stay together at any cost and you have the charming story of La boutique fantasque. With its vibrant and whimsical music this ballet is a sequence of exquisite dances, each more lively than the last, which is nothing less than sheer joy to listen to.

In contrast Rossini’s Stabat Mater is a work which teeters on the edge of sacred sentimentality and overt operatics. The bravura and rollickingly memorable tunes of the ‘Cujus animam’ and the fire and brimstone of ‘inflammatus et accensus’ seamlessly interweave with the unequivocally sacred qualities of the ‘Eja Mater’ and ‘Quando corpus morietur’, reflective of the shapely and plaintive qualities of pre-classical church music – a true masterpiece that is heartfelt, expressive and vocally shapely yet rhythmic and outspokenly operatic.

THEATRIC MAGICAL ENTRANCING

THURSDAY 21/11/24 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

RESPIGHI

La boutique fantasque Suite

ROSSINI

Stabat Mater –

NIL VENDITTI

Conductor

MASABANE CECILIA

RANGWANASHA

Soprano

TARA ERRAUGHT

Mezzo Soprano

LEVY SEGKAPANE

Tenor

ASHLEY RICHES

Bass-Baritone

BBC NATIONAL CHORUS OF WALES

IMPRESSIONS & MEDITATIONS

The Pacific ocean with its pounding waves, free flowing groove and sizzle on the sand provide the backdrop for Gabriella Smith’s Tumblebird Contrails Keening gulls and playful ravens overhead, and a hallucinatory jet trail painting pictures across the sky mirror in the ebb and flow of the sea in this impressionistic musical portrait.

BBC NOW’s very own principal trombonist Donal Bannister steps out of the orchestra and into the solo spotlight in the world premiere of Simon Wills’ Trombone Concerto, written specially for Donal, before Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft continues his exploration into the works of Charles Ives with BBC NOW, this time with his First Symphony. Meditative melodies contrast with energetic themes and hymn-like tunes meld with soaring lyricism in this encapsulatingly Romantic symphony.

THURSDAY 5/12/24 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

GABRIELLA SMITH

Tumblebird Contrails

SIMON WILLS

Trombone Concerto: Nora Barnacle Assumes Command [World Premiere]

IVES

Symphony No. 1 –

RYAN BANCROFT

Conductor

DONAL BANNISTER Trombone

DYNAMIC EXPANSIVE PICTURESQUE

BARAFUNDLE BAY. WATER CURLING AROUND ROCKS AT THE BAY.

TINTERN ABBEY, MONMOUTHSHIRE. SITUATED ON THE WELSH BANK OF THE RIVER WYE.

MESSIAH

Start your Christmas this year with one of the bestknown and most-loved choral works in Western music, Handel’s Messiah.

Firmly established as a Christmas tradition for audiences across the globe, Handel’s Messiah is a true celebration of the nativity; exhilarating yet deeply emotional and resonant. Comprising a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and psalms from the Book of Common Prayer, Messiah brings some of the most evocative oratorio writing in the repertoire featuring ‘For unto us a child is born’, ‘The trumpet shall sound’ and the famous ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.

Join the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, alongside world renowned conductor John Butt for a truly jubilant festive experience!

THURSDAY 12/12/24 7PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

HANDEL Messiah –

JOHN BUTT Conductor

FFLUR WYN Soprano

MARTA FONTANALSSIMMONS Mezzo Soprano

JOSHUA ELLICOTT Tenor

JAMES ATKINSON Bass

BBC NATIONAL CHORUS OF WALES

JUBILANT SEASONAL SPIRITUAL

CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS: SWANSEA

Christmas Carols in cosy jumpers, children joyfully singing, readings by your favourite BBC Wales presenters and uplifting brass and percussion. What more could you need to get you in the Christmas spirit?

Join BBC National Chorus of Wales with their artistic director Adrian Partington, alongside a massed Children’s Choir from schools across South Wales for this glittering, annual Christmas festivity – the perfect Sunday afternoon treat for all the family.

JOYFUL HEARTWARMING FESTAL

SUNDAY 15/12/24 3PM Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

ADRIAN PARTINGTON Conductor

BBC NATIONAL CHORUS OF WALES

MASSED SCHOOLS CHOIR

PONTCYSYLLTE AQUEDUCT, LLANGOLLEN. 19-ARCHED STONE AND CAST IRON STRCUTURE.

CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS: WREXHAM

Christmas Carols in cosy jumpers, children joyfully singing and uplifting brass and percussion. What more could you need to get you in the Christmas spirit?

Join BBC National Chorus of Wales’ artistic director Adrian Partington, alongside a massed choir from across North Wales for this glittering, annual Christmas festivity – the perfect Sunday afternoon treat for all the family.

JOYFUL HEARTWARMING FESTAL

SUNDAY 22/12/24 3PM William Aston Hall, Wrexham

ADRIAN PARTINGTON Conductor

NEW VOICES

MASSED CHILDREN’S CHOIR

CHRISTMAS TREE AND BAUBLES.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

Our ever-popular Christmas Celebrations are back!

Westend leading lady Louise Dearman takes to the stage alongside the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Pete Harrison for an evening featuring your favourite Christmas tunes, all with a jazz and swing twist. From Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, to Sleigh Ride and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, plus a few surprises along the way, this lively Christmas cracker is perfect for all the family and sure to get you in the mood. So don your Christmas jumpers and festive hats, and join us in BBC Hoddinott Hall for a swingtastic feast of music.

THURSDAY 19/12/24

3PM & 7PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

PETE HARRISON

Conductor

LOUISE DEARMAN

Singer

FESTIVE JAZZY FUN

Start your musical journey this January with Janáček’s immensely popular tragicomedy The Cunning Little Vixen. With short and pithy symphonic pantomime sections, inventively orchestrated to give each character their own rhythmic motif, this folksy suite is laden with lush harmony and a mood firmly drenched in nature and love.

The immensely popular cellist Laura van der Heijden returns to BBC NOW with a performance of Martinů’s athletic and folky, yet expressively impassioned Cello Concerto, before conductor Antony Hermus turns puppet-master in Stravinsky’s Petrushka. Petrushka, the rebellious jester falls in love with a Ballerina who falls in love with the Moor in this fated folk story, with the dancing and despairingly flailing puppet cleverly wound into action by Stravinsky’s ingenious rhythm and orchestration.

ENCHANTING STRIKING FOLKY FOLK TALES & FABLED LOVE

SATURDAY 11/1/25 3PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

SUNDAY 12/1/25 3PM

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

JANÁČEK

The Cunning Little Vixen Suite

MARTINŮ

Cello Concerto No. 1

STRAVINSKY

Petrushka (1947 version) –

ANTONY HERMUS

Conductor

LAURA VAN DER HEIJDEN

Cello

MYSTERIOUS JESTER. LOOKING TO THE DISTANCE.

LA VOIX HUMAINE

Principal Guest Conductor Jaime Martín leads us in a programme of French gems, starting with a celebration of the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth. His luscious, magical, enchanting and playful score to the ballet Ma Mère l’Oye is based on classic fairy tales, from Sleeping Beauty and Little Ugly to Tom Thumb and Beauty and the Beast.

After the interval, opera superstar Danielle de Niese makes her debut with BBC NOW as Elle in a semistaged performance of Poulenc’s powerful one act opera, La voix humaine. During a phone call from her lover, grief and denial lead to outrage and despair as he calls off their relationship – the timeless theme of unrequited love playing out before our very eyes.

THURSDAY 30/1/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

RAVEL

Ma Mère l’Oye

POULENC

La voix humaine

JAIME MARTÍN

Conductor

DANIELLE DE NIESE

Soprano

THEATRICAL VIVID BREATHTAKING

ERYRI NATIONAL PARK. LONE TREE OVERLOOKING THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE.

SHOSTAKOVICH 6 WITH RYAN BANCROFT

Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft takes to the podium to conduct the world premiere of Composerin-Association, Gavin Higgins’ A Monstrous Little Suite from his opera The Monstrous Child, before Håken Hardenberger makes a much anticipated return to BBC NOW for one of the finest concertos of its kind, Weinberg’s playful, suspenseful and witty Trumpet Concerto. With shadows of darkness, to a hobbling waltz, this concerto ingeniously quotes music from some of the most popular works in existence, from Bizet’s Carmen to Stravinsky’s Petrushka, from Mendelssohn’s iconic Wedding March to Mahler’s fifth. Dark drama contrasts outright giddiness in Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony, demonstrating kaleidoscopic variation at its most vivid. A long, yearningly sombre and stunningly beautiful slow opening movement gives way to two breathtaking scherzos with effervescent melody and mood galloping through the orchestra in this fizzing, almost raucous musical circus.

