NICOLA BENEDETTI AND THE ENGLISH CONCERT

Monday 10 July 5pm – 6.10pm

Buxton Opera House £20 – £55

F Geminiani Concerto Grosso in D minor, ‘La Follia’, H 143

A Vivaldi Violin Concerto in E flat major RV 257

A Corelli Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op. 6 No. 5

A Vivaldi Violin Concerto in B minor RV 386

A Vivaldi Violin Concerto in D major, ‘Grosso Mogul’, RV 208.

Since winning the BBC’s Young Musician title in 2004, Nicola Benedetti has forged a dazzling international career, not only as a concert soloist and chamber musician, but also for music education projects run through her Benedetti Foundation. In 2022 she became the fi rst Scot and the fi rst woman to be appointed Director of the Edinburgh International Festival.

The English Concert was founded in 1972 by harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock and is recognised as one of the world’s leading period-instrument orchestras.

Baroness Catherine Ashton

Tuesday 11 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

And Then What?

So much of modern-day democracy still takes place behind closed doors. From 2009 to 2014, Lady Ashton was the EU’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security. Arriving in Brussels with no significant experience of international diplomacy, she faced the challenge of representing twenty-eight nations during one of the most turbulent times in living memory, including Russia’s invasion of Crimea to the Iran nuclear deal. Catherine takes us behind the scenes to show us what worked and what did not, and how it felt to play a part in tackling the major international crises of our times.

Nicky Spence And Joseph Middleton

TENOR AND PIANO

The Four Seasons – Spring

Tuesday 11 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

G Fauré L’hiver a cessé, Op. 61, No. 9; Mai, Op. 1 No. 2; Tristesse, Op. 6 No. 2.

W Mozart Das Veilchen, K476

L van Beethoven Adeleide, Op. 46

F Schubert Frühlingsglaube, D686; Ganymed, D544

H Wolf Ganymed; Er ist’s

E Grieg Gruss; Zur Rosenzeit; Ein Traum

A Bax Youth

P Warlock Pretty ring time

J Ireland The heart’s desire

F Bridge Love went a-riding

Joseph Middleton – described as ‘one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder’ by BBC Music Magazine – has devised a sequence of song recitals exploring responses to the four seasons, with four singers taking a season each and their last song or encore leading us into the next season.

For ‘Spring’, he is joined by Nicky Spence, one of today’s most exciting tenors and winner of BBC Music Magazine’s Personality of the Year Award, 2022.

The recital begins with a song about Winter ending, creating a neat cyclical feel to the sequence.