Edinburgh International Festival brochure 2007 by Edinburgh International Festival

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL

FESTIVAL 07

10 AUGUST TO 2 SEPTEMBER

WE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE SUPPORT FROM THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS AND GRANTS: GRANTS

Sponsored by

OPERA

L’OR ‘The Met called the series Celebrating Jordi Savall and, amid the usual parade of famous, anonymous maestros, here, ﬁnally, was a man worth celebrating. Savall is not only a performer of genius but also a conductor, a scholar, a teacher, a concert impresario...’ THE NEW YORK TIMES

Photo: Antoni Boﬁll

‘It’s very important that attending L’Orfeo is to be a very special evening’s experience... to visit the past and take part in a celebration... an emotional re-creation of the Baroque style’ GILBERT DEFLO, DIRECTOR

Step back into the seventeenth century, and a ravishing Arcadian paradise, for a highly theatrical entertainment in classical style. This gorgeous production uses modern stage technology to recreate the spectacle of the very ﬁrst operas. The elaborate staging is a reminder that this is the make-believe world of theatre so audiences can immerse themselves fully in the story.

Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo is the ﬁrst ﬂowering of the genius that helped invent the genre of opera itself. It was radical for its time and changed the face of musical theatre forever as Monteverdi wove drama and music together creating an emotional journey which captivates and enthralls.

Jordi Savall is one of the most important musicians in the world today. His versatility has led to careers as a conductor, composer and viola da gamba soloist whilst his ﬁlm score for Tous les matins du monde starring Gérard Depardieu, brought his work to a world-wide audience. His choir La Capella Reial de Catalunya and orchestra Hespèrion XXI, both specialists in period performance, join a stellar cast for this delightful baroque masterpeice.

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This production is restaged specially for the Festival by the original creative team which premiered it in Barcelona in 2002.

RFEO by Claudio Monteverdi

La Capella Reial de Catalunya Hespèrion XXI

Staged production sung in Italian with English supertitles

Jordi Savall Conductor

La Musica Montserrat Figueras Orfeo Furio Zanasi Euridice Arianna Savall Messaggiera Gloria Banditelli Speranza Romina Basso Caronte Antonio Abete Proserpina Adriana Fernández Plutone Daniele Carnovich Apollo Fulvio Bettini Gilbert Deﬂo Director William Orlandi Designer Veronica Endo Choreographer

Orpheus – the journey is sponsored by

Saturday 11, Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 August 7.15pm Edinburgh Festival Theatre Tickets from £10 Running time approx 2 hours 20 minutes

OPERA IN CONCERT

Edinburgh International Festival

ORLANDO FURIOSO

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by Antonio Vivaldi Concert performance sung in Italian Orlando Marie-Nicole Lemieux Alcina Jennifer Larmore Angelica Veronica Cangemi Ruggiero Philippe Jaroussky Astolfo Christian Senn Bradamante Barbara Di Castri Medoro Daniela Pini Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus Mark Hindley Chorus Master Scottish Chamber Orchestra Jean-Christophe Spinosi Conductor

Jean-Christophe Spinosi Photo: Marc Ribes & Albert Vo Van Tao

Jean-Christophe Spinosi’s dynamic style of conducting lends punch and charisma to one of Vivaldi’s rarely performed operas, Orlando furioso. Many of the original soloists from his award-winning recording of the opera have been reunited for this one-off Festival concert performance. ‘In this visceral, energetic account of Vivaldi’s operatic masterpiece, Jean-Christophe Spinosi brings together a truly outstanding cast of soloists creating a thrilling dramatic entity.’ BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

‘the singers respond vividly to the conductor’s extravagant theatricality, with Jennifer Larmore a formidable, vocally glamorous Alcina and MarieNicole Lemieux equally charismatic in the title role.’

Igor Stravinsky Photo: ArenaPal/Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Sunday 12 August 7.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 3 hours 20 minutes

Roderick Wiliams Photo: Keith Saunders

07 ORPHEUS by Igor Stravinsky

DIDO AND ÆNEAS by Henry Purcell

OEDIPUS REX

Concert performance sung in English

by Igor Stravinsky

Dido Jane Irwin Belinda Sarah-Jane Davies Aeneas Roderick Williams Sorceress Jennifer Johnston Spirit Reno Troilus

Concert performance sung in Latin with narration in English Oedipus Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts Jocaste Natascha Petrinsky Creon Terje Stensvold Tiresias Matthew Rose Shepherd Andrew Kennedy Messenger Neal Davies Edinburgh Festival Chorus David Jones Chorus Master BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Ilan Volkov Conductor The programme opens with Stravinsky’s ballet Orpheus, an evocation of the classical Greek myth. Not only does Stravinsky owe his inspiration to Monteverdi, it is a heartfelt personal tribute. A fantastic cast gathers to perform Oedipus Rex, one of the most original works of the twentieth century and a powerful and dramatic rendering of this famous story. Composed in collaboration with Jean Cocteau it has become one of his most popular works, mixing spoken texts by the narrator in English with striking musical passages sung in Latin. Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, who was also cast as the eponymous character in Opera North’s major success Peter Grimes last year, sings the role of Oedipus.

PRIMA LA MUSICA, POI LE PAROLE by Antonio Salieri Concert performance sung in Italian Maestro Roderick Williams Poet Neal Davies Donna Eleonora Giselle Allen Tonina Gillian Keith Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus Mark Hindley Chorus Master Scottish Chamber Orchestra Nicholas McGegan Conductor A wonderful opportunity to hear the ﬁrst operatic masterpiece written in English, Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. A powerhouse of emotion, it follows the doomed love affair between Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan prince Aeneas.

‘Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts’s massive performance in the title role is beyond praise.’ THE TIMES

Prima la musica, poi le parole is a comic opera of verve and effervescence in which a musician and a poet argue about the relative importance of their work in the creation of a new opera. This debate is revisited by Richard Strauss two centuries later in his opera Capriccio, see page 8.

Natascha Petrinsky: ‘scaled the melodic joys and sorrows with ﬂesh-tingling intensity.’

Nicholas McGegan, himself an acknowledged authority on baroque opera, leads two superb casts.

THE INDEPENDENT

Thursday 23 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hours 45 minutes Supported by

The Stevenston Charitable Trust

‘Jane Irwin is immensely polished, with silken toneproduction, beautiful phrasing, admirable control, and perfect musicality.’ THE INDEPENDENT, FESTIVAL 2006 Sunday 26 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 2 hours 10 minutes

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Which is more important: words or music? In the salon of her chateau, the young widow Countess Madeleine is torn between two lovers: the musician and the poet. As the two vie for her affections each attempts to convince her that his art is the more important. They are joined in the debate by a glamorous actress and a theatre director, among others, in a delightfully witty and charming evening that intelligently explores the attraction at the heart of opera as an entertainment. From the opening chords of the string sextet to the deliciously ambiguous ending as darkness falls, Capriccio has an urbane and frivolous air that is both comic and romantic. Poignant and bittersweet, this rarely performed opera contains some of Strauss’ most expressive and affecting music.

Magniﬁcent soprano Gabriela Fontana takes the central role in the world premiere of a new production from Cologne Opera. The company is led by its Music Director Markus Stenz, whose creative team includes director Christian von Götz and designer Gabriele Jänicke. Richard Strauss’ spirited opera was inspired by Antonio Salieri’s opera Prima la musica, poi le parole which you can hear in the Usher Hall on Sunday 26 August. The eternal debate over the relationship between words and music is given an outing by Strauss in what he described as ‘a conversation piece for music’.

WORLD PREMIERE OF NEW PRODUCTION

by Richard Strauss Cologne Opera Staged performance sung in German with English supertitles

Countess Gabriele Fontana Count Ashley Holland Flamand Hauke Möller Olivier Johannes Beck

‘Gabriele Fontana was magniﬁcent... The natural sweetness in her voice permeated every moment, even at the height of her terrifying anguish...’ THE SCOTSMAN, FESTIVAL 2004

‘Gabriele Fontana is the undisputed heroine of the evening. From the moment she sets foot on stage she is hardly off it, and her ﬁrst crystal clear notes transport us to a different emotional plane.’ LE COURRIER

A co-production between the Edinburgh International Festival and Oper Köln.

CAP

Markus Stenz Conductor Christian von Götz Director Gabriele Jänicke Set designer

Tuesday 28, Thursday 30 August and Saturday 1 September 7.15pm Edinburgh Festival Theatre Tickets from £10 Running time approx 2 hours 30 minutes

Made possible by

Dunard Fund

THE HEART OF OPERA

OPERA

RICCIO Photo: Klaus Lefebvre

DANCE

THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE

ON DAN Photo: Laurent Philippe/CCN Créteil Cie Montalvo-Hervieu

Welcome to the wonderfully decadent world of eighteenth century composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. Visually stunning, this new production from choreographers José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu is an extravagant, sensual piece of dance-theatre. Inspired by Rameau’s operas which, in the convention of the time, had elaborate ballet interludes, On Danƒe overspills those boundaries and invades and disrupts delightfully.