FRIDAY 14/2/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

SATURDAY 15/2/25 7.30PM

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

GAVIN HIGGINS

A Monstrous Little Suite [World Premiere]

WEINBERG

Trumpet Concerto

SHOSTAKOVICH

Symphony No. 6 –

RYAN BANCROFT

Conductor

HÅKAN HARDENBERGER

Trumpet

EFFERVESCENT MULTIFARIOUS EXHILIRATING

ERYRI NATIONAL PARK. VIEW OF MOUNTAIN RANGE AND LAKE.

FLATLAND NEAR JOKULSARLON. SOUTH ICELAND.

‘GRACE’

We continue our Grace series showcasing Welsh talent and women in music this spring with works by Cecilia Darmström, Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade and Grace Williams, all under the baton of Emilia Hoving. Expressing the effects of global warming and the collapse of historic ecosystems, Cecilia Darmström’s ICE depicts through music the earth fighting for existence, and how we could rewind this process. British composer Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade’s Piano Concerto receives its world premiere with BBC NOW regular, Clare Hammond at the keys before we turn to the series’ namesake, Grace Williams. One of her earliest works, and believed to be the first symphony ever written by a Welsh composer, her dramatic First Symphony is inspired by fifteenth century Welsh rebel, Owain Glyndŵr.

FRIDAY 21/2/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

CECILIA DARMSTRÖM

ICE [UK Premiere]

NINFEA CRUTTWELLREADE

Piano Concerto [World Premiere]

GRACE WILLIAMS

Symphony No. 1

EMILIA HOVING

Conductor

CLARE HAMMOND

Piano

ABERYSTWYTH, WEST WALES. A WAVE RUSHES ALONG THE PIER WALL AT SUNSET.

BOULEZ AT 100

In celebration of the 100th birthday of Pierre Boulez, conductor Daniel Cohen joins BBC NOW for an evening of 20th Century gems, kicking off with Boulez’s own Livres pour cordes. Unsurpassable beauty and depth run deep in this angular and fragmentary work, which is nothing but lyrical throughout.

Ava Bahari makes her debut with BBC NOW in Berg’s best-known and most performed work, his powerful Violin Concerto, before BBC NOW’s Principal Flute, Matthew Featherstone, steps into the spotlight for Boulez’s Memoriale, a dynamic masterstroke of extended flute technique. His former teacher, and inspiring influence, Olivier Messiaen is up next as we explore his reverential Les Offrandes oubliée and we delve into the turbulence of forbidden love in Wagner’s musical embodiment of drama, Tristan und Isolde.

THURSDAY 6/3/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

BOULEZ

Livres pour cordes

BERG

Violin Concerto

BOULEZ

Memoriale

MESSIAEN

Les Offrandes oubliées

WAGNER

Prelude und Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde –

DANIEL COHEN

Conductor

AVA BAHARI

Violin

MATTHEW

FEATHERSTONE

Flute

SHOSTAKOVICH 9 WITH CHRISTOPH KÖNIG

2025 sees the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death, so in celebration of his life we take his firecracker Ninth Symphony on the road to Aberystwyth and Bangor this March. Small in scale, but full of humour this symphony came as a surprise to everyone at its premiere, with its touches of slapstick, jaunty themes and spirited dance-like feel.

Saxophone sensation Jess Gillam joins us for Anna Clyne’s Glasslands, conjuring an imaginary world governed by a banshee, and we explore Louise Farrenc’s Second Overture. Regarded as one of the foremost female musicians of her time, this beautifully crafted overture develops a dark emotional character with broad and skilfully woven themes and agitated rhythms, alongside the lyrically gentle. But first, Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin – an homage not only to the composer François Couperin, but to French music of the 18th century. Crisp orchestration and incisive rhythms converge with melodic and harmonic twists in a work iconic to listeners for generations.

