Afternoon Performance City Halls, Glasgow November 2018 – May 2019 Tickets from £12.00* Under 26s and Students: £6.00* Box Office: 0141353 8000 (*venue booking fee may apply, please see inside)
bbc.co.uk/bbcsso
Afternoon Performances at City Halls, Glasgow Experience a full BBC SSO concert, but during the day. When the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performs in City Halls the sound is breathtaking. BBC musicians are energetic, passionate and committed; combine them with the world renowned acoustic of City Halls and you have the perfect match. Switch off, relax and immerse yourself in a beautiful afternoon of music.
All performances will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The concert on 13 December is scheduled to be broadcast live: bbc.co.uk/radio3
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Tchaikovsky and Rossini
Dvořák Cello Concerto
Thursday, 1 November 2018, 2.00pm
Thursday, 13 December, 2.00pm
Rossini Overture: The Thieving Magpie Una voce poco fa – from The Barber of Seville La pace mia smarrita – from Moses in Egypt Non più mesta – from Cinderella Overture: The Silken Ladder Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 ‘Pathétique’
Anna Clyne Masquerade Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor Sibelius Symphony No.2
Christine Rice mezzo-soprano Richard Farnes conductor
“I am just an ordinary Czech musician” said Antonín Dvořák: but great artists see whole worlds in everyday things, and the birdsong, horncalls and tender memories that he poured into his Cello Concerto only heighten its power. Sibelius, too, begins with rural simplicity: just a few chords and a playful tune. But his mighty Second Symphony swells, gathers and broadens into a musical floodtide that sweeps all before it. The young British conductor Alpesh Chauhan never stints on drama; add the “overwhelming charisma” of cellist Pablo Ferrández and we can expect emotions on the grandest possible scale, launched on their way by the rollicking dance rhythms of Masquerade – Anna Clyne’s riotous evocation of a medieval carnival.
“Pathétique” translates as “full of emotion” and even Tchaikovsky never wrote anything more powerful, more melodious or more heartbreakingly sincere than the Sixth, an uninhibited musical autobiography. Equally grand in passion are a series of operatic showstoppers from the operas of Rossini, who died 150 years ago, especially when performed by Christine Rice – hailed by critics for her “flashes of vocal fire”. It’s prosecco for the ears.
1. Christine Rice photo by Patricia Taylor 2. Alpesh Chauhan photo by Patrick Allen
Pablo Ferrández cello Alpesh Chauhan conductor
This concert is scheduled to be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
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Stephen Hough Plays Liszt Thursday, 31 January 2019, 2.00pm
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John Wilson Conducts Rachmaninov Thursday, 7 March, 2.00pm
Bartók Suite No.2 Liszt Piano Concerto No.1 Bartók Suite No.1 Stephen Hough piano Thomas Dausgaard conductor They called it “Lisztmania”: audiences would scream, cheer and even faint with sheer excitement when they heard Franz Liszt playing the piano. He’s no longer available in person, but to hear the phenomenal Stephen Hough unleashing all his powers on Liszt’s demonic First Piano Concerto, is one of 21st century music’s most exhilarating experiences. You can’t really top that, so BBC SSO Chief Conductor Thomas Dausgaard has placed it in a wonderfully appropriate context: the two youthful, richly coloured Orchestral Suites by Liszt’s fellow Hungarian, Bartók.
3. Stephen Hough photo by Robert Torres 4. John Wilson photo by Mark Hamilton 5. Alexander Liebreich photo by Sammy Hart 6. Vadym Kholodenko photo by Ira Polyarnaya
Bernstein Three Dance Episodes from On the Town Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915* Rachmaninov Symphony No.3 Elizabeth Reiter soprano* John Wilson conductor “It has become that time of evening when people sit on their porches, rocking gently and talking gently and watching the street…” Nostalgia can sometimes be the strongest emotion of all. Barber knew that when he created a long, blissful musical daydream of a Midwestern childhood. Leonard Bernstein knew it too: there’s solitude as well as thrills when he takes Manhattan in On the Town. And Sergei Rachmaninov, exiled forever from Russia, explored new worlds in a glittering, Art Deco streamliner of a Third Symphony that never quite shakes off its sense of loss. No-one knows how to make this music soar and glow quite like the orchestra’s Associate Guest Conductor, John Wilson.