NƒE

This extravaganza brings the libertine pleasures of the eighteenth century bang up to date. A melee of diverse contemporary styles – from ballet to jazz, hip-hop to belly dancing – this is a joyous afﬁrmation of life. For choreographers José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu, Jean-Philippe Rameau, the leading master of the musical Enlightenment, is a kindred spirit – creating a knowing, light-hearted world. Animated by a comedy of non-sense it is this world that inspires the company to bring his music to 21st century audiences through dance.

By ingeniously layering computer animation and video, statues morph into human form and back again. The stage becomes by turns a playground, a circus, and a backdrop of naked, funky, multicoloured, cupids as they tumble from paradise minus their halos. And we haven’t even mentioned the trampoline yet! If you’ve ever wondered where the feel-good factor in dance resides, look no further.

‘A visual treat, an enchantment for the soul.’ LE MONDE

UK PREMIERE

Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu Choreography

José Montalvo Scenography and video conception Jean-Philippe Rameau Music

Saturday 11 - Monday 13 August 8.00pm The Edinburgh Playhouse Tickets from £7.50 Running time approx 1 hour 30 minutes

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DANCE

UK PREMIERE

William Forsythe’s

IMPRESSING

THE CZAR Photo: Feriet Tunc

DAZZLING FEATS OF SUPERB DANCE

William Forsythe is recognised as one of the world’s foremost contemporary choreographers. His work is celebrated for re-orientating classical ballet into a dynamic 21st century art form. Forsythe’s Impressing the Czar is a virtuosic masterwork and the Royal Ballet of Flanders is the only company, other than his own, that has the right to perform it. Founded over 30 years ago, the company is now led by Artistic Director Kathryn Bennetts who had a stellar career as a dancer, principally with Stuttgart Ballet where she created several roles for William Forsythe. She subsequently spent many years as Ballet Mistress for his Frankfurt Ballet. Impressing the Czar uses dance to reﬂect on dance itself. The action focuses – with a great sense of humour – on nothing less than the history of Western civilization! A great variety of genres and styles, ranging from ballet en pointe to break-dance, combine with dazzling feats of athleticism and hilarious spoken passages to make a wild, theatrical and witty parody of classical ballet.

Royal Ballet of Flanders

William Forsythe Choreography Thom Willems Leslie Stuck Eva Crossman-Hecht Beethoven Music Michael Simon Scenic design

‘Alarmingly impressive... ballet is full of surprises again!’ DE MORGEN

‘Impressing the Czar is a milestone both in Forsythe’s oeuvre and in twentieth century ballet. It is a virtuoso collage of passages and techniques from the great ballets of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Petipa to Balanchine.’ DE TIJD

Photos: Johan Persson

Saturday 18 - Monday 20 August 7.30pm Edinburgh Festival Theatre Tickets from £9.50 Running time approx 2 hours 15 minutes

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DANCE

Edinburgh International Festival

RIDE THE BEAST

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WORLD PREMIERE Stephen Petronio Choreography Stephen Petronio has earned international acclaim for his groundbreaking choreography. Having already performed MiddleSexGorge (an earlier Petronio work) to critical and public acclaim, Scottish Ballet is extending its artistic relationship with the choreographer by commissioning a new work in partnership with the Festival for these performances. In his career Petronio has forged innovative artistic partnerships with Anish Kapoor, Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, James Lavelle and the late Leigh Bowery, to name but a few.

FOR MG: THE MOVIE Trisha Brown Choreography Alvin Curran Music American choreographer Trisha Brown has always been interested in the question of what it means to perform. Here, Brown’s choreography challenges conventions as one dancer stands perfectly still facing upstage for the entire piece whilst others appear, disappear, jog in circles and ﬁgures of eight to Alvin Curran’s specially commissioned music ‘For MG’. You can see Trisha Brown’s own company perform in the last week of the Festival. (see pg 16).

SCOTTISH BAL Saturday 18 and Monday 20 August 7.30pm Sunday 19 August 4.00pm The Edinburgh Playhouse Tickets from £7.50 Running time approx 2 hours Sponsored by Photo: Merlin Hendy

LLET

THE TOTAL WORK OF ART

FEARFUL SYMMETRIES Ashley Page Choreography John Adams Music Antony McDonald Scenic Design Scottish Ballet Orchestra Nicholas Kok Conductor The hugely successful Fearful Symmetries was created by Ashley Page in 1994, and received both Time Out and Olivier awards. Page creates work to the music of important composers in his pursuit of the philosophical ideal of the total work of art. The ballet’s complex construction is tightly ﬁtted to Adams’ thrusting, grinding minimalist score, performed live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra, which propels the dancers across the stage with ferocious intensity.

DANCE

Trisha Brown is one of the world’s most widely acclaimed choreographers and a central figure of the New York dance scene. In the 60s and 70s she helped to redefine choreography and, along with contemporaries such as Twyla Tharp and Merce Cunningham, change modern dance forever. This programme features music by three composers also known to push against boundaries. Works by Laurie Anderson and John Cage provide vivid musical backdrops to Set and Reset and Present Tense while extracts from Claudio Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo provide inspiration for Canto/Pianto. Music and movement come together in this thrilling programme. ‘The storm of dance joins the storm of music, culminating in a rousing finale, breathtaking in its spatial and rhythmic architecture.’ THE NEW YORK TIMES

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY Photo: Naoya Ikegani/Saitama Arts Foundation

RELENTLESSLY ATHLETIC

SET AND RESET Trisha Brown Choreography Laurie Anderson Music Robert Rauschenberg Scenic Design The loose, lush movement of Set and Reset is mesmerising. Transparent cloths hang in the wings allowing the audience a view of dancers both off and on stage. The stage is bare and dark except for a large geometric sculpture hanging overhead on which a collage of black and white ﬁlm clips are projected. An innovative work of real beauty.

CANTO/PIANTO UK PREMIERE Trisha Brown Choreography Claudio Monteverdi Music Trisha Brown Visual Presentation Canto/Pianto is an excerpt drawn from Trisha Brown’s acclaimed choreography of her own response to Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo. Brown achieved total integration of music, text and movement, creating what one reviewer from The Daily Telegraph called ‘as close to the perfect dance opera as I have ever seen.’

PRESENT TENSE Trisha Brown Choreography John Cage Music Elisabeth Murray Scenic Design Raucous, relentlessly athletic, aerial partnering in which Brown’s dancers seem to ride and tumble almost suspended in space. John Cage‘s visceral score provides ﬁtting accompaniment to this inspiring work.

Friday 24 - Sunday 26 August 7.30pm The Edinburgh Playhouse Tickets from £7.50 Running time approx 2 hours and 10 minutes

Orpheus – the journey is sponsored by

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THEATRE

WORLD PREMIERE

THE BACCHÆ by Euripides

A new version of The Bacchae

by David Greig From a literal translation

by Ian Ruffell Performed in English

National Theatre of Scotland Alan Cumming Dionysus John Tiffany Director

One of the greatest of all Greek tragedies in the world premiere of a new adaptation by David Greig and the National Theatre of Scotland. Savage, comic and intensely lyrical, The Bacchae powerfully dramatises the conﬂict between the emotional and rational sides of the human psyche. Multi-award winning Scottish actor Alan Cumming stars as Dionysus – icon, hedonist, god. The magnetic young Dionysus returns home with his cult of female followers to exact his revenge, unleashing the full force of female sexuality on the city. The Bacchae marks the return of Alan Cumming to the Scottish stage for the ﬁrst time in seventeen years. It is the second successive co-production between the Festival and the National Theatre of Scotland.

‘Cumming, who begins as a posturing, vulpine scene queen and ends with devastating dignity, is unfailingly absorbing.’ THE TIMES David Greig: ‘astonishingly proliﬁc – he is also one of the most intellectually stimulating dramatists around.’ THE GUARDIAN

‘The sheer brilliance of John Tiffany’s production…must be considered a major tipping point for the potential of what theatre can be in this country’ THE HERALD ON NTS’ BLACK WATCH

A co-production between the Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Saturday 11 - Saturday 18 August 8.00pm (except Sunday 12 August) Wednesday 15 and Saturday 18 August 2.30pm King’s Theatre Tickets from £8 Running time to be advised

Supported by the

The Binks Trust

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THEATRE

Edinburgh International Festival

POP PEA

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After Claudio Monteverdi

Performed in German with English supertitles

Vienna Schauspielhaus UK PREMIERE

Photo: Nick Mangafas/Schauspielhaus

Poetic, comic and at times grotesque – this contemporary remix of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea) has the spirit of the masterpiece at its heart. The love god Cupid encourages the romance between the Emperor Nero and his mistress Poppea, despite his existing marriage. Sex, passion and politics ensure the path to this union is bloody and anything but even. All’s well that ends... amorously? Opera, theatre, operetta and revue blend as a compact version of the original text is sung, spoken, whispered and screamed. Cole Porter meets Monteverdi by way of burlesque.