THURSDAY 13/3/25 7.30PM

Aberystwyth Arts Centre

FRIDAY 14/3/25 7.30PM

Prichard-Jones Hall, Bangor

RAVEL

Le Tombeau de Couperin

ANNA CLYNE Glasslands

FARRENC

Overture No. 2

SHOSTAKOVICH

Symphony No. 9 –

CHRISTOPH KÖNIG

Conductor

JESS GILLAM

Saxophone

DEVIL’S BRIDGE WATERFALLS, ABERYSTWYTH. THE HEART OF THE CAMBRIAN MOUNTAINS.

MARLOES SANDS, PEMBROKESHIRE. DRAMATIC ROCKY COASTLINE.

FIREWORKS OF PASSION

Quasi-improvisatory melodies weave with rhythmic accompaniment, reminiscent of folk songs being accompanied by harp, in Grace Williams’ Penillion. Meditative lyricism bends to rousingly firey dances in this enchanting concert opener, conducted by our much-loved Conductor Laureate, Tadaaki Otaka.

Soaring melody, quirky bravado, and fiendishly tricky virtuosity radiate in Bruch’s passionate Violin Concerto. From soloistic fireworks to its rich orchestral backdrop there is little wonder this concerto remains a favourite with soloists and audiences alike, and to perform we’re delighted to welcome back violin sensation, Eldbjørg Hemsing. Similarly passionate is Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony – striking climaxes give way to soulful solos, forceful marches to thunderous celebration, all based on one musical motif skilfully transformed and developed throughout.

FIERY IMPASSIONED

THURSDAY 20/3/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

FRIDAY 21/3/25 7.30PM

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

GRACE WILLIAMS

Penillion

BRUCH

Violin Concerto No. 1

RACHMANINOV

Symphony No. 3

–

TADAAKI OTAKA

Conductor

ELDBJØRG HEMSING

Violin

COMPOSITION: WALES

Discover the latest in composition in Wales this spring as composers deserving of wider exposure have the opportunity to work with conductor Jac van Steen and Composer-in-Association Gavin Higgins on their latest orchestral composition, and hear it come to life with BBC NOW.

These free workshops and culmination concert are run in association with Nimbus Lyrita Arts, Tŷ Cerdd, Composers of Wales, Vale of Glamorgan Festival and Welsh Music Guild, this annual project supports the development and exposure of Welsh, and Wales-based, compositional talent.

OPEN WORKSHOPS

MONDAY 24/3/25

2-5PM & 6-9PM

TUESDAY 25/3/25

10AM-1PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

CULMINATION CONCERT

WEDNESDAY 26/3/25 7PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

JAC VAN STEEN Conductor

EXPLORATORY ENRICHING SPECIAL

NORMAN KEEP, CARDIFF CASTLE. SURROUNDED BY DAFFODILS.

TWR MAWR LIGHTHOUSE, LLANDDWYN ISLAND. ON THE COAST OF ANGLESEY.

ELEGANT ROMANTICS

Fanny Mendelssohn’s elegantly romantic Overture sets the mood for this concert of classical favourites. Rhapsodic melodies accented by pizzicato allusions lead the way to virtuosity and British bravado in Elgar’s much-loved Cello Concerto, although his post WW1 moroseness is never far from the surface, with assertive yet austere themes, a jaunty energy and meditative qualities. As soloist we welcome BBC NOW debutant, the multi award-winning cellist Bryan Cheng.

A monumental work of tremendous power and passion, Brahms’ last and probably greatest symphony, his fourth, exudes immense beauty, grandeur and emotion, and we’re delighted to welcome highly acclaimed Italo-Brazilian conductor, Simone Menezes to the podium in her debut with BBC NOW.

THURSDAY 3/4/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

FRIDAY 4/4/25 7.30PM

Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon

FANNY MENDELSSOHN

Overture

ELGAR

Cello Concerto

BRAHMS

Symphony No. 4 –

SIMONE MENEZES

Conductor

BRYAN CHENG

Cello

ROMANTIC ELEGANT ICONIC

MISSA SOLEMNIS

Standing as a monument to sacred choral works, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is a mass setting of immense weight and scale. Lofty grandeur and heavenward serenity dance with angular leaping figures, violent dynamic contrasts weave through the delicately orchestrated massed forces, and a searching quality reflective of his own faith, that of looking beyond our understanding at a numinous God, is never far from the surface.

