BBC SSO Afternoon Performances 2017 2018

fternoon Performances Tickets from £11.50 Students £6.00*

bbc.co.uk/bbcsso Box Office: 0141­ 353 8000 *venue booking fees may apply. See inside

City Halls, Glasgow October 2017–April 2018

Warm Welcome to fternoon Performances at City Halls, Glasgow A FULL BBC SSO CONCERT IN THE AFTERNOON

The BBC SSO’s series of afternoon concerts is the perfect way to experience a full orchestral concert featuring the freshest musical talent and some of the world’s leading artists, without having to worry about catching late transport or making your way home in the dark. And if you book in advance, standard seats are just £11.50!

BBC SSO CONDUCTORS

Catch the BBC SSO’s Chief Conductor Thomas Dausgaard, who conducts a fascinating concert focusing on the music of Bartók with the outstanding violinist Barnabás Kelemen, while the orchestra’s Associate Guest Conductor John Wilson is passionate about American music and has programmed some neglected works as well as Copland’s famous Appalachian Spring…

MUSIC YOU LOVE…MUSIC TO DISCOVER

Is there a more famous piece of music than Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik? It’s paired this season with Wolfgang’s popular ‘Jupiter’ Symphony and directed by our leader Laura Samuel, while Prokofiev’s famous music from his ballet Romeo and Juliet will thrill and seduce in the hands of the fabulous young conductor Ben Gernon. But you can also discover rarely heard works by Bernstein, Chausson, Simon Wills and Roy Harris. Take the plunge!

All performances will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The concert on Thursday 14 December is scheduled to be broadcast live: bbc.co.uk/radio3

François Leleux photo by Thomas Kost

Kathryn Rudge photo by Sussie Ahlburg

THURSDAY 5 OCTOBER 2017, 2.00pm

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER, 2.00pm

n fternoon with François Leleux

Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’

MOZART Symphony No.31, K.297/300A (Paris) MOZART Arias from The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni (arr. Leleux) BEETHOVEN Overture: Coriolan SCHUBERT Symphony No.4 (Tragic)

François Leleux oboe/director The young Mozart didn’t mind showing off.

And that’s just as well, because neither does François Leleux – conductor, entertainer and oboist extraordinaire. The concert begins with the symphony that the 22-year old Mozart wrote in order to wow French audiences, and ends with an even younger Schubert stretching his wings in a “Tragic” symphony with a surprisingly happy ending. Leleux directs, and there’s a piece of pure drama from Ludwig van Beethoven too; but in between, he steps forward as oboist in a sequence of showstopping arias from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. The Herald hailed Leleux’s “unforgettable presence and playing”; today, we think you’ll hear why.

SIMON WILLS The Island: symphonic poem CHAUSSON Poème de l’amour et de la mer* PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet (a selection from ballet/suites) Kathryn Rudge mezzo-soprano* Ben Gernon conductor Ben Gernon is no stranger to Scotland.

The Scotsman praised his “eager, incisive direction”, and there’s an energising freshness about everything he touches. So who better to conduct a concert that begins with Simon Wills’s musical postcard from Trinidad and Chausson’s intoxicating Poème de l’amour et de la mer: a rapturous song of love and nature, by music’s answer to Renoir? Mezzo Kathryn Rudge - chosen by BBC Radio 3 as one of its New Generation Artists – tells that story today.

And then Gernon hurls us into the ardent melodies and pounding rhythms of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet: Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, with none of the sentimentality but all of the fire.

THURSDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2018, 2.00pm

Kelemen plays Bartók KODÁLY Summer Evening BARTÓK Violin Concerto No.1 BARTÓK Rhapsody No.2 for violin and orchestra BARTÓK The Miraculous Mandarin*

Béla Bartók wrote without compromise: his savage, sexually-charged ballet The Miraculous Mandarin was so provocative that it was actually banned in the 1920s. It’s a cliché to say that the Hungarian violinist Barnabás Kelemen has this music in his blood, but as Bachtrack puts it, his “staggering virtuoso technique and a charismatic ability to communicate even the most complex music engagingly” make him an ideal interpreter of Bartók. Here he plays the composer’s First Violin Concerto and Rhapsody No.2, while the enchanting Summer Evening by Bartók’s friend Kodály begins the concert in deceptive calm.

COMPOSER ROOTS This is the first in a short series of concerts presented by the BBC SSO and Chief Conductor Thomas Dausgaard which focuses on the music of Bartók– further concerts take place at City Halls on Sunday 25 February (2.00pm) and Thursday 1 March (7.30pm) - please see main season brochure for full details.

Barnabas Kelemen © Tamas Dobos

Barnabás Kelemen violin Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Voices* Timothy Dean: chorus master Thomas Dausgaard conductor

John Wilson photo by John Wood

Laura Samuel photo by Natalia Zapala

THURSDAY 15 MARCH, 2.00pm

THURSDAY 19 APRIL, 2.00pm

John Wilson conducts ‘ ppalachian Spring’

Mozart’s ‘Jupiter Symphony’

BARBER Overture: The School for Scandal BERNSTEIN Serenade - after Plato’s ‘Symposium’, for solo violin, harp, percussion, and strings COPLAND Appalachian Spring: Suite HARRIS Symphony No.3 (1938)

MOZART Serenade in G, K.525 (Eine kleine Nachtmusik) BRITTEN Les illuminations* BRIDGE Three Idylls (arranged for string orchestra) MOZART Symphony No.41 (Jupiter)

Ning Feng violin John Wilson conductor

Claire Booth soprano* Laura Samuel director

Bright colours, new hopes, and endless horizons. If you could set the American Dream to music, it’d probably sound very like Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring – the 1944 frontier ballet that took the old hymn ‘Tis The Gift to Be Simple and sent it out into the world.

It’s the calm, strong centre to John Wilson’s exploration of American music in the 20th century – a concert that ranges from the jazz-age sheen of Barber’s comedy overture to Leonard Bernstein’s deliciously sophisticated take on Plato, in the form of a violin concerto.

And to finish, a leading candidate for the title of the definitive Great American Symphony: Roy Harris’s taut, muscular Third.

Laura Samuel, the BBC SSO’s Leader, directs this programme which opens with one of Mozart’s most familiar works, his last Serenade, the charming Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Soprano Claire Booth then sings Les illuminations, the song-cycle which Benjamin Britten made in 1939 of some of Rimbaud’s sensuous and flamboyant poems. The 2017/18 Afternoon Performance series closes with Mozart’s enduringly popular ‘Jupiter’ Symphony, but before that an arrangement for string orchestra of Frank Bridge’s delightful Three Idylls, originally composed for string quartet in 1906.

How to book Box Office: 0141 353 8000 bbc.co.uk/bbcsso TICKETS: £11.50 if bought in advance £13.50 if bought on the day of performance Students (in full-time education): £6.00 (proof of status required).

Available in advance and on the day of performance. No other concessions.

Seating for Afternoon Performances at City Halls is unreserved.

CITY HALLS BOX OFFICE CANDLERIGGS, GLASGOW G1 1NQ Tickets are also available from the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall Box Office.

Please note that the Box Office charges a fee of £1.50 on all telephone bookings, £1.00 on all online bookings and an additional £1.00 if tickets are to be posted out.

Tea & Symphony Enjoy lunch before the concert!

Join us for a light lunch of soup and sandwiches followed by a selection of cakes, as well as unlimited tea or coffee for just £8.00 from 12.30pm at any of our Afternoon Performance concerts. Tea and Symphony is served in the Recital Room at City Halls and spaces are always in high demand, so be sure to pre-book when you reserve your tickets at the Box Office.

Plan your visit PUBLIC TRANSPORT City Halls is situated at the heart of the Merchant City at the north end of Candleriggs between Trongate and Ingram Street. It is within easy walking distance of Argyle Street, Queen Street, High Street and Central railway stations as well as St. Enoch and Buchanan Street subway stations. Buchanan Bus Station is a 15 minute walk away. Nearby bus routes include 2, 6, 18, 21, 43, 60, 61, 64, 240, 255, 263.

PARKING Convenient car parking, including parking for disabled patrons, is available at the multi-storey facilities at Q-Park on Candleriggs and Albion Street. Other car parking facilities close to City Halls include the NCP Glasshouse on Glassford Street and car parks on the east side of High Street, in addition to metered on-street parking throughout the area.

ACCESS INFORMATION All entrances at City Halls are fully accessible with lifts to every level of the auditorium. Wheelchairs are available on request and can be pre-booked via the box office. Guide dogs are welcome at City Halls. Please note there is no induction loop in the City Halls auditorium. Glasgow’s Concert Halls has an assisted hearing system which can be used as both a stand alone hearing aid or as an enhancement to an existing hearing aid. Headsets are available from the cloakroom for a £5.00 refundable deposit. Headsets can be pre-booked via the box office.

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra BBC Scotland City Halls, Candleriggs Glasgow G1 1NQ Email: bbcsso@bbc.co.uk bbc.co.uk/bbcsso facebook.com/bbcsso twitter.com/bbcsso instagram.com/bbcsso The information in this brochure was correct at the time of publishing. If necessary the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra reserves the right to amend artists and programmes for any of the listed concerts.