Actors: Melita Jurisic, Ruth Brauer, Beatrice Frey, Barbara Spitz, Kyrre Kvam, Martin Niedermair, Florian Carove Musicians: Barrie Kosky, Jörg Ulrich Krah, Aisha Bukayeva, Chai-Ju Tsai Barrie Kosky Director/ Music Director Jörg Ulrich Krah and Barrie Kosky Music Susanne Wolf Translation/Dramaturgy Michael Zerz Set Design Alfred Mayerhofer Costumes Michael Zerz and Barrie Kosky Lighting Design

‘It is a grand tour-de-force!’ DER TAGESSPIEGEL

‘It’s a brilliant, bitter-sweet, ﬁzzingly animated evening of music-theatre.’ NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG

‘Opera, Musical, Revue and Trash. Barrie Kosky’s exciting “Poppea” is Group Sex of the Genres!’ DER STANDARD

Saturday 11 - Monday 13 August 7.30pm Royal Lyceum Theatre Tickets from £10 Running time approx 2 hours 20 minutes

L A DID ONE After Francesco Cavalli and Gian Francesco Busenello

Performed in English and Italian

The Wooster Group UK PREMIERE

Photo: Z Bzymek/G Maxson

The Wooster Group’s production of Francesco Cavalli’s opera La Didone takes up a work from the days when opera was an emerging art form, and sets it down in a new world splintered by video imagery and made brazen by the electric guitar. Stirring another Italian cultural work of art into the mix, the Group brings into collision the ancient shipwreck tale of Aeneas and his Dido with the crashed spaceships of Mario Bava’s 1965 Sci-ﬁ B-movie horror ﬁlm Planet of the Vampires. Identical leather spacesuits, forbidding planetary landscapes and battles with the walking dead meet with the baroque qualities of Cavalli’s score.

Elizabeth LeCompte Director

Production: The Wooster Group, KunstenFESTIVALdesArts

With performers: Hai Ting Chinn, Ari Fliakos, Andrew Nolen, Kamala Sankaram, Scott Shepherd, Harvey Valdes, Kate Valk, Charlie Weaver, Judson Williams, John Young Bruce Odland Musical director Jennifer Griesbach Assistant director Ruud van der Akker Set Design Jennifer Tipton, Gabe Maxson Lighting Matt Schloss, Joby Emmons Sound Zbigniew Bzymek, Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck Reid Farrington Video

Saturday 18 – Wednesday 22 August (except Monday 20 August) 8.00pm Royal Lyceum Theatre Tickets from £10 Running time approx 1 hour 30 minutes

Sponsored by

THEATRE MABOU MINES DOLLHOUSE Adapted from Ibsen by Lee Breuer and Maude Mitchell Performed in English UK PREMIERE A production that sets A Doll’s House inside a doll’s house. Mabou Mines’ recreation of Ibsen’s nineteenth century classic is a stunning mix of the absurdity of Alice in Wonderland and the searing emotional drama of the original play. The scathing criticism of the traditional roles of men and women in Victorian marriage is brilliantly inventive, funny and profound. Legend of New York’s avant-garde, Lee Breuer, overturns traditional ideas of proportions to portray female subjugation in a male dominated society. Tall women are cast as the belittled female characters and the overbearing men are played by actors under ﬁve feet tall. The small-minded husband is perfectly proportioned for the tiny furniture, while his statuesque wife must squeeze into the doll’s house setting. Performers: Eamonn Farrell, Richardo Gil, Hannah Kritzeck, Margaret Lancaster, Ilia Dodd Loomis, Kristopher Medina, Maude Mitchell, Honora Fergusson Neumann, Mark Povinelli, Jessica Weinstein Lee Breuer Conception and direction Eve Beglarian Music Narelle Sissons Sets Mary Louise Geiger Lighting Meganne George Costumes Jane Catherine Shaw Puppetry Edward Cosla Sound Eamonn Farrell Choreography with special choreography by Martha Clarke and Eric Liberman Please note this performance contains adult content and nudity.

Friday 24 August – Tuesday 28 August 7.30pm King’s Theatre Tickets from £10 Running time approx 2 hours 30 minutes

Photo: Richard Termine

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MABOU MINES DOLLHOUSE

THEATRE

ORPHE AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATRE Performed in English EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Photo: T Charles Erickson

25 Composer and performer Rinde Eckert and director Robert Woodruff join forces with video artist Denise Marika to create a stunning, modern version of the Orpheus myth. Contemporary opera, storytelling, rock music and striking video imagery all come together in an upto-date telling of the Orpheus and Eurydice story. Rock star Orpheus shuts himself up in his recording studio after being involved in a fatal car accident which killed the beautiful poet Eurydice. Ever since, Orpheus has been obsessed with her, his only hope is to rescue her from the Underworld. But will she want to return to the world above?

Orpheus Rinde Eckert Eurydice Suzan Hanson John/Persephone John Kelly Musicians: Timothy Feeney, Jeff Lieberman, Blake Newman, Wendy Richman Rinde Eckert Music and text Denise Marika Video Robert Woodruff Director David Zinn and Denise Marika Set design David Zinn Costume design Christopher Akerlind Lighting design David Remedios Sound design ‘The Gods must be smiling! Rinde Eckert and Robert Woodruff have reshaped the story of Orpheus into a stunning music-theatre production, powerfully acted and gorgeously sung!’ VARIETY ‘haunting take on the myth of a musician’s trip to Hades is stark and striking...’ BOSTON GLOBE

Saturday 25 August – Wednesday 29 August 8.00pm Royal Lyceum Theatre Tickets from £10 Running time approx 1 hour 40 minutes

Orpheus – the journey is sponsored by

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THEATRE

Image: Gatti/Watson Lau

Photo: Olga George

OPTICAL IDENTITY

BEOWULF

Theatre Cryptic T’ang Quartet

Performed in Old English with English supertitles

EUROPEAN PREMIERE Scottish based Theatre Cryptic and the T’ang Quartet from Singapore come together to create music to be looked at… not just listened to. Established chamber music repertoire and new music combine with interactive technologies and visuals to create a sound and vision experience. With sculptural sets by internationally acclaimed furniture designer Jason Ong, costumes by BAYLENE and digital art, Optical Identity is a delight for the senses. Music includes Kevin Volans’ White Man Sleeps, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s Mugam Sayagi for quartet and percussion, Rolf Wallin’s Phonotope 1 for quartet and live electronics, and the European premiere of a new piece from Joby Talbot, known for his work with The Divine Comedy, Jack Black and The White Stripes.

For over a thousand years the epic story of Beowulf survived miraculously as a written text. With harp in hand the vocalist and storyteller Benjamin Bagby brings it back to life in a live performance of this oral epic – the thrilling story of King Hrothgar, the monster Grendel and the hero Beowulf. ‘Mr. Bagby comes as close to holding hundreds of people in a spell as ever a man has...’ THE NEW YORK TIMES ‘Old English has rarely seemed so alive...’ THE TIMES Sharing the Festival Beowulf can also be seen on a short tour as part of the Festival’s commitment to reach a wide audience. For full details please see page 49.