Regarded by Beethoven as his greatest work, his Missa Solemnis is surely a ‘bucket list’ piece to experience and marvel at for all music lovers, and with an acclaimed line up of soloists stepping up alongside the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales this is a performance not to be missed.

THURSDAY 10/4/25 7.30PM Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff

FRIDAY 11/4/25 7.30PM Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis

ANDREW MANZE Conductor

CAROLYN SAMPSON Soprano

SOPHIE HARMSEN Mezzo Soprano

ED LYON Tenor

DARREN JEFFERY Bass

BBC NATIONAL CHORUS OF WALES

COLABORATORY –

FIONA MONBET

Back by popular demand, Fiona Monbet and her trio return to Cardiff for an evening of folky jazz alongside the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Why not grab a drink, and even a bite to eat from one of Depot’s resident food stalls, then pick a spot to kick back, relax and prepare to be dazzled as Fiona takes to the stage in this glittering showcase of jazz at its finest.

SUNDAY 27/4/25 6PM Depot, Cardiff

FIONA MONBET

Conductor/Violin

ZACHARIE ABRAHAM

Double Bass

AUXANE CARTIGNY

Piano

PHILIPPE MANIEZ

Drum Kit

VIBRANT INVENTIVE DAZZLING

CARDIFF BAY, CARDIFF, SOUTH WALES. VIEWS OF THE PIERHEAD BUILDING, SENEDD, MILLENNIUM CENTRE & BBC HODDINOTT HALL.

EXPRESSIONS OF FOLK

Snippets of folk-like tunes weave together in Holst’s kaleidoscopic Capriccio, and taking an equally central role in Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments are the Russian folk elements and original meaning of ‘symphony’, that of sounding together. Short litanies between the different instruments draw together contrasting episodes at three different but still related speeds.

Welsh Euphonium sensation David Childs steps into the solo spot for the world premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s new concerto Where the Lugar meets the Glaisnock, and the folk music of England provides the scene for Vaughan Williams’ In the Fen Country

A symphonic impression portraying the warmth of nature, juxtaposed with the bleak emptiness of the fens, this early work shows a glimpse of the musical language of Vaughan Williams we have all come to love. We then turn once again to Stravinsky, this time with his response to the atrocities of World War II, his Symphony in Three Movements. To conduct we’re delighted to welcome Sir James MacMillan.

THURSDAY 1/5/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

FRIDAY 2/5/25 7.30PM

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

HOLST Capriccio

STRAVINSKY

Symphonies of Wind Instruments

JAMES MACMILLAN

Where the Lugar meets the Glaisnock [World Premiere]

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

In the Fen Country

STRAVINSKY

Symphony in Three Movements –

JAMES MACMILLAN Conductor

DAVID CHILDS Euphonium

IMPRESSIONIST RESONANT RESPLENDENT

PEN YR OLE WEN, ERYRI NATIONAL PARK. VIEW OF THE SEVENTH HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN ERYRI.

REFORMATION & INVIGORATION

Busy whispers and buzzing excitement lead to gargantuan climaxes in Mozart’s ever-popular overture to the opera Le nozze di Figaro. Witty, scampering and joyful throughout, it’s the perfect opener to any concert. Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony foreshadows a similar elegant melodiousness – intended to symbolise Protestant Reformation, this symphony journeys through dramatic outbursts, aria-like solos and jaunty chorales towards triumph in the face of reform. To conduct we’re delighted to welcome Jörg Widmann to make his debut with BBC NOW.

Violinist Carolin Widmann has made a name internationally as one of the finest performers of the Classical and Romantic repertoire, so it is hardly surprising when you hear she told her brother Jörg as a youngster that he was crazy upon asking her to try out some extended techniques! Written for and dedicated to Carolin, his second Violin Concerto uses the solo line as the works narrator, giving the violin its own voice and exploring the virtuoso Romantic style Carolin revels in.

STYLISH DRAMATIC VIVACIOUS

FRIDAY 15/5/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

MOZART

Le nozze di Figaro Overture

JÖRG WIDMANN

Concerto for Violin No. 2 [UK Premiere]

MENDELSSOHN

Symphony No. 5 ‘Reformation’ –

JÖRG WIDMANN

Conductor

CAROLIN WIDMANN

Violin

CRAIG GOCH DAM, ELAN VALLEY OF WALES. THE MASONRY DAM OF THE ELAN VALLEY.

NOTES OF LOVE

There’s been a long history of composers writing musical gifts for the women they loved, and tonight’s Season Closing Concert features two of the finest. Unrequited love pervades in Bartók’s Violin Concerto. Written for violinist, and Bartók’s muse, Stefi Geyer, this two-movement concerto is a musical showcase of her personality – lamenting melodies and whimsical leaps abound in this deeply personal rhapsodic outpouring. Champion of this virtuosic firework display is world-renowned violinist James Ehnes, who returns to BBC NOW by popular demand.

Unlike Bartók, Mahler’s love was met, and in a token of love for his new wife, Alma, his Fifth Symphony blazes with trumpet fanfares, dance and joy – not to mention the radiantly palpitating slow movement, surely his love song for his beloved.

THURSDAY 29/5/25 7.30PM

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

FRIDAY 30/5/25 7.30PM

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

BARTÓK

Violin Concerto No. 1

MAHLER

Symphony No. 5 –

RYAN BANCROFT

Conductor

JAMES EHNES

Violin

AERIAL VIEW OF A WELSH BEACH. TAKEN 400 FEET IN THE AIR.

SONGS OF DESTINY

If historically serenades were intended as music for entertainment, then Brahms has most definitely excelled in his Serenade No. 2. This early work oozes Brahmsian character from the outset with its lilting warmth, lively cross rhythms, and plenteous melody to charm any listener.

Similarly characteristic, but more brooding in nature is Brahms’ heady setting of the poem Schicksalslied by Friedrich Hölderlin. In two verses contrasting the lives of the eternally blissful with those subjected to cruel fate, Brahms moves between the light and airy versus the tempestuous. Stravinsky, by contrast, uses modes reminiscent of traditional Gregorian chant, paired with fugal counterpoint and ecstatic dance motifs to portray the text of psalms in a pure work of genius, his Symphony of Psalms! To conduct BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales in their final concert of the Cardiff season we’re delighted to welcome back Principal Conductor, Ryan Bancroft.

EXQUISITE FERVENT PICTORIC

FRIDAY 20/6/25 7.30PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

BRAHMS

Serenade No. 2

BRAHMS

Schicksalslied

STRAVINSKY

Symphony of Psalms –

RYAN BANCROFT

Conductor

BBC NATIONAL CHORUS OF WALES

LESLEY’S LUNCHTIME CONCERTS

Join us in Newport and Cardiff this summer for our special lunchtime concerts presented by BBC NOW leader, Lesley Hatfield, kicking off with Haydn’s Sturm und Drang masterpiece, his Symphony No. 64

Caroline Shaw’s Punctum takes its musical inspiration from JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion, but twists the context of modular sequences with the inspiration of French post-structuralism to create a sensory palate of classicism without form; and from its Cantabile and lilting slow waltz to lively scherzos and humorous exuberance, Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings draws this concert to a joyous close.

SCHOOL’S CONCERT

Calling all teachers… on Thursday 26th June 2025

BBC NOW will be performing its annual schools concert, and this time we’ll be holding it at Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall. Make a note in your diary, and keep an eye out on our social media for updates in the new season.

THURSDAY 3/7/25 2PM

BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff

FRIDAY 4/7/25 2PM

Newport Cathedral

HAYDN Symphony No. 64

CAROLINE SHAW

Punctum

DVOŘÁK

Serenade for Strings –

LESLEY HATFIELD

Director/Violin

THURSDAY 26/6/25

Brangwyn Hall, Swansea

IMAGE TITLE. IMAGE DESCRIPTION.

Copy Copi: Amy Campbell-Nichols

Design Dylunio: BBC Wales Graphics

Photography Ffotograffiaeth: Yusef Bastawy, James Fear and Kirsten McTernan