Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra concert season 2016 / 17 Lighthouse
Poole’s Centre for the Arts
Welcome to the 2016/17 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Season at Lighthouse in Poole.
delighted to welcome Nemanja Radulovi´c as our Artist-in-Residence for the season.
Described as “one of this country’s cultural miracles” in national press following our performances of Richard Strauss’ Salome last season, the artistic strength of the Company continues to grow. There is a palpable sense of expectation in the audience prior to concerts, a sense of excitement that only inspires our brilliant musicians, conductors and guest artists to create such world-class music each week.
As ever our range of programmes and artists are designed to inspire our loyal regular supporters whilst finding many ways to welcome new audiences of all ages and tastes. Throughout the season we will encourage you to find out more through our range of online resources on the BSO website.
Kirill Karabits’ outstanding leadership of the BSO continues this season with programmes featuring great symphonic works from Walton to Bruckner, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich through to Schumann, Mendelssohn and Bartók. We place the music of Elgar in the context of the European Romantic tradition and we have a series of great symphonies from the middle part of the 20th century. Our philosophy of nurturing long-lasting artistic relationships, whilst fostering outstanding new talent continues and we welcome debuts from conductors James Feddeck and Antonio Méndez, trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth and pianist Sebastian Knauer. Alongside this a number of artists return for the second time including conductors Ion Marin, Daniele Rustioni and Carlos Miguel Prieto. We are especially
Whether in the concert hall, a school, hospital or community setting, as a leading arts charity the BSO has a unique remit to bring great music and cultural engagement to the range of diverse communities across the South and South West, with an influence that is felt nationally and internationally. It has never been more important to advocate for the positive impact our work has on people’s lives and the key role everyone has to help us reach out, through supporting the BSO. I would like to thank everyone who supports this remarkable organisation. You play a vital role in our future. I look forward to welcoming you to another season of great music making. Dougie Scarfe Chief Executive
wednesday
Walton’s Late Masterpiece “karabits and the bso represent one of this country’s finest orchestral partnerships” The Telegraph, August 2015
Written over twenty years after the First, Walton’s Second Symphony is a far more refined and completely realised work. The score is remarkable for its stylistic consistency, developmental ingenuity and sparkling orchestral brilliance. The music is scored with precision, surety and elegance with a concentration on angular melodies, sharply dissonant harmonies and machine-like rhythms. The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is probably the most admired of Rachmaninov’s works. It embodies his late style at its brilliant and witty best, it has one of the world’s most irresistible melodies, and it gives rapt audiences the satisfaction of watching a pianist hard at work and with obviously rewarding results. By Tchaikovsky’s own account, the Capriccio Italien is a loose succession of imaginative, colourful and richly evocative songs and dances – a musical travelogue – derived from folk anthologies and the streets of Italy. Indeed the opening trumpet call was the music that awakened him each morning in Rome.
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october 7.30 pm
tchaikovsky Capriccio Italien rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini walton Symphony No.2 Kirill Karabits conductor Francesco Piemontesi piano
wednesday
Introspective Elgar Written in the summer of 1919, the Cello Concerto represented, for Elgar, the angst, despair and disillusionment he felt after the Great War, and an introspective look at death and mortality. He had been deeply saddened by the war, was suffering from a painful chronic ear condition, and the recent deaths of several old friends had made him acutely aware of his own advancing years. It signified Elgar’s farewell to the way of life as he had known it. “Everything good and nice and clean and fresh and sweet is far away – never to return” he wrote. Dvorˇák broke new ground with his Eighth Symphony, a work, as he explained, meant to be “different from the other symphonies, with individual thoughts worked out in a new way.” The music is steeped in the flavour and atmosphere of the Czech countryside.
Within the music are sounds from nature, particularly hunting horn calls, birdsong and dramatic fanfares that suggest non-musical images. The symphony has often been described as a “sunny” work, but it is much more than that. There are passages of drama, exhilaration, happiness and nostalgia. Overall it is a work that evokes a wide range of human emotions and is yet profoundly optimistic. Schumann’s Overture, Scherzo & Finale – a kind of informal symphony with no slow movement – is a unique, light and joyous work written during his creative flurry of 1841.