Cathie Boyd Concept/director Jasch Digital artist and performer Jason Ong Set design BAYLENE Costume design Nich Smith Lighting design A Co-production by Theatre Cryptic and T’ang Quartet. Commissioned by Singapore Arts Festival 2007 Friday 31 August and Saturday 1 September 8.00pm Royal Lyceum Theatre Tickets from £10 Running time approx 1 hour 20 minutes

Saturday 18 – Wednesday 22 August (except Monday 20 August) 8.00pm The Hub Tickets £17 Running time 1 hour 40 minutes

MUSIC

Thomas Adès Photo: Nigel Luckhurst

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA OF EUROPE Neeme Järvi Conductor Eller Dawn Twilight Sibelius Symphony No 4 de Falla The Three Cornered Hat: Suites 1 and 2 The RSNO appointed Neeme Järvi as its Conductor Laureate for Life after a hugely successful period as its Principal Conductor. Today, Järvi is one of the busiest conductors around, with a string of awards to his credit. The programme includes Sibelius’ dark and foreboding fourth symphony and de Falla’s exciting and lively ballet suite The Three Cornered Hat. ‘Järvi held the performance together with an iron will, gleaning levels of brilliance from the orchestra only the best conductors elicit.’ THE SCOTSMAN

Thomas Adès Conductor Anthony Marwood Violin Beethoven Namensfeier Overture Stravinsky Pulcinella Suite Adès Violin Concerto ‘Concentric Paths’ Sibelius Symphony No 3 The artistic forces which premiered young British composer Thomas Adès’ acclaimed Violin Concerto in 2005 are reunited for this performance with a programme of wonderfully contrasting music. Adès’ Violin Concerto: ‘it was 17 minutes of pure enchantment.’ THE TELEGRAPH ‘Anthony Marwood, for whom it was written, emanated radiance.... He played like an Ariel, never touching ground whether in the rapid filigree inventions of the first movement, the ghostly, highflying lyricism of the second or the leaping happy dance of the finale.’ LOS ANGELES TIMES

Saturday 11 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour and 30 minutes

Monday 13 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour and 50 minutes Supported by the

Léan Scully EIF Fund

MUSIC

Edinburgh International Festival

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF EUROPE

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Thomas Adès Conductor Toby Spence Tenor Rameau Les Indes galantes: Overture Thomas Adès Three Studies after Couperin Berlioz Les nuits d’été Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin Bizet Symphony in C Toby Spence thrilled Festival 2006 audiences with his beautifully lyrical performance in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His performance of Berlioz’s sparkling Les nuits d’été sits in the middle of an evening of diverse musical treats.

Toby Spence: ‘became something of a star at this summer’s Edinburgh Festival with a startling performance in Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River... there’s a brightness in Spence’s tone, an easy, heroic ring in the sound’ THE GUARDIAN ‘Adès’s conducting is always informed by his marvellously intelligent composing mind, and it makes for performances of fascinating clarity and dancing energy.’ THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Supported by the Léan Scully EIF Fund Tuesday 14 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 2 hours

ALFRED BRENDEL Haydn Piano Sonata in C minor Hob XV1:20 Beethoven Piano Sonata in A ﬂat Op 110 Schubert Impromptu in F minor D935 No 1 Schubert Impromptu in B ﬂat D935 No 3 Mozart Sonata in C minor K457 One of the greatest classical pianists of our time, Alfred Brendel returns to the Festival bringing the intelligence, precision and subtlety for which he is famed and which have made him such a prized artist. ‘Brendel’s playing is distinguished by its heightened intellectual and emotional intensity, by his ability to

energize details while sustaining taut lines, by his infallible grasp of musical architecture and by his extraordinary empathy with composers.’ TIME MAGAZINE ‘The audience felt as if he had taken them on a miraculous adventure of mind and music...’ CHICAGO TRIBUNE Supported by Dunard Fund Wednesday 15 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 2 hours

MONTEVERDI VESPERS (1610) Hespèrion XXI La Capella Reial de Catalunya Jordi Savall Conductor Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 is one of the greatest choral works ever written with virtuosic solo movements and magisterial choruses. It is a monumental work demanding musical and dramatic ﬂair. ‘early-music superstar...in the most self-effacing way, Jordi Savall comes close to being one.’ THE NEW YORK TIMES

Jordi Savall is widely recognised as one of today’s foremost artists specialising in early music. His orchestra Hesperion XXI and choir La Capella Reial de Catalunya combine high levels of instrumental and vocal virtuosity with a dynamic and bold performance style. Supported by

The Consulate General of Spain, Edinburgh Thursday 16 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 2 hours 15 minutes

MUSIC

‘the vitality of this music-making, the rapt faces of these young musicians, render words such as “urgent” and “passionate” utterly inadequate.’ THE GUARDIAN

Gustavo Dudamel Photo: Ricardo Musacchio

SIMÓN BOLÍVAR YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF VENEZUELA Gustavo Dudamel Conductor Shostakovich Symphony No 10 Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story One of South America’s most famous exports, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra is led by its dynamic young conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. The orchestra’s obvious passion, enjoyment and huge talent have garnered acclaim around the world. This programme shows off the young musicians’ spirited playing and includes works by Ginastera, Revueltas and Villa-Lobos in a celebration of Latin American music.

DAME EVELYN GLENNIE Percussionist Evelyn Glennie returns to the Edinburgh International Festival in recital. Internationally acclaimed for her exciting, energetic performances, her programme includes works by Reich, ter Veldhuis, Alvarez and Masson as well as her own arrangements of Bach’s Toccata and Fuge. ‘Her musicianship is extraordinary. One has to pause in sheer wonder at what she has accomplished. She is quite simply a phenomenon of a performer’ THE NEW YORK TIMES

‘Glennie’s mere presence instills a hypnotic quality, and the intensity of her stage presence is compelling.’ THE GUARDIAN

‘the vitality of this music-making, the rapt faces of these young musicians, render words such as “urgent” and “passionate” utterly inadequate.’ THE GUARDIAN

Friday 17 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour 50 minutes Sponsored by

Saturday 18 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

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THE CREATION

STABAT MATER

by Franz Josef Haydn

by Antonio Vivaldi

Edinburgh Festival Chorus David Jones Chorus Master Scottish Chamber Orchestra Sir Roger Norrington Conductor

Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chiara Banchini Director/Violin

Katharine Fuge Soprano Ian Bostridge Tenor Matthew Rose Bass

Corelli Concerto Grosso Op 6 No 4 in D Geminiani Concerto Grosso Op 7 No 2 in D minor Vivaldi Concerto Ripieno in C RV 114 Vivaldi Cantata ‘Cessate, omai cessate’ Scarlatti Concerto Grosso No 1 in F minor Vivaldi Stabat Mater

Haydn’s Creation, alive with a charming verdant freshness and a classical elegance, is his greatest choral masterpeice. The Creation’s ‘And there was light...’ is one of his most startling, dramatic and inspiring moments. Roger Norrington, a specialist in this repertoire, is joined by a classic line up of soloists for this celebrated oratorio. ‘Norrington’s conducting was searchingly insightful, and the SCO’s playing often glorious in its colour and buoyancy.’ THE GUARDIAN ‘Even aﬁcionados of the SCO’s virtuoso capabilities gasped at the mixture of high speed and lucid articulation. It was electric.’ THE HERALD, FESTIVAL 2006

Andreas Scholl Countertenor

Chiara Banchini is one of the world’s leading baroque violinists. Her technique is astounding, creating an electrifying and seductive experience on her seventeenth century violin. She leads the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a programme of beautiful baroque masterpieces. Andreas Scholl has charmed audiences around the world with his lyrical, beautiful countertenor voice. He makes his Festival debut with the ethereal and soaring lines of Vivaldi’s solo motet Stabat Mater. ‘Banchini is such an extraordinary musician...She draws so much more depth, texture and tonal colour from her violin...her’s is dangerous, exhilarating music-making.’ SOUNDSCAPES Andreas Scholl: ‘His technical excellence, his musicianship and the sheer beauty of that voice are virtually unmatched.’ THE INDEPENDENT

Monday 20 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 2 hours 15 minutes Supported by

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Friday 24 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour 30 minutes

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THE TIGER LILLIES BAVARIAN RADIO A TRIBUTE (OF SORTS) SYMPHONY TO MONTEVERDI ORCHESTRA With Concerto Caledonia

Mariss Jansons Conductor

Wicked purveyors of black comedy, cult London vaudeville trio The Tiger Lillies take Monteverdi as an inspiration and run amok with him. Teaming up with Concerto Caledonia, The Tiger Lillies bring their unique perspective to the party, looking at Monteverdi’s music upside down and sideways.

Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra Sibelius Symphony No 2

They have delighted and shocked audiences around the world with their slick, dark cabaret style, deranged comic madness and brazen theatrics. They have also impressed and surprised with the junk-opera Shockheaded Peter, which won them an Olivier Award. Their album The Gorey End inspired by the artist Edward Gorey and recorded with the Kronos Quartet, was also nominated for a Grammy. ‘A Tiger Lillies gig is a journey into wild emotion that passes right through melodrama and out the other side into bizarre beauty.’ THE EVENING STANDARD

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, one of the top musical ensembles in the world, comes to the Festival for two performances led by its internationally acclaimed Chief Conductor Mariss Jansons. Strauss described Also sprach Zarathustra as ‘the development of the human race from its origin, through the various phases of its development, religious and scientific, up to Nietzsche’s idea of The Superman.’ It is widely known since Stanley Kubrick’s used it to open his film 2001 A Space Odyssey. Sibelius was a master of orchestral scoring and symphonic writing. His second symphony, with its blazing brassy first movement and its grandiose finale, is one of his greatest.