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Beethoven’s Fourth
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Thursday, 21 March, 2.00pm
Thursday, 18 April, 2.00pm
Toshio Hosokawa Meditation to the victims of Tsunami (March 2011) Dai Fujikura ‘Impulse’ (Piano Concerto No.3 – 2017/18) (UK Premiere) Beethoven Symphony No.4
Haydn Symphony No.42 Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Brahms Symphony No.3
Yu Kosuge piano Alexander Liebreich conductor “Composing is all about creating a utopia that I would like to live in” says Dai Fujikura - “a whole world, not just colour, or scenery, but I hope to stimulate every sense you can imagine”. He’d have got along well with Beethoven, who said that he wanted to “press out a glorious wine to intoxicate all humanity” – and in his joyous, headstrong Fourth Symphony he comes thrillingly close. It’ll feel like a celebration, coming after the exquisitelyimagined soundworld of Fujikura’s new piano concerto (played by the pianist who inspired it), and the haunting, powerfully evocative Meditation by Toshio Hosokawa, directed by the conductor who gave its premiere just twelve months after the tragedy it commemorates.
Vadym Kholodenko piano Nicholas Carter conductor “Free but happy” is the motto that Brahms gave to his Third Symphony, and it begins with all the exhilaration of a summer downpour. What comes next is a musical exploration of German Romanticism at its most poetic, a world of rolling clouds, tender lullabies, and – at the end – radiant sunsets. It’s a magnificent finish to a concert that‘s all about colour: and make no mistake, Vadym Kholodenko will bring out every glittering face of Rachmaninov’s hugely popular Rhapsody. Just as conductor Nicholas Carter will find every scintilla of wit in a brilliant but rarely-heard symphony by the composer Brahms loved above all others: Joseph Haydn.
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Elgar Symphony No.1 Thursday, 16 May, 2.00pm Bartók Hungarian Sketches Schumann Piano Concerto Elgar Symphony No.1 Elisabeth Leonskaja piano Thomas Dausgaard conductor Elgar wouldn’t say if his First Symphony told a story – merely that “it expressed a wide experience of human life with a great charity (love) and a massive hope in the future”. But the British public knew a masterpiece when they heard one, and when it was premiered in 1908, the audience leapt to its feet and cheered. Thomas Dausgaard brings a uniquely fresh approach to a late-Romantic epic like no other, paired here today with Bartók’s vivid musical postcards from Transylvania, and the poetry, tenderness and heart-on-sleeve romance of the Piano Concerto by Robert Schumann. There’s a good reason why pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja is revered by her fellow musicians: and you’re about to hear it.
7. Elisabeth Leonskaja photo by Julia Wesely
Tea and Symphony Enjoy lunch before the concert! Join us at City Halls for a light lunch of soup and sandwiches followed by a selection of cakes, as well as unlimited tea or coffee for just £8.50, from 12.30pm at any of our Afternoon Performance concerts. Tea and Symphony is provided by the venue and is served in the Recital Room at City Halls; spaces are always in high demand, so please be sure to pre-book when you reserve your concert tickets at the City Halls Box Office.
Plan Your Visit Public Transport
Access Information
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.
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.
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.
How to Book Box Office: 0141 353 8000 bbc.co.uk/bbcsso Tickets for Afternoon Performance concerts: £12.00 if bought in advance £14.00 if bought on the day of performance Under 26s, Students (in full-time education) and Registered Unemployed: £6.00 Registered disabled patrons, and a carer where required, will receive a discount of 50% on a full price ticket (proof of status required) No other concessions Seating for all daytime events with the BBC SSO 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.
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra BBC Scotland City Halls, Candleriggs Glasgow G1 1NQ bbcsso@bbc.co.uk 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.