Supported by BSO Endowment Trust in memory of Left: Eluned Pierce
Canon and Mrs Ivor Jeffrey-Machin
19
october 7.30 pm
schumann Overture, Scherzo & Finale elgar Cello Concerto dvok Symphony No.8 Kees Bakels conductor Daniel Müller-Schott cello
wednesday
26
Rachmaninov Revisited
tchaikovsky Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.1 martinu Symphony No.4
“I have rewritten my first concerto; it is really good now” said Rachmaninov to a friend. “All the youthful freshness is there, and yet it plays itself so much more easily.” It contains all the signatures of his mature style – polished melodies, a demanding solo part and sumptuous orchestral writing, acquired during the two decades he spent as both a conductor and composer. Yet a youthful, dramatic energy is still evident from the opening bars to its show-stopping conclusion. Martin˚u’s Fourth Symphony is one of the most luminous, colourful, rhythmically alive, optimistic and celebratory pieces of the 20th century. It grows out of a single motif, using contrasting lyrical and rhythmical material combined with sweeping melodies to reach its vibrant finale. The first great thunderbolt to issue from Tchaikovsky’s pen and the best early realisation of his incredible potential, this fantasy overture careens between the tension of the clashing Montague and Capulet houses and the heart-breaking beauty of the protagonists’ love. The sum of the parts is pure magic.
october 7.30 pm
Aleksandar Markovi´c conductor Alexander Romanovsky piano
Alexander Romanovsky
wednesday
Tales from Vienna Beethoven nervously accepted a commission to write a Mass from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, following as he was in the footsteps of Haydn and not yet having written one himself. In an effort to set it apart from his predecessor’s, it is tranquil and devotional instead of cosmic and bombastic. Compact and chaste with echoes back to the Renaissance, its beauty resides in its many deceptively simple details – the block harmonies of the choir, the flickering dissonances and the sudden shifts from very loud to a celestial softness. Schubert’s Fifth Symphony is a brilliant achievement – from the breath-stoppingly original opening gesture and effervescent themes to the grand harmonic strategy and the polyphonic skill upon which the powerful development is built. Everything about it suggests a contented spirit of its youthful creator. Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.3 has a beguiling purity of melody and timbre, emphasizing the golden tone of the solo instrument supported by an understated accompaniment.
2
november 7.30 pm
schubert Symphony No.5 mozart Horn Concerto No.3 beethoven Mass in C Nicholas McGegan conductor Nicolas Fleury horn Kate Royal soprano Jennifer Johnston mezzo-soprano Robert Murray tenor Alastair Miles bass Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
wednesday
9
Romance and Revelry
haydn Trumpet Concerto bruckner Symphony No.4 ‘Romantic’
The Fourth is the only one of Bruckner’s nine symphonies to have a subtitle. Friends had suggested that rather than write music that told no story he should create a work that was more evocative. Bruckner was not terribly enthusiastic as appending a programme rather got in the way of what he was trying to accomplish artistically, but he went along with the idea. The result is quite glorious – a sort of Teutonic romanticism suggestive of medieval castles, knights on horseback and celebratory hunts. Perhaps more than any other single work, the Fourth reflects all the characteristic elements of Bruckner’s symphonic pilgrimage – the easy-going rusticity of the earlier symphonies, the lofty grandeur of the final three, and the highly personal concept of span, colour and momentum that make the authorship of these works unmistakable. There too is the impression of a darker element, rather at odds with the idyllic Romantic context Bruckner himself specified, and eventually a brilliant apotheosis.
november 7.30 pm
Kirill Karabits conductor Tine Thing Helseth trumpet
The Trumpet Concerto is unquestionably the crown jewel among Haydn’s works for soloist and orchestra. It boasts marvellous, memorable themes that are well suited to the instrument; balanced dialogue between soloist and orchestra, and superb handling of the supporting ensemble. It was written for the newly developed keyed trumpet. The possibilities offered by this new instrument developed by Haydn’s friend and a member of the court orchestra, trumpet virtuoso Anton Weidinger, marked a milestone in the history of the trumpet.