‘In an ideal world, the Tiger Lillies would represent Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest.’ THE TIMES

PLEASE NOTE THE TIGER LILLIES HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO USE BAD LANGUAGE, VERY BAD LANGUAGE INDEED.

Saturday 25 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets all £17.50 Running time approx 1 hour 50 minutes

Monday 27 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes Supported by the

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Photo: Bayerischer Rundfunk/Markus Dlouhy

Photo: Kristen Loken

BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Mariss Jansons Conductor

Michael Tilson Thomas Conductor Yeﬁm Bronfman Piano

Beethoven Egmont Overture Debussy La mer Shostakovich Symphony No 5 This concert features three outstanding favourites of the symphonic repertoire; the powerful and heroic overture from Beethoven’s Egmont; Debussy’s orchestral masterwork La mer; and Shostakovich’s popular Symphony No 5 containing some of his most exciting, entertaining and climactic music. ‘Our audience responds enthusiastically to all that is bright, clear, joyous, optimistic, life-afﬁrming.’ TOLSTOY ON SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY NO 5

‘Jansons’ fusion of toughness, malleability and subtlety...were in harness with an orchestra that radiated conﬁdence and reﬁnement in an outstanding concert.’ THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Dedicated to the memory of Sir John Drummond

Copland Fanfare for the Common Man Seeger Andante for Strings Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 3 Tchaikovsky Symphony No 1 ‘Winter Daydreams’ Copland’s most widely known piece, Fanfare for the Common Man, with its simplicity and grandeur announces the arrival in Edinburgh of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. It is followed by two short and fascinating pieces by American composers. Prokofiev’s popular Third Piano Concerto demonstrates him at his most lyrical and witty and the evening comes to a close with Tchaikovsky’s first symphony, his most optimistic, and a glowing portrayal of a Russian winter. ‘The multiple textures and clashing rhythms interlock with spontaneous ease; the playing proves that the SFS remains one of the world’s most immaculate ensembles.’ THE GUARDIAN ‘What makes Mr. Bronfman so successful...is that he is the same kind of pianist as Prokofiev...a virtuoso’ THE NEW YORK TIMES

Tuesday 28 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour 50 minutes

Wednesday 29 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 2 hours

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SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

GÜRZENICH ORCHESTRA

Michael Tilson Thomas Conductor

Markus Stenz Conductor

Deborah Voigt Soprano

Strauss Till Eulenspiegel Bernd Alois Zimmermann Photoptosis Schumann Symphony No 3

Strauss Final scene from ‘Salomé’ Mahler Symphony No 7 Deborah Voigt recently delighted audiences and critics with her stage performances of Strauss’ Salomé. She has one of the few voices in the world suited to expressing fully the drama of Strauss’ music and this performance promises to be emotionally riveting and musically breathtaking. Mahler’s Seventh Symphony is often called his Song of the Night, one of his most rewarding works in which suffering eventually moves to joy. ‘Voigt’s superb instrument sounded ideal in this Salome, retaining its quicksilver girlishness even when dominating the most gruelling orchestral climaxes.’

Some of the ﬁnest composers and conductors of their time, Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms and Stravinsky among them, wrote for this venerable orchestra. As a consequence it has a rich history of commissions and premieres including Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel. This is an orchestra of outstanding virtuosity performing with its internationally acclaimed Music Director Markus Stenz. ‘dazzlingly conducted by Markus Stenz.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

OPERA NEWS

Thursday 30 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 2 hours

Friday 31 August 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour 40 minutes

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Photo: Steve Lindridge

A CELEBRATION OF FRANCIS POULENC

BANK OF SCOTLAND FIREWORKS CONCERT

Edinburgh Festival Chorus David Jones Chorus Master Royal Scottish National Orchestra Stéphane Denève Conductor

Scottish Chamber Orchestra Clark Rundell Conductor

Dame Gillian Weir Organ Christine Brewer Soprano Poulenc Stabat Mater Poulenc Organ Concerto Poulenc Excerpts from Dialogues des Carmélites Inventive French composer Francis Poulenc was famously described as being ‘something of the monk and something of the rascal’. Virtuoso of the organ Gillian Weir describes his Organ Concerto as ‘champagne music’. It is a thunderous and powerful piece which also sparkles, ideal for the wonderfully restored Usher Hall organ. Poulenc wrote Dialogues des Carmélites about the fear, faith, and courage displayed by a group of nuns condemned to death during the French Revolution. A work of great emotional and musical intensity, its lush harmonies, emotional and musical intensity are performed by a cast of ﬁve soloists and students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Bernstein Overture ‘Candide’ Gershwin Overture ‘Strike up the Band’ Barber Adagio for Strings Ives Three Places in New England Copland Rodeo ‘Buckaroo Holiday’ Sousa Liberty Bell A fantastic evening of great American music from Gershwin, Barber, Ives, Copland and Sousa which opens with Leonard Bernstein’s Overture from Candide. Due to the popularity of this event, please note the special ticket sales arrangements: Ross Theatre tickets (£25) go on sale with all other Festival tickets. Princes Street Garden tickets (£10) are allocated in three ways: 1) By postal ballot, limited to six per customer. Please send separate payment and application with SAE. Closing date for the ballot is Monday 21 May 2007. 2) Online – an allocation will be released for sale from 11.00am on Monday 23 July at www.eif.co.uk These are limited to four per customer.

‘Brewer has a voice like molten gold, pouring forth from the heart; her technique is ﬂawless, her line incredible...sending a chill down the spine in the work’s ﬁnal moments.’ ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH

3) The ﬁnal allocation will go on sale on Sunday 26 August at 10.00am only from the counter at The Hub. These are limited to four per customer.

Saturday 1 September 8.00pm Usher Hall Tickets from £8 Running time approx 1 hour 50 minutes

Sunday 2 September 9.00pm Princes Street Gardens Tickets £25 (Ross Theatre - seated) £10 (gardens) Running time approx 45 minutes Sponsored by

MADRIGALS

ABSORBING AND ATMOSPHERIC ENCHANTMENTS

MONTEVERDI’S MADRIGALS

Concerto Italiano Rinaldo Alessandrini Director/Harpsichord Take a journey through the mind of Claudio Monteverdi as he developed his beautiful madrigals. These concerts feature his ‘little dramas’ – absorbing and atmospheric entertainments for a society that relied on memory and storytelling for its world view. They are also potent illustrations of the development of Monteverdi’s musical ideas. Monteverdi’s madrigals are performed by leading baroque ensemble Concerto Italiano. Directed by harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini, this virtuoso company of eight singers and instrumental ensemble has achieved new standards of excellence in the performance of Italian vocal music. The atmospheric surroundings of Greyfriars Kirk are uniquely suited to Monteverdi’s beautiful song settings. ‘Monteverdi was the father of a revolution in Western music. He was at a crossroads between vocal music, instrumental music and opera, and invented a new, far-reaching style.’ RINALDO ALESSANDRINI

Selections from books 1-3 Saturday 11 August 6.00pm Selections from books 4 and 5 Monday 13 August 6.00pm Selection from book 6 Wednesday 15 August 6.00pm Selection from book 7 Thursday 16 August 6.00pm Selection from book 8 Madrigals of Love and War Friday 17 August 6.00pm

Tickets £17 Greyfriars Kirk Running time approx 1 hour Monteverdi’s Madrigals Season Ticket: Book for all 5 concerts and get one concert completely free – a saving of £17. Supported by

The Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh Photo: dndavis/BigStockPhoto

HARMONY AND HUMANITY

Photo: 2007 iStock International Inc

This wonderful series of concerts concentrates on some of the richest and most exquisite European vocal music written from the eleventh to the eighteenth centuries. Follow the development of European polyphonic music through the series or give yourself an early evening treat with these beautiful, otherworldly, timeless performances.

