Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra concert season 2015 / 16 Guildhall, Portsmouth
Welcome As we launch the 2015 /16 season our excitement at the new programme is only enhanced by the memory of so many outstanding performances by the Orchestra in the last year. As ever our musicians lay at the heart of everything we do at Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and great credit must go to them for their brilliant playing. Kirill Karabits’ inspiring artistic leadership of the organisation is being appreciated by ever growing audiences and we are delighted that Kirill’s renewed commitment to the
BSO as our Chief Conductor will The BSO has a unique remit to provide world-class music see him leading us to our 125th Anniversary in 2018 and beyond. and cultural engagement to communities across the South These are indeed exciting times. and South West and in doing so The season is full of outstanding brings national and international programmes and I am particularly recognition to our region. Your excited by our artistic rostra, with support has never been more many performers new to the BSO important to sustain the future joining those we have known and of this cultural beacon. loved for many years. For me it is this mix that builds a season I would like to thank everyone into a memorable journey for who supports this remarkable musicians and audiences alike. organisation. We are especially delighted to welcome Augustin Hadelich as our Dougie Scarfe Artist-in-Residence for the season. Chief Executive
friday
Petrushka “a terrific performance, full of taut energy and vigour, with a wonderful climax, affirming that the bso had well and truly settled into the exciting season ahead” Bachtrack Dvorˇák Symphony No.6 Poole, Lighthouse January 2015
Stravinsky’s great ballet has gone through a fascinating series of metamorphoses since first conceived as a concert piece, inspired by the immensely popular puppet plays of 19th century Russia. The score is one of his most brilliant achievements, bursting with the energy and inventiveness of youth. The depth of characterisation is astonishing; Stravinsky gives the melancholy puppet enough personality to make listeners care about him, without letting us forget that he
16
october 7.30 pm
is made of straw and cloth, not flesh and blood. Rachmaninov’s most enduring masterpiece is the Second Piano Concerto. Rising out of mysterious depths of bell-like tolls, it quickly establishes itself as a rich and mature Romantic work with its surging themes, incessant energy and yearning passion that never fail to stir the emotions. In contrast de Falla’s light and airy work is a highly stylised depiction of Spanish life.
de falla The Three Cornered Hat Suite rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 stravinsky Petrushka (1947 version) Carlos Miguel Prieto conductor Boris Giltburg piano
friday
30
october 7.30 pm
beethoven Egmont Overture prokofiev Piano Concerto No.1 shostakovich Symphony No.11 ‘The Year 1905’ James Gaffigan conductor Alexander Gavrylyuk piano
1905 Shostakovich’s massive Eleventh Symphony depicts the events of 1905 when a first, unsuccessful Russian revolution had taken place. Satisfying the cultural bureaucrats’ directive for straightforward, uplifting music, it cleverly and subversively camouflages thematic materials from several revolutionary songs which strongly condemned the actions of dictators. It is a remarkable example of thematic continuity and integration, much of it derived from the
opening idea, which returns again and again, unfolding without a break. With its bravura solos and daring harmonies, Prokofiev’s first ‘mature’ composition announced him as a musical force to be reckoned with. This was a new kind of fiery Futurist music for the 20th century, full of hard, driving energy and speed. Beethoven’s dramatic and stormy overture is equally as stirring as it builds to its exhilarating climax and victory over tyranny.
Isserlis plays Shostakovich Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto has assumed a place as one of the most popular and often-performed works for cello. With its rousing themes and emotional melodies, at times witty, at other times passionate, and virtuosic writing for the soloist, it is a most amazing accomplishment from its march-like opening to furious conclusion. His final symphony, No.104 was one of twelve Haydn composed for a series of London concerts in 1795. Showing a
Jesper Svedberg
lightness of touch and classical grace at its finest, it is the crowning work of a master. Prokofiev wrote the Sinfonietta at a time when he was turning away from the full orchestral sound and becoming increasingly interested in a pared-down Mozartian scale. Full of sudden key shifts and capricious energy it is a delightful study of orchestral colour and typical inspired touches.
Steven Isserlis
friday
13
november 7.30 pm
prokofiev Sinfonietta shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1 haydn Symphony No.104 ‘London’ Kirill Karabits conductor Steven Isserlis cello
thursday
3 Sibelius 150 december 7.30 pm
sibelius The Tempest Suite grieg Piano Concerto sibelius Tapiola sibelius Symphony No. 7 Kirill Karabits conductor Juho Pohjonen piano
The incidental music for The Tempest, the tone poem Tapiola and the Seventh Symphony were Sibelius’ last significant compositions. Possibly the most ambitious and extraordinary symphony in the repertoire – a work of great confidence and affirmation – the Seventh is more a sort of giant rondo. Comprising one seamless flow of thematic development it builds from a few melodic scraps towards a final upward sweep and trombone hymn that
seems to reach out to infinity. Contrastingly, Tapiola is dusky, mysterious and brooding – evoking the god of the forest and a seemingly endless northern landscape untouched by human warmth, whilst the seldom performed music for Shakespeare’s final play is full of beauty, imagination and power. With its dreamlike, intoxicating atmosphere of magical sonorities it is the perfect foil for Grieg’s nearly perfect concerto, itself inspired by the Scandinavian countryside.
Matt King and Carol Paige
Last Night of the Christmas Proms Kick off Christmas with our fun-packed concert for all the family, featuring seasonal classics old and new, all wrapped up with a sprinkling of magic and sparkle. A rollercoaster of Christmas favourites lies in store, including Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Sleigh Ride, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. All this plus a selection of popular songs from the best of West End and Broadway musicals.
monday
21
december 7.30 pm
Pete Harrison conductor Louise Dearman singer Stephen Weller singer
thursday
14
january 7.30 pm
liadov Kikimora shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 beethoven Symphony No.5 Kees Bakels conductor Valeriy Sokolov violin
Sokolov plays Shostakovich More akin to a symphony, Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto is a real tour de force of a piece, calling on everything in the violinist's technical arsenal as well as vast physical and emotional stamina. The wide emotional range of its four-movement structure encompasses brooding, elegiac melancholy with savage, mocking sarcasm before it gives itself up totally to a rhythmic energy and brilliance of colour. Probably the best-known work
in classical music, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is one of the great masterpieces of the early 19th century. If listened to with fresh ears it is still possible to be astonished at the force and compressive power of this awesome vision of triumph over tragedy. Liadov’s enchanting descriptive miniature starts slow and somewhat cryptic before becoming faster and more malevolent before finally fading away.
“this was a resplendent performance of a refulgent work. i would have happily sat through the whole thing again” Seen and Heard International Finzi Intimations of Immortality Poole, Lighthouse March 2015
Beethoven & Brahms
Christoph König
In its final form, this concerto represented a pivotal moment for Beethoven between his first two fully Classical examples and the more Romantic models that would follow. It pays tribute to Mozart’s great masterpiece of the same key, yet also transcends the Mozartian constraints in a way only Beethoven could. Its opening has an unprecedented sense of power, purpose and potential; this is not just the start of a musical piece, it is the start of a journey into the unknown. Brahms’ Third
Symphony is more individual and characteristic than its two predecessors. In its striking mixture of passion and pessimism, of restlessness and serenity, Brahms offers a compelling, highly revealing musical self-portrait, rich with references to his own thoughts about life and love. The Dances of Galanta are based on authentic gypsy themes brought to vivid, colourful life by Kodály’s great skill as an orchestrator.
thursday
28
january 7.30 pm
koda ly Dances of Galanta beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 brahms Symphony No.3 Christoph König conductor John Lill piano
friday
5
Heroes & Aliens
Pete Harrison conductor
Join the BSO and boldy go where no orchestra has gone before in another blockbuster concert featuring music from some of the most iconic and successful space movies of all time, including Apollo 13, Star Wars, Star Trek, ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Avatar and War of the Worlds... plus many more.
february 7.30 pm
epic galactic soundtracks
Colette Overdijk and Mark Derudder
Fantastic Berlioz With its daring music and staggeringly inventive use of the orchestra, Berlioz’ new symphony sounded like no other music yet written when it was first performed in the 1830s. With bold, unexpected harmonies, and melodies united around a recurring musical motif that he called the ‘idée fixe’, that are still, to this day, unlike anyone else’s, there isn’t a page of this score that doesn’t contain something distinctive and surprising.
Scriabin’s Piano Concerto is a passionate outpouring of fluent elegance and supreme delicacy. It gives no hint of his later idiosyncratic musical philosophy and language, and the influence of both Chopin and his fellow Moscow Conservatoire classmate, Rachmaninov, can be heard throughout. More nightmarish visions abound in Mussorgsky’s interpretation and depiction of a Witches’ Sabbath.
thursday
25
february 7.30 pm
mussorgsky A Night on the Bare Mountain scriabin Piano Concerto berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Alexander Vedernikov conductor Yevgeny Sudbin piano
friday
11
march 7.30 pm
wagner The Flying Dutchman Overture tchaikovsky Violin Concerto rimsky-korsakov Scheherazade Frank Zielhorst conductor Yossif Ivanov violin
Magic Tales Sheherazade consists of “separate, unconnected episodes and pictures”, as Rimsky-Korsakov himself put it, from The Arabian Nights: snapshots, in other words, of a world of magic and adventure. It is a triumph of imagination over experience; a feast of sumptuous colours and brilliant instrumental effects by the man who wrote the book on orchestration. It quickly became a favourite symphonic showpiece and a landmark in the history of descriptive music.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is a perennial favourite of violinists and audiences. Vibrant and confident, ironically, it dates from a crisis-laden two years in his life after the breakdown of his disastrous marriage. Folk music and French chanson merge with dazzling fireworks which display the violin virtuosity to the full. Equally as descriptive, Wagner’s powerful overture sets the scene of his stormy opera and doom-laden phantom ship.
Magda Gruca-Broadbent and Janice Thorgilson
Imperial Concerto The Fifth Piano Concerto, essentially a three-movement symphony with solo piano, is impressively imperial in scale and impact and represents the culmination of what we have come to think of as Beethoven’s ‘heroic’ manner. It far surpassed any and all other concertos in its expression of majesty and power, immediately established in its opening sonorous orchestral chords which give way to
cadenza-like flourishes from the piano. Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony is forty-eight minutes of tragedy, despair, terror and violence, and two minutes of triumph; a reflection of the Stalin years in Russia, when as many as 20 million people died or else lived in constant fear, and a collective sigh of relief at the dictator’s death just months before the premiere.
thursday
14 april 7.30 pm
beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 ‘Emperor’ shostakovich Symphony No.10 Andrew Litton conductor Simon Trpcˇeski piano
thursday
28
Violin Alchemy
r strauss Don Juan sibelius Violin Concerto tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
The atmospheric opening of Sibelius’ only concerto casts an immediate spell of mystery. The solo violin emerges out of a murmuring bed of strings, with a long, yearning theme of ever-growing intensity, which continues to be developed throughout before reaching the thrilling finale – a pulsing hybrid of polonaise and rondo with some gypsy flavour thrown in for additional colour. As Tchaikovsky admitted, the Fourth Symphony is autobiographical; turbulent but finally triumphant; reflecting his
april 7.30 pm
Thomas Dausgaard conductor Augustin Hadelich violin
recent tribulations as well as his eventual recovery. The principal idea of the work, he said, is the implacability of Fate, a force that “poisons the soul” by impeding the individual’s quest for peace and fulfilment. Strauss’ tone poem is a blend of sonata form and rondo, with Don Juan’s swashbuckling theme as the mainstay between romantic episodes and other scenes.
Augustin Hadelich
principal funders
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trusts & foundations With special thanks to Paul Hamlyn Foundation for its support of BSO Participate
partners
in-kind partners
principal academic partner
academic partner
affiliates
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation The Leverhulme Trust The Foyle Foundation The Valentine Charitable Trust Flaghead Charitable Trust The Michael & Ilse Katz Foundation Basil Samuel Charitable Trust Coral Samuel Charitable Trust The Marchus Trust The Mercers’ Company Cressy Foundation The Pitt-Rivers Charitable Trust Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust The Garrick Charitable Trust Gess Charitable Trust The Radcliffe Trust The VEC Acorn Trust Anthony du Boulay Charitable Trust The Norman Family Charitable Trust
principal patrons
David & Jill Peters Robert White Terence & Annette O’Rourke
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media partner
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thank you
To our Performance Patrons and Champions and to everyone who supports the BSO through donations, membership or by volunteering their time.
tickets 0844 453 9028 bsolive.com Free ‘Meet the Music’
pre-concert talks take place before every concert (except 21 Dec) at 6.40pm in the Council Chamber on the second floor of Portsmouth Guildhall.
Portsmouth Chamber Music Series The Portsmouth Chamber Music Series returns for a new season of Monday night concerts at the Guildhall. Full details will be available in the 2015 / 16 season brochure. Please e-mail music@port.ac.uk to join the mailing list.
ticket prices Tickets go on general sale on Wednesday 2 September.
£29.50 £24.25 £21 £19 £14.75 Ticket prices are inclusive of a 5% booking charge. (Charges apply for all ticket sales by telephone, online and in person).
Why not book a package of concerts and save money? Generous discounts are available if you buy 3 concerts or more. Book for all 12 concerts and you will receive a massive 40% off! Multibuy Discounts 12 concerts 40% 9 – 11 concerts 30% 6 – 8 concerts 20% 3 – 5 concerts 10%
concessions The BSO offers the following concessions to most concerts. Please note that only one concession applies per ticket and that concessions are not available retrospectively. Proof of status is required at the time of collection. All concessions and discounts are subject to availability. BSO Kids for a Quid Under 18s: £1 per ticket (some exclusions apply). BSO Vibes £5 per ticket (for 18–25s signed up to the scheme).
50% discount for Full-time students Wheelchair users and up to one companion Patrons on Jobseeker’s Allowance or Income Support There are no discounts for disabled patrons, but an accompanying companion qualifies for a 50% discount.
Group booking discounts 10 or more tickets 10% 20 or more tickets 20% 30 or more tickets 30% Group bookings must be paid in full one month in advance of the concert date, after which tickets will be released for resale.
Portsmouth Guildhall Guildhall Square Portsmouth PO1 2AB
by road
parking
public transport
Portsmouth Guildhall is situated at the heart of Portsmouth City Centre. From the M3 (Guildford), A3 (Chichester) and M27 (Southampton), take the M275 into the City Centre. At its end follow the A3 for a short while and follow signs to the Guildhall.
There are a number of City Centre car parks, but the most convenient to use is Isambard Brunel multi-storey car park which is situated 200 metres from the Guildhall in Alec Rose Lane (PO1 2BX).
There are numerous City Centre bus services which stop within walking distance of Guildhall Square, including routes 1c, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23 and 40.
satnav use postcode PO1 2AB
As a concert-goer you can buy a parking ticket in advance for ÂŁ4.10 which is valid from 6pm until midnight. Purchase online or from the Guildhall box office in person. There is limited on-street parking adjacent to the Guildhall.
Portsmouth and Southsea rail station is a 5-minute walk from the Guildhall.
Kirill Karabits Chief Conductor
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 2 Seldown Lane, Poole, BH15 1UF Tel: 01202 670611 www.bsolive.com BSO is a Charity Registered No.208520 and a company limited by guarantee Registered No.538351 England. All information is correct at the time of going to press – however artists are subject to availability and the BSO reserves the right to make any necessary changes from the advertised programmes.
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