Supported by
Chris and Clem Martin
Right: David Daly
wednesday
Hammer Blows
Ion Marin
Left: Anna Pyne and Kevin Smith
Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is structurally his most conservative, but in terms of expression it is not conservative at all. It stretches the capabilities of Mahler’s largest orchestra with relentless marches, angular melodies, and adventurous harmonies. Although the composer was ambivalent about attributing programmatic aspects to his works, he informally titled the Sixth the ‘Tragic’ Symphony without providing a detailed programme. It has been called both absolute music and a portrayal of the fall of a Hero, Mankind, or Mahler himself. Yet it is only in the colossal, overwhelming finale that the work’s fateful nature really becomes clear. Opening with an eerie, unsettling introduction, the movement proper is restless and striving. It consists of a series of waves of vigorous activity, each of which is crowned catastrophically by one of the hammer blows of fate. There is no recovery from the third and final climax. The music, its tragic destiny fulfilled, subsides into utter darkness.
23
november 7.30 pm
mahler Symphony No.6 ‘Tragic’ Ion Marin conductor
wednesday
30
Roman Holiday
elgar In the South mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.2 r strauss Aus Italien Symphonic Fantasy
Italy occupied a unique place in the psyches of many 19th century composers, artists and writers. The physical beauty of its architecture and countryside, as well as Italy’s own ancient and rich traditions of art, music and thought inspired many. Strauss embarked on his own journey in early 1886 and was overwhelmed by what he saw. As he travelled, he jotted down musical ideas for what became Aus Italien, including assigning specific keys to correspond with particular places he visited – the warm, lemon-scented Amalfi coast, the Renaissance Villa d’Este at Tivoli, the colourful bustle of Naples and the ancient ruins of Rome. Travel became a tonic for Elgar and Italy was his preferred refuge after 1903, visiting at least five times over the next decade. It was in the coastal city of Alassio that he
november 7.30 pm
Alexander Shelley conductor Sebastian Knauer piano
found inspiration for In The South. Although called an overture, it is more of a tone poem in its design and impact. Comparisons to Strauss are obvious in this regard, not only for the similarity of the source, but also for the athletic, boisterous opening bars that bring Don Juan to mind. Elgar said the music came to him “in a flash” while walking by an ancient Roman road and that all that remained was to “simply write it down.” Like Strauss, Elgar’s tonal imagery is notable for its easy shifting of mood and colourful orchestration. The delicacy and lightness so typical of Mendelssohn pervades his Second Piano Concerto. A quiet, almost menacing, dialogue between the soloist and orchestra soon gives way to a lively, almost rhapsodic lyricism.
wednesday
Fireworks from Armenia “a hardworking, underfunded, yet splendid orchestra that really is one of this country’s cultural miracles” The Telegraph, October 2015
Supported by
Richard Bagley
Khachaturian had an affinity for writing concertos and easily completed his Violin Concerto in just two months. He remembered “I worked without effort... the themes came to me in such abundance that I had a hard time putting them in some order.” It is a work imbued with the music of his Armenian homeland, filled with festive brilliance, blazing orchestral colour and sparkling virtuosity. As it unfolds, the soloist is required to display one dazzling technical feat after another. Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 3 is a finely crafted work of winning spirit, though one that rarely broaches the personal revelations of his late symphonies. It is entirely idiomatic Tchaikovsky nonetheless. Nobody else could have written the opening Elegy, which traces a trajectory from the languid to the impassioned, with its gorgeous themes and fluttering accompaniments. Greatly influenced by Shostakovich, Karayev forged his own distinctive use of native Azerbaijani folk music. The ballet The Seven Beauties brims with an exotic array of appealing rhythms and melodies.
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december 7.30 pm
karayev The Seven Beauties: Waltz khachaturian Violin Concerto tchaikovsky Suite No.3 Kirill Karabits conductor Nemanja Radulovi´c violin
Christmas & New Year with the BSO wednesday 14 december 7.30 pm
saturday 17 december 7.30 pm
tuesday 20 december 3pm & 7pm
Handel’s Messiah
Last Night of the Christmas Proms
The Snowman
Christian Curnyn conductor Joanne Lunn soprano Christopher Lowrey counter-tenor Stuart Jackson tenor Callum Thorpe bass Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Pete Harrison conductor Alison Jiear singer Iain Mackenzie singer
Hugh Brunt conductor Pui Fan Lee narrator
Jennifer Curiel, Edward Kay and Nicole Boyesen
friday 23 december 7.30 pm
sunday 1 january 3pm
Celebration of Christmas Carols
New Year’s Day Johann Strauss Gala
BSO Young Conductor in Association Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Youth Chorus
Frank Zielhorst conductor Soraya Mafi soprano
“the bso delivered a dazzling and brilliantly coloured reading” Seen and Heard International January 2016
wednesday
Sweeping Sibelius The Fifth ranks as one of Sibelius’ two most popular symphonies. It has an epic quality, a sweep and grandeur which triumphs over passing feelings of anxiety to celebrate the heroic, optimistic power of life. He achieves a striking richness of sound with a normal-size orchestra, in sharp contrast to the gigantic ensembles called for by such contemporaries as Strauss and Mahler. It opens in an atmosphere of mysterious beauty – you might imagine time-lapse photography of wildflowers unfolding in a vast landscape, whilst all manner of brilliant writing fills the finale, such that by the time this remarkable work reaches its conclusion in six expansive, powerful chords you can only agree with the composer’s description of it as “triumphal.” Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto abounds in his signature lyricism. After the strong, bold
Left: Mark Derudder and Eva Malmbom
opening, the music unfolds episodically in a series of graceful melodic interludes and an angst-ridden, turbulent narrative. Tchaikovsky places heavy demands on the pianist, requiring great virtuosity and an exceptional warmth of tone, and brings the concerto to a close in an exhilarating display of orchestral pyrotechnics. Brahms’ overture opens with two emphatic chordal exclamations, following which, with timpani vibrating ominously, unison strings intone the austere main theme – a simple, touching march. A magnificent energy that presses through the outer portions of the work has a defiant strength whose force is heightened by the return of the poignant little march idea, defining the “Tragic” of the overture even more potently than all the muscular thrust before and after it.
11
january 7.30 pm
brahms Tragic Overture tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.2 sibelius Symphony No.5 James Feddeck conductor Alexei Volodin piano
wednesday
18
Heart and Soul
elgar Violin Concerto rachmaninov Symphony No.3
Rachmaninov’s elegant, ingenious, and often surprising Third Symphony is bound together by a theme that recurs in various guises and transformations in each movement. This chant-like motto appears quietly at the very opening, scored for the unusual, arresting combination of clarinet, cello and muted horn, giving it the character of a fleeting thought or reminiscence, summoned from the depths of memory. Before long it bursts forth in loud, stern animation and a thunderous, celebratory conclusion, all dark thoughts banished. Not only does the soul of the violin seem to be enshrined in this concerto, but the soul of Elgar himself, for it seems to reflect the inward-looking aspects of his complex personality, and although the solo part demands a virtuoso’s technique, it is far removed from merely being a vehicle for bravura display. More than anywhere else in his music, it seems that here Elgar breaks the ties that bind and simply writes intimate and contemplative music on a more ethereal level.
january 7.30 pm
Kirill Karabits conductor Guy Braunstein violin
“kirill karabits and the bso are establishing themselves as major prokofiev interpreters... a fine achievement, played with great beauty and control” The Guardian, August 2015
wednesday
Back in the USSR
Valeriy Sokolov
Supported by
Stephen Elder
Prokofiev worked on his Second Violin Concerto at the same time as Romeo & Juliet and the two works have much in common, particularly an ardent and voluptuous lyricism. It begins with unaccompanied solo violin, as if Prokofiev wished to establish from the outset the pre-eminence of melody and a new simplicity of language. It brims with extraordinary, if sometimes spare, instrumental combinations and effects as in the energetic finale where the solo violin, bounding about in wide-ranging broken-chord passages, is accompanied by just bass drum and double basses. The second of Shostakovich’s wartime symphonies, the Eighth was criticized as being too pessimistic at a time when Stalin was insisting that Soviet victory was in sight. It does contain possibly the most terrifying music Shostakovich ever wrote, yet he tried to persuade listeners otherwise, describing it as “an optimistic, life-asserting work... all that is dark and evil will rot away, and beauty will triumph.� Perhaps the final flute solo does at least suggest that the lone hero has survived.
25
january 7.30 pm
prokofiev Violin Concerto No.2 shostakovich Symphony No.8 Kirill Karabits conductor Valeriy Sokolov violin
wednesday
1
Kissed by a Rose
berlioz Le Corsaire Overture mozart Piano Concerto No.25 berlioz Romeo & Juliet: Love Scene r strauss Der Rosenkavalier Suite
Der Rosenkavalier was the fifth of Strauss’ operas – the work which brought him his greatest fame and financial success. Set in the golden age of Viennese high society, filled to its limits with courtly intrigue, amorous entanglements and gender confusion, with echoes of a Mozart farce, it tells the story of the magic of love at first sight; of nostalgia, self-sacrifice and the passing of time. The suite captures the most celebrated moments from the original score, from the opening bold and erotic horn call to its most famous waltzes, full of melodic splendour and harmonic richness. In less than three years, Mozart wrote twelve piano concertos, a series of masterpieces to delight the mind, charm and seduce the ear, and pierce the heart. Of them all, No.25 is the biggest, grandest
february 7.30 pm
Vassily Sinaisky conductor Imogen Cooper piano
and most sonorous. Separating itself from the tragic manner of its immediate predecessor, it represents the C Major summit of the 30-year-old composer’s Viennese style. It is a masterpiece – not only magisterial but moving – broad and splendid, yet keenly detailed. The ardour of its melodies, the delicacy of orchestral colour and the finesse of poetic detail make Berlioz’ setting of Shakespeare’s tragic tale of doomed lovers like no other in music, born out of his infatuation with Harriet Smithson. In contrast, his swashbuckling overture is filled with dazzling sonic and dramatic effects right from the start, with two whiplash opening chords followed by a great rushing-scale passage that together are quintessential Berlioz.
Right: Tom Beer
“the bso, a consistently impressive ensemble in every section, whose talent needs proclaiming, gave a searing, gleaming account alive both with detail and grandeur� The Guardian, December 2015
wednesday
Behold the Sea A Sea Symphony is a rarity – a choral symphony which really is a true symphony, with a fully developed symphonic structure rather than just narrative or dramatic. Taken from three lesser-known poems of Walt Whitman, the words concern the sea and sailors, primarily as a metaphorical parallel of a voyage through life, and beyond. It is a fine setting, at once a splendid homage to the English late Romantic choral tradition of Elgar and Parry, but also pointing towards something new in British music – a kind of clear-eyed vision stripped of sentimentality, plotted for maximum drama and steeped in the harmonies of hymn and folk music. In what was to become his most popular
8
february 7.30 pm
symphonic composition, Bridge’s symphonic suite is an amazingly imaginative, impressionist work which depicts both the benign tranquillity and terrifying ferocious power of the oceans. Warm breezes play across the surface of a languid seascape bathed in sunlight, at night moonbeams struggle to pierce through dark clouds which eventually pass over, leaving the sea shimmering in full moonlight, and a tempestuous storm. Beethoven’s cantata is similarly descriptive. The “glassy smoothness” and “deathly calm” of Goethe’s sea is first evoked through ambiguous, slow-changing harmonies, but as the wind picks up the orchestra dramatically ascends and is whipped into a final whirlwind of giddiness.
Supported by Left: Jennifer Curiel
Terence and Annette O’Rourke
beethoven Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage bridge The Sea vaughan williams A Sea Symphony David Hill conductor Ailish Tynan soprano Benedict Nelson baritone Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
wednesday
15
Lord of the Dance
bartk Dance Suite barber Violin Concerto lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra
The Violin Concerto is frequently cited as a turning point in Barber's output, a work which reflects both the ingratiating melodic-Romantic style of his earlier compositions and the first intimations of a new, leaner approach. It is clearly divided between the first two lyrical movements and the explosively energetic finale which exploits the more brilliant and virtuoso characteristics of the violin in a torrent of racing triplets. Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra is one of the most exciting pieces of the 20th century. Like Bartók’s work of the same title, it allows each orchestral section solo opportunities, creating a richly varied kaleidoscope of instrumental colours and an invigorating harmonic palette bursting with rhythmic energy. The Dance Suite is a musical tour through the myriad folk styles that Bartók studied – the music of Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Brilliant woodwinds and plenty of percussion, including four-hand piano and harp, contribute to the variety of musical textures.
february 7.30 pm
Kirill Karabits conductor Nemanja Radulovi´c violin
Supported by
Terence and Annette O’Rourke
Nemanja Radulovi´c
wednesday
Out of Dresden “it’s a good sign when your first thought at the end of a performance is, when can i hear that again? and after isserlis’ outstanding shostakovich in poole, i found myself wondering if i could rearrange the following evening’s plans to hear him play it in bristol too” The Times, October 2015
Having departed Dresden and the shadow of Wagner, in just three months in early 1850, a reinvigorated Schumann completed two major orchestral works, the ‘Rhenish’ Symphony and the Cello Concerto. However, whilst the symphony soon had highly acclaimed performances in Düsseldorf and elsewhere, the concerto remained unplayed until after his death, championed by his widow Clara who wrote in her diary “I have played Robert’s cello concerto through again ... the romantic quality, the vivacity, the freshness and humour are indeed wholly ravishing, and what deep feeling one finds in all the melodic passages!” The symphony is equally exhilarating, with both moments of joyous rapture and grand solemnity. Lohengrin was Wagner’s first internationally recognised masterpiece. The Act I Prelude is a musical depiction of the Holy Grail as it descends to the Earth in the care of an Angelic host whilst that of Act III, containing just about the flashiest music he ever wrote, sets the scene for Lohengrin’s wedding.
22
february 7.30 pm
wagner Lohengrin: Prelude to Act I schumann Cello Concerto wagner Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III schumann Symphony No.3 ‘Rhenish’ Kirill Karabits conductor Steven Isserlis cello
wednesday
Man of La Mancha Strauss confessed that he needed a story to stimulate his musical imagination. Don Quixote was inspired by Cervantes’ ageless 17th century novel. The deluded knight himself is ‘played’ by the solo cello, a theme of nobility and rueful grace. Sancho Panza’s theme is a more proletarian affair, introduced by bass clarinet and tenor tuba before the solo viola becomes the voice of the Don’s servant. As the pair lurch from one failed adventure to another, the music is as fantastic and fanciful as the storyline. On the completion of his mature Second Piano Concerto, Brahms announced his “ever so tiny piano concerto with an ever so tiny and dainty scherzo.” The music told another story however – Brahms had created arguably the most monumental piano concerto of the 19th century. In four movements rather than the usual three, and the final andante almost a concerto in itself, it is a formidable work.
Left: Philippa Stevens
1
march 7.30 pm
r strauss Don Quixote brahms Piano Concerto No.2 Andrew Litton conductor John Lill piano Tom Beer viola Jesper Svedberg cello
wednesday
8
Nemanja Radulovi´c
js bach Chaconne from Partita No.2 r strauss Violin Sonata prokofiev Violin Sonata No.2 wieniawski Variations on an Original Theme
In just a few years, Nemanja Radulovi´c has taken the classical music world by storm with his virtuosic playing and adventurous programming. Recently signed as an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon, he goes from strength to strength; building upon his talents by working with some of the most prestigious musical institutions around today. A regular on the recital scene, his performances have taken him across the globe to halls such as Carnegie Hall, New York, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonie in Berlin and Suntory Hall, Tokyo. He has been awarded ‘International Revelation of the Year’ by Victoires de la Musique in 2005, ‘Best Artist’ by the same in 2014 and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Arts in Niš, Serbia.
march 7.30 pm
Nemanja Radulovi´c violin Laure Favre-Kahn piano
bso artist-in-residence recital “complete physical involvement and the highest virtuosity: the young serb nemanja radulovi c was the star of the night... a soloistic firework” Aachener Zeitung, August 2012
Right: Tammy Thorn, Robb Tooley and Nicolas Fleury
saturday
Heroes & Legends
more music from the movies Pete Harrison conductor Experience the thrill of a live symphony orchestra performing some of the most memorable film and television themes ever written. A gargantuan feast of Hollywood glitz and glamour features music old and new written by multi-award winning composers from the golden age of cinema to the present: Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer, Maurice Jarre, Miklos Rozsa, James Horner, Erich Korngold, Alexandre Desplat, Tan Dun and, of course, the godfather of the film score, John Williams. Supported by
Investec Wealth & Investment
11
march 7.30 pm
wednesday
15
Russian Fire
beethoven Leonore Overture No.1 beethoven Piano Concerto No.2 rachmaninov Symphony No.2
Rachmaninov created a remarkable sound-world in his Second Symphony. Sombre harmonies complement the rich orchestration like deeply burnished mahogany. Imagine the embers of a huge log fire, beating back an icy black Russian winter’s night. The music similarly smoulders for ages, and occasionally, with or without warning, flares briefly and spectacularly. One of his earliest works for orchestra, this concerto served as the young Beethoven’s formal introduction to Viennese society. It reflects his mastery of Classical form and style, a youthful work without the iconoclasm we associate with his later writing. However, underneath the Mozartian structure, we can hear glimpses of the mature Beethoven, especially in his use of unexpected harmonies and the muscular and powerful solo part. The Leonore Overture No.1 opens in sombre and unsettled mood with a sense of probing and uncertainty. Soon, however, the tempo turns animated and the music brightens, a sense of joy and hope emerging in the lively, robust theme which banishes any lingering sense of doubt.
march 7.30 pm
Antonio Méndez conductor Saleem Ashkar piano
Saleem Ashkar
wednesday
Song and Dance In 1961 Bernstein revisited the score for West Side Story and extracted nine sections to assemble what he called the Symphonic Dances. The suite opens with the famous confrontation of the Jets and the Sharks. The haunting strains of Somewhere contrast with the lively Latin dances of the Mambo and Cha-cha. The Cool fugue features a 12-tone scale, and segues into the final, deadly fight between the gangs in Rumble, whilst a solo flute plays I Had a Love to close the suite, which ends, like the musical, on a haunting, unresolved chord. A Symphonic Picture is a colourful cavalcade of melody – a sort of symphonic synopsis of the operatic scenario of Porgy & Bess. It seamlessly links all the biggest hit songs from the show including Summertime, I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’, Bess, You is My Woman Now and It Ain’t Necessarily So.
Supported by
Arts University Bournemouth
22
march 7.30 pm
The Chairman Dances is a “foxtrot for orchestra” that Adams composed while working on his opera Nixon in China. The music is representative of a combination of minimalist iterations and stylised pseudo jazz inflections, chugging rhythms and colourful orchestration and diatonic harmonies. The Fourth Piano Concerto displays much of the spacious style and the demanding virtuosity of Rachmaninov’s earlier concertos, wrapped up in a structure of tightly coiled drama. But it also inhabits a world of its own; it is a work very much of its time, incorporating not only the remnants of late Romanticism but also some up-to-date sounds of Ravel and Gershwin – reflecting Rachmaninov’s musical curiosity and evolving style.
adams The Chairman Dances rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 4 bernstein West Side Story: Symphonic Dances gershwin Porgy & Bess: A Symphonic Picture Carlos Miguel Prieto conductor Denis Kozhukhin piano
wednesday
5
Rococo and Revolution
schubert Symphony No.8 ‘Unfinished’ tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme mendelssohn Symphony No.5 ‘Reformation’
No-one really knows why Schubert never finished his B minor symphony. With numerous other aborted fragments it may well have been that he was growing dissatisfied with symphonic form as he had been practicing it and was striving for something on a far larger scale, something to compare with the dramatic energy and scope shown by Beethoven. But with these two most perfect movements, Schubert ushered in the age of the Romantic symphony – the variety and immediacy of the themes suffusing the work are breath-taking. It is powerful, satisfying music; perhaps it was left unfinished because it could not, need not be finished. With its graceful main theme and resourceful invention, the Rococo Variations remains one of Tchaikovsky's most popular pieces.
april 7.30 pm
Kirill Karabits conductor Johannes Moser cello
It is a work characterised by carefree charm, grace and the indomitable spirit of his idol, Mozart, filtered through his Russian and Romantic sensibilities. The ‘Reformation’ Symphony was premiered under the title “Symphony to celebrate the Church Revolution”. It received mixed reviews and was performed only once more in Mendelssohn’s lifetime which probably explains its posthumous publication. It opens with a stately introduction, built upon a fragment of music from the 18th century Lutheran liturgy of Saxony known as the ‘Dresden Amen’. Given Mendelssohn’s interest in programme music it is not unreasonable to conclude that the storminess of this music represents the ecclesiastical conflicts in the Church during the Reformation.
Right: Kirill Karabits
“karabits and his orchestra have trod this ground often, but there was nothing routine about those slippery mood shifts from amiable to terrified� The Times, August 2015
wednesday
Mahler Five
Andreas Ottensamer
Left: Vicky Berry
The background of the Fifth Symphony is intimately tied to Mahler’s romance with Alma Schindler. He was smitten, and the love affair developed rapidly. Mahler proposed to Alma by sending her the Adagietto of this symphony. The movement is his love song to his bride, and one cannot help but think that the entire work is at least in part inspired by Mahler’s passion for Alma. Psychologically speaking, the Fifth proceeds from tragedy to triumph. The work opens with a lone trumpet announcing a funeral march. Mahler’s music wails with grief. He paints a huge canvas of cosmic emotion, using enormous brushstrokes of sound for the largest possible gestures. The effect is electrifying. Weber composed the first of his two clarinet concertos in a whirlwind of creativity – he reputedly wrote the first movement, and orchestrated it, in a single day! It has become one of the cornerstones of the clarinet repertoire, appealing to both player and listener with its joyous charm and fresh vitality.
26 april 7.30 pm
weber Clarinet Concerto No.1 mahler Symphony No.5 Daniele Rustioni conductor Andreas Ottensamer clarinet
wednesday
3
Exotic Spice
debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune lalo Symphonie espagnole rimsky-korsakov Scheherazade
Scheherazade consisted of “separate, unconnected episodes and pictures” as Rimsky-Korsakov himself put it, from The Arabian Nights: snapshots, in other words, of a world he never knew. It is a triumph of imagination over experience; a feast of sumptuous colours and brilliant instrumental effect by the man who literally wrote the book on orchestration. Much of this brilliance is achieved by continuously dotting the score with passages for solo instruments. The suite is bound together by a recurring motif, a bewitching melody sung by the solo violin: the voice of Scheherazade herself. It quickly became a favourite Romantic showpiece and a landmark in the history of descriptive music. Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole was an instant hit from its premiere in 1875 with Pablo de Sarasate.
may 7.30 pm
James Gaffigan conductor Alexandra Soumm violin
Supported by
Ian Wilson
Tchaikovsky loved it, writing “It is so fresh and light, and contains piquant rhythms and melodies which are beautifully harmonised.” Despite its name, it is a true concerto in which the soloist is called upon to display significant feats of violinistic prowess. Although there are hints of guitar and castanets, the real ‘Spanish’ character of this music is more a matter of general atmosphere; sultry, impassioned themes and characteristic, rhythmic patterns. Debussy’s seductive painting of a languid, sun-drenched Sicilian afternoon marked a turning point in musical history, with its tenuous grasp of tonality and harmony. It weaves a tantalising veil of hypnotic colours and textures, conjuring up the lustful dream of a flute-playing satyr – half man, half goat – of seducing two sleeping nymphs.
wednesday
Knights and Nobility
Yulianna Avdeeva
When Elgar’s First Symphony was introduced in December 1908, it was immediately hailed as a long-awaited landmark – as England’s First Symphony in effect – a true masterpiece. A work of magnificent grandeur and emotional depth, it begins with a broad, noble theme which binds the work together, recurring at intervals throughout the four movements before eventually emerging as a triumphant march at the very end. Schumann’s concerto, although outwardly resembling those of Mozart and Beethoven, broke new ground in several respects. Most strikingly it moved away from the contemporary use of the concerto as a showcase for the virtuoso pianist. Instead piano and orchestra form an integrated whole, weaving subtle textures together with delightful lyricism. Parsifal’s prelude prepares listeners for the grandiose scope of the story about to unfold. Slowly and meditatively, it introduces the tale, its motifs building majestically before melting into a more intimate expression of pious reflection.
10
may 7.30 pm
wagner Parsifal: Prelude to Act I schumann Piano Concerto elgar Symphony No.1 Karl-Heinz Steffens conductor Yulianna Avdeeva piano
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra would like to thank the following supporters principal funders
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partners
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media partner
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thank you
We would like to thank our Patrons and Performance Champions, those who have chosen to remember the BSO in their Will, and everyone who supports us through donations, membership or by volunteering their time
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The BSO is a unique orchestra with a unique remit. It is a cultural beacon for the South and South West. From our home in Poole, we create and perform concerts that empower the music scene across more than 10,000 square miles of our region whilst maintaining a vibrant and important national and international stature.