Tickets £17 Book for 5 or more concerts and get one ticket completely free – a saving of £17. Greyfriars Kirk Supported by

The Director’s Circle

ANONYMOUS 4 Renowned for an unearthly vocal blend and virtuosic ensemble singing, the four women of Anonymous 4 are celebrated worldwide for their intuitive contemporary performances of medieval vocal music. ‘The singers of Anonymous 4 ...achieve a tonal unity that is all the more remarkable for seeming so effortless.’ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Music from Eleventh Century Provence Anonymous 4’s beautiful voices recreate a listening experience over a thousand years old. Monday 20 August 6.00pm A Ladymass A dramatic concert bringing together haunting chants and beautiful polyphony to create an authentic performance of a Ladymass dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Tuesday 21 August 9.00pm

HARMONY AND HUMANITY

BEAUTIFUL, OTHERWORLDLY, TIMELESS PERFORMANCE THE ORLANDO CONSORT

LA VENEXIANA

‘glorious voices, tunnelling through medieval polyphony’s horizontal maze with forthright skill and beauty’

Tenebrae Responsori per il Sabato Santo Led by its founder Claudio Cavina the Italian group La Venexiana performs this fourteenth century composer Carlo Gesualdo’s masterpiece – emotionally intense and darkly atmospheric. Tuesday 28 August 6.00pm

THE TIMES

Josquin Desprez Josquin Desprez would arguably be listed alongside Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert as figures who influenced the development of western music – his music has extreme power and beauty. Tuesday 21 August 6.00pm Machaut and Dufay Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame is quite simply one of the most monumental pieces of religious music ever written. Dufay, the most influential composer of the mid-fifteenth century, raised the status of music and musicians to unprecedented heights. Wednesday 22 August 6.00pm

PHANTASM, THEATRE OF VOICES, ARS NOVA Paul Hillier Conductor One of the world’s foremost choral conductors and 2007 Grammy Award winner Paul Hillier, leads three of the world’s most prominent early music ensembles in two concerts from the English medieval repertory. ‘Paul Hillier...drew a consistently ravishing sound from the singers.’ THE NEW YORK TIMES Byrd Masses (Theatre of Voices and Phantasm) Dubbed the father of British music, William Byrd belonged to a generation which pioneered Elizabethan culture. His Masses were crafted with extreme care and beauty. Thursday 23 August 6.00pm John Taverner (Theatre of Voices and Ars Nova) Taverner was an outstanding talent of pre-Reformation music and one of the greatest of all English composers. His music was the culmination of an extremely rich English tradition. Friday 24 August 6.00pm

HUELGAS ENSEMBLE Orlande de Lassus The twelve singers of the Huelgas Ensemble, led by Paul Van Nevel, perform works by Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus, one of the most important and inﬂuential sixteenth century composers. Wednesday 29 August 6.00pm

THE TALLIS SCHOLARS Peter Phillips Director Specialists in European Renaissance sacred music, The Tallis Scholars enjoyed the privilege of performing in the Sistine Chapel to mark the restoration of the Michelangelo frescoes. ‘The rock stars of Renaissance vocal music’. THE NEW YORK TIMES

Giovanni Palestrina Music from one of the towering ﬁgures in late-sixteenth century music. Thursday 30 August 6.00pm Spanish Golden Age Seventeenth century music from the Iberian peninsula. Friday 31 August 6.00pm

CANTUS CÖLLN Bach Motets The music of JS Bach is born of supreme craftsmanship yet his motets inevitably reflect the many centuries of vocal music that preceded their composition. German vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln performs a fitting finale to this Festival series of polyphony. Saturday 1 September 6.00pm

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HEBRIDES ENSEMBLE JANE IRWIN MEZZO SOPRANO Janáˇcek Mládí Mahler Kindertotenlieder (arr Edward Harper) Osborne Balkan Dances and Laments Berio Folksongs (1964) A bold and imaginative chamber programme featuring the Hebrides Ensemble and Festival favourite, Jane Irwin. ‘the Hebrides Ensemble responds to the taxing demands with brilliance...Very clean and responsive’

Photo: Vico Chamla

JORDI SAVALL VIOLA DA GAMBA Jordi Savall is largely credited with bringing to life the viola da gamba for contemporary audiences. In this programme he gives a broad view of the bass viol as played by virtuosi in the baroque period, including music by Abel, J S Bach, Schenck, Marais and Demachy. ‘No one plays this eccentric, eloquent instrument more beautifully than Savall. Minute details of phrasing, dynamics, and timbre join together in an endlessly varied singing line.’ THE NEW YORKER

INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW

Jane Irwin: ‘a voice of immense beauty and culture.’ THE TIMES

Saturday 11 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes Sponsored by

Monday 13 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

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MARK PADMORE TENOR WALKING TO LÜBECK Bach Cantata BWV 55 ‘Ich armer Mensch’ Cantata BWV 82 ‘Ich habe genug’ Recitative and Aria from Cantata BWV 161 ‘Komm, du süsse Todesstunde’ Buxtehude Klaglied Mark Padmore has won acclaim worldwide for the musicality and intelligence of his singing. He is accompanied by chamber ensemble Walking to Lübeck, whose name is a reference to Bach’s journey on foot to hear the ﬂamboyant composer Buxtehude play. ‘the purity of Padmore’s delivery is a thing of wonder.’ THE INDEPENDENT

‘an elegant, beautifully poised performance. His phrasing is immaculate and unforced, his tone unfailingly true and pleasing.’

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Photo: Lebrecht Music & Arts

NACHTMUSIQUE Led by Eric Hoeprich, the eight members of Nachtmusique are specialists who play regularly with the best early music ensembles. Here they perform two programmes which mix popular wind ensemble music with arrangements of great operatic music from The Magic Flute and The Barber of Seville. Mozart and Haydn Mozart Selections from ‘Die Zauberflöte’ [arr J Stumpf] Mozart Selected Duos and Trios from K487, K292 and K410 Haydn Divertimento in F Hob 11:15 Mozart Serenade in E flat K375 Wednesday 15 August 11.00am Rossini, Krommer, Mozart Rossini Overture from ‘Il barbiere di Siviglia’ [arr anon] Krommer Octet-Partita in E flat Op 79 Mozart Serenade in C minor K388 ‘Nacht Musique’ Thursday 16 August 11.00am

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Tuesday 14 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

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MONTSERRAT FIGUERAS OLLI MUSTONEN SOPRANO PIANO ARIANNA SAVALL Schumann Album für die Jugend Op 68 (selection) Bach 15 Three part Inventions BWV 787-801 SOPRANO Schumann Fünf Gesänge der Frühe Op 133 Mustonen Jehkin Iivana HESPERION XXI Prokoﬁev Piano Sonata No 6 JORDI SAVALL Olli Mustonen is one of the most interesting and individual pianists performing today. His Festival DIRECTOR recital programme shows off his highly expressive Paradise Lost Charismatic soprano Montserrat Figueras is renowned for her interpretations of early vocal music, especially from Spain and Catalonia. Here she is accompanied by daughter Arianna and the Hesperion XXI ensemble for a concert of music inspired by Cervantes’ Don Quixote and brimming with the immense richness of sixteenth century Hispanic music. ‘Figueras sings with bewildering intensity’ THE GUARDIAN

playing over a breadth of repertoire and offers the opportunity to hear the UK premiere of the piano version of one of his own compositions. ‘He gives his whole body to the performance every time... He gives his soul, too. He is a living dream of pianism, having broken through an expressive barrier that other players do not know exists.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘Detail after detail is ﬁnely articulated, as though etched with the point of a needle... [There] are passages where the clarity and extraordinary ﬁnesse yield something I can only describe as visionary’ BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

Friday 17 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes Sponsored by

Saturday 18 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

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KATE ROYAL SOPRANO TOKYO STRING QUARTET CHRISTINE RICE MEZZO SOPRANO Beethoven String Quartet Op 18 No 1 Auerbach String Quartet No 2 ‘Primordial Light’ ROGER VIGNOLES Schumann String Quartet Op 41 No 3 PIANO Praised as elegant, passionate, reﬁned, staggeringly These two wonderful singers perform a programme which includes Brahms’ Gypsy Songs, Dvoˇrák’s Moravian Duets and songs and duets by Schumann, Mendelssohn and Gounod. Kate Royal: ‘She is a natural communicator, has all the ingredients for an important career – musicality, a lyric soprano of rare loveliness, a poised and digniﬁed manner.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

Christine Rice: ‘she has a rich, full-toned, quite individual mezzo, one always used with innate musicality. These excellent qualities are brought to bear in all she does.’

musical and as superb musicians in a terriﬁc ensemble, the Tokyo String Quartet performs three great works from the chamber music repertoire. Enjoy a feast of musical artistry. ‘The Tokyo [Quartet] is in a new era of musical power and ﬁnesse. The four players lavished tonal lustrousness and virtuosic ease...’ THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

‘The Tokyo have the edge; their searing intensity, acute sense of colour and total commitment to each score combine for maximum impact.’ THE GRAMOPHONE

THE GRAMAPHONE

Monday 20 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

Tuesday 21 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes Sponsored by

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Photo: Kurt Pinter

SILVANA DUSSMANN SOPRANO CHARLES SPENCER PIANO Schumann Frauenliebe und –leben Wagner Wesendonck Lieder Silvana Dussmann’s outstanding and engaging mezzo soprano shone through in her acclaimed performance in the 2006 Opening Concert Elektra. In the intimate atmosphere of the Queen’s Hall her programme, which also includes songs and arias by Mozart and Richard Strauss, promises to be truly special.

Photo: Rosa Frank

CHRISTOPH PRÉGARDIEN TENOR MICHAEL GEES PIANO Schumann Dichterliebe Mahler Songs from ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen Christoph Prégardien is known as one of the outstanding lyric tenors of our time. He is joined here by long time collaborator and accompanist Michael Gees for a majestic programme that features some of the best known song cycles from the Romantic repertoire.

‘vivid dramatic purchase on a soaring vocal line.’

‘Prégarden enthralled with his beautifully smooth and melodic phrasing and clear diction.’

THE GUARDIAN

OSTTHÜRINGER ZEITUNG

Wednesday 22 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

Thursday 23 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

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YURI BASHMET VIOLA OLEG MAISENBERG PIANO

FRETWORK SUSAN BICKLEY MEZZO SOPRANO

Brahms Three Intermezzos for piano Op 117 Viola Sonata in E ﬂat Britten Lachrymae Shostakovich Viola Sonata

Fretwork has set new standards in the performance of great English music for viol consort. Both early and modern repertoire come together in an exceptional programme of works by Gibbons, Taverner, Byrd, Purcell and George Benjamin. They are joined by the mesmerizing mezzo soprano Susan Bickley.

Don’t miss this chance to hear one of the world’s most passionate violists. Yuri Bashmet: ‘To hear a more authentic performance would be impossible, a ﬁner one inconceivable.’

‘Fretwork are without doubt one of the most expressive and ambitious of this country’s viol consorts.’ THE INDEPENDENT

THE EVENING STANDARD

‘Mr Bashmet is probably the most formidable exponent of the viola today. More than that, he is a string player of altogether uncanny powers. His tone is vocal, expressively vocal, devoid of artiﬁce. He can move without a break from the most hushed, liquid legato to a huge, hall-ﬁlling fortissimo.’

‘The molten mezzo Susan Bickley was not simply inspirational, but exquisite.’ THE SCOTSMAN

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Friday 24 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

Saturday 25 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes Sponsored by

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Edinburgh International Festival

CHIARA BANCHINI VIOLIN ENSEMBLE 415

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Led by Chiara Banchini, Ensemble 415 makes its Edinburgh debut with great masterworks of the Italian baroque played with passion and subtlety. The programme includes works by Corelli and Locatelli and Vivaldi’s trio sonata La Follia. ‘Ms Banchini’s love for the material is evident ...she caresses the music; she ﬁlls her playing with passion’ FANFARE Monday 27 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes Photo: Ensemble 415

CHRISTINE BREWER SOPRANO ROGER VIGNOLES PIANO Berg 7 Early Songs Dougherty Selected songs

Strauss Gesänge des Orients Britten The Poet’s Echo

Renowned American soprano Christine Brewer brings her rich, gorgeous voice to a range of twentieth century song cycles. ‘Brewer, whose voice is, quite simply, one of the greatest in the world.’ THE GUARDIAN

Photo: Ken Howard

Tuesday 28 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

LA VENEXIANA Gesualdo Madrigals Claudio Cavina’s La Venexiana performs the madrigals of sixteenth century Italian composer, lutenist, nobleman, and notorious murderer Gesualdo. The madrigals are some of his most famous compositions, expressive declarations of devotion. La Venexiana: ‘perform with an ultra-refined passion, introducing a varied palette of voices with or without instruments, and responding to the inflexions of the poetry with consummate flexibility.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

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Wednesday 29 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

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GIDON KREMER VIOLIN MEMBERS OF THE KREMERATINI QUARTET Shostakovich String Quartet No 11 Bartók Sonata for Solo Violin Beethoven String Quartet Op 132 Virtuoso violinist Gidon Kremer is one of the greatest violinists on the world stage famed for his fearless, compelling performances.

Photo: Sasha Gusov/ECM Records

Thursday 30 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall, Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

JOHN WILLIAMS GUITAR Australian guitarist John Williams’ remarkable technical mastery has inﬂuenced subsequent generations of players. His Festival recital features works by Scarlatti, Albeniz, John Williams, Domeniconi and Sculthorpe. Friday 31 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes

Photo: Kathy Panama

DAVID PYATT HORN LEON MCCAWLEY PIANO Poulenc composed his Elégie for horn and piano in 1957 in memory of Dennis Brain, a peerless horn player. 50 years after his death impressive young musicans David Pyatt and Leon McCawley perform a programme in tribute including works by Beethoven, Richard Strauss, Poulenc, Hindemith, Glière and Dukas. ‘Few horn players produce such a luscious sound as David Pyatt.’ THE GRAMOPHONE ‘Leon McCawley is a pianist for whom the word “eloquent” could have been coined, combining as he does a wonderful sense of style with a discreetly telling manner of musical interpretation.’ THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Photo: Nina Large

Saturday 1 September 11.00am The Queen’s Hall Tickets from £6 Running time approx 1 hour 45 minutes Sponsored by

VISUAL ARTS

JARDINS PUBLICS Katrina Brown Curator Katie Nicoll Producer

Image: Michael Lin (Atrium, Stadhuis 12.07-12.09.2002) Emulsion on wood, Stroom-City Hall of The Hague, Netherlands

Jardins Publics is an exhibition of specially commissioned works by internationally renowned visual artists. Situated around the centre of the city it invites us to consider the garden as an essentially social rather than natural space – a cultivated, created, man-made environment. With diverse references from Voltaire, through Patrick Geddes to Ian Hamilton Finlay, the exhibition takes its inspiration from the speciﬁc characteristics of Edinburgh. The city was home to Patrick Geddes, father of modern town planning and advocate of the value of the garden, who believed ‘By leaves we live.’ ‘We must cultivate our garden’ CLOSING WORDS OF VOLTAIRE’S CANDIDE (1758)

‘Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks’ IAN HAMILTON FINDLAY (1925 – 2006)

Three major artists explore the question of a public garden. The resultant works, whether actual gardens or evocations thereof, will be sites for the contemplation of ‘nature’, a place in which to spend some time. Michael Lin is internationally known for site specific painted walls and floors that reproduce on a large-scale traditional floral motifs inspired by Taiwanese textiles. Often displayed in public places, such as the Atrium of The Hague’s city hall (pictured) or the bar of Palais du Tokyo, his paintings connect people and become places for social events. Apolonija Sustersic trained as an architect, and her work is concerned with the creation of social environments, places in which people can come together. Previous projects have involved the spirit of Patrick Geddes and specifically his belief in the positive power of the garden. Richard Wright is one of the UK’s most respected and sought-after artists. A highly accomplished painter, he is known for his ephemeral works often painted directly onto walls or other surfaces. A leaflet detailing the locations of the works, including a map to show the easy city centre walking route linking them, will be available from June. Call the box office on 0131 473 2000 or check www.eif.co.uk for further details.

Friday 10 August – Sunday 2 September Edinburgh City Centre Free

Celebrating Sixty Years Napier University and Richard Demarco The ﬁrst Edinburgh International Festival opened on Sunday 24 August 1947, a beacon of optimism and hope after World War II. Since that time there have been many memorable moments. On the stages and concert platforms of the Festival new stars have been discovered, great performances have become legendary and extraordinary artistic experiences presented. At stage doors and green rooms across the city, artists met, formed new partnerships and inspired one another. In the foyers and bars audiences made new friends, formed new relationships and debated performances late into the night. In this perfect Festival city the streets and landscapes have also played a part in the very special experience that is the Edinburgh International Festival. Watch out for glimpses of Festival experiences over those years in installations across venues. These installations, specially devised by Design and Lens Media students of the School of Creative Industries, Napier University, are from a wonderful collection of photographs – the Edinburgh International Festival archive, held by the National Library of Scotland (with thanks to Sally Harrower for access) and the Demarco archive currently being digitised by the University of Dundee. Demarco’s Festival An exhibition of photographs reﬂecting Richard Demarco’s view of 60 years of the Edinburgh International Festival. Mid July to early September Scottish National Portrait Gallery Free Happy 60th Birthday Watch out for a celebration of EIF rooted in its landscape, courtesy of the Skateraw Foundation, and only visible from the air.

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48 Edinburgh International Festival eif.co.uk

FESTIVAL INSIGHTS

CONVERSATIONS WITH ARTISTS Dominique Hervieu

Trisha Brown Dance Company

Hear about the inspiration and the hard work behind the visually stunning On Danƒe. Sunday 12 August 4.30pm

Irene Hultman, choreographer and Rehearsal Director of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, talks about the work of the company. Thursday 23 August 4.30pm

Barrie Kosky Director Barrie Kosky delves into his comic and poetic take on Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. Monday 13 August 4.30pm Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras This husband and wife early music dream team discuss their work. Wednesday 15 August 4.30pm Alan Cumming, David Greig and John Tiffany The all-star theatre team responsible for The Bacchae talks about the process of recreating and staging a Greek masterpiece for 21st century audiences. Thursday 16 August 4.30pm

The Tiger Lillies Meet these off the wall, super inventive musicians and hear how they create their weird and wonderful world. Friday 24 August 4.30pm Chiara Banchini and Nicholas McGegan Two world experts of the baroque in conversation about their careers. Saturday 25 August 4.30pm Maude Mitchell Co-adaptor and actor in Mabou Mines DollHouse, Maude Mitchell talks about her work on the role of Nora. Sunday 26 August 4.30pm

The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra Hear the story of one of music’s most inspiring ensembles. Friday 17 August 4.30pm

Katrina Brown and Richard Wright Curator Katrina Brown and artist Richard Wright talk about the inspirations behind Jardins Publics. Monday 27 August 4.30pm

Elizabeth LeCompte and The Wooster Group A rare opportunity to hear this iconic theatre group discuss their work. Monday 20 August 4.30pm Benjamin Bagby Benjamin Bagby talks about how he reconstructed Beowulf. Tuesday 21 August 4.30pm Paul Hillier An internationally acclaimed choral conductor, Paul Hillier shares his knowledge, his vision and his views on choral music today. Wednesday 22 August 4.30pm Supported by

The Gordon Fraser Charitable

Markus Stenz The Music Director of Capriccio and the Gürzenich Orchestra, shares his experiences of conducting this historic ensemble. Wednesday 29 August 4.30pm Cathie Boyd and the T’ang Quartet Scottish based Theatre Cryptic and the T’ang Quartet from Singapore talk about international collaborations and crossing the traditional boundaries of artforms. Saturday 1 September 4.30pm The Hub Tickets £6 Running times approx 50 minutes

FESTIVAL INSIGHTS

FESTIVAL LECTURES

SHARING THE FESTIVAL

A series of keynote talks by some of the country’s ﬁnest and most inﬂuential writers and thinkers. Marina Warner and Karen Armstrong explore ideas of myth, legend and history found in Festival 2007 whilst Simon Schama will look at the notion of festivals themselves and what they mean to us.

In its ﬁrst year Sharing the Festival begins a process of taking the Festival experience to other areas of Scotland.

Marina Warner Thursday 16 August 2.30pm Karen Armstrong Thursday 23 August 2.30pm Simon Schama Monday 27 August 2.30pm

Friday 10 August Woodend Barn, Banchory Monday 13 August Woodwick House, Evie, Orkney

Benjamin Bagby’s tour de force Beowulf can be seen in the following venues.

Tel 01330 825431 Tel: 01856 751330

The Hub Tickets £8 Running times approx 50 minutes

WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY Discussions exploring the ﬁrst 60 years of the Edinburgh International Festival and looking forward to the future. Ways of Remembering Richard Demarco in discussion with Ruth Wishart. Wednesday 15 August 2.30pm What Really Happened? Sheila Colvin in discussion with Magnus Linklater. Wednesday 22 August 2.30pm The Future The Directors of the International, Tattoo, Fringe, Book and Film festivals discuss the future. Wednesday 29 August 2.30pm The Hub Tickets £2 Running times approx 40 minutes

BEHIND THE SCENES An opportunity to observe how new work is created and developed, this new Festival strand presents work-in-progress from a wide range of artists and companies. Full details will be available in July.

The Festival runs a programme of work creating relationships with young people and adults including the Bank of Scotland Connecting to Music programme which works with over 1000 primary school pupils every year. Projects for secondary schools in 2007 include the Herald Young Critics, a Scottish Ballet outreach programme and a series of theatre workshops in June and August.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT The Edinburgh International Festival offers professional development opportunities through the National Theatre of Scotland Emerging Directors programme.

TRISHA BROWN DANCE COMPANY MASTERCLASSES A wonderful opportunity to work with this superb company. Saturday 26 August, 2.30pm (advanced and intermediate) Masterclass places can be booked through Dancebase for £6. Tel: 031 225 5525.

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL CREATIVE FELLOW Since 2003 the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh has supported and hosted an annual Edinburgh International Festival Creative Fellow. The 2007 Fellow is Sally Hobson, the Festival’s Programme Development Manager.

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INSPIRING FESTIVALS

EDINBURGH INSPIRING FESTIVALS

Over the last 60 years Edinburgh has truly become the world’s Festival City and Scotland’s beautiful capital presents the most talented artists from across the globe for a feast of summer festivals second to none.

Nowhere else in the world can you experience such a diverse and innovative variety of events, and if you are a “Festival Virgin”, nothing can prepare you for the wonderful experiences that you’ll ﬁnd when you get here. Come and join us!

Starbucks Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival 27 July – 5 August Tel: +44 (0)131 467 5200 www.edinburghjazzfestival.co.uk Programme available early June

Edinburgh Art Festival 26 July – 2 September www.edinburghartfestival.org

Edinburgh Military Tattoo 3 – 25 August Tel: +44 (0)8707 555 118 www.edintattoo.co.uk Tickets available now Edinburgh Festival Fringe 5 – 27 August Tel: +44 (0)131 226 0026 Tel: +44 (0)131 226 0000 (box ofﬁce from 11 June) www.edfringe.com Programme available 7 June

Edinburgh International Book Festival 11 – 27 August Tel: +44 (0)131 718 5666 Tel: +44 (0)845 373 5888 www.edbookfest.co.uk Programme available 14 June Edinburgh International Film Festival 15 – 26 August Tel: +44 (0)131 228 4051 (until 12 July) Tel: +44 (0)131 623 8030 www.edﬁlmfest.org.uk (from 13 July) Festival of Politics w/c 20 August Tel: +44(0)131 473 2000 www.festivalofpolitics.co.uk Tickets on sale late June

WHERE TO STAY... VisitScotland: One-stop shop for all your accommodation needs. Tel: 0845 2255 121 (UK) or +44 (0)1506 832 121 (overseas) www.visitscotland.com Festival Beds: Accommodation in private homes in the city and surrounding area. Tel: +44 (0)131 225 1101 or admin@festivalbeds.co.uk

Festival of Spirituality and Peace 5 – 26 August www.festivalofspirituality.org.uk Edinburgh Mela 1 – 2 September Tel: +44 (0)131 557 1400 www.edinburgh-mela.co.uk

GETTING HERE... Edinburgh Airport +44 (0)870 040 0007 www.edinburghairport.com National Rail Enquiries +44(0)20 7278 5240 (overseas) www.nationalrail.co.uk +44(0)8457 484950 (UK) Lothian Buses +44 (0)131 555 6363 www.lothianbuses.co.uk

National Galleries of Scotland Tel: +44 (0)131 624 6200 www.nationalgalleries.org

Traveline +44 (0)870 608 2608 www.travelinescotand.com

Edinburgh Gallery Guide Tel: +44 (0)131 346 8851 www.edinburgh-galleries.co.uk

First ScotRail +44 (0)8457 55 00 33 www.ﬁrstscotrail.com

ONCE YOU’RE HERE... Edinburgh Festivals Daily Guide Free ofﬁcial daily listings magazine, produced in association with The Guardian, includes every event across all the summer festivals. The Ofﬁcial Edinburgh Festivals Map Pick up a copy to help you get around all the summer festivals. Available at most venues around town. www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk Keep up to date with news and events across all the festivals. In association with Scotsman.com.

BOOKING INFORMATION

BR OU GH

H OW

N TO

The Edinburgh Playhouse

E ST Tattoo Office

N The Hub, Edinburgh Festival Centre

EE T

CHA

ERS

Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street

The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street

Usher Hall, Lothian Road

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street

NIC SO

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

EE T

T REE

ST R

Greyfriars Kirk

TR E NS

LAURISTON PL ACE

King’s Theatre, Leven Street

DRIV

F I E L D P L AC E

Book Festival, Charlotte Square Gardens A2 B4

Tourist Ofﬁce Tourist Information Centre, Princes Street

Greyfriars Kirk

TICKET SALES AT VENUES www.eif.co.uk

You can avoid the queues and book 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.eif.co.uk. When you book online you can pick the speciﬁc seats that suit you, and for as many performances as you like in one transaction. TELEPHONE: OVERSEAS: FAX: POST/IN PERSON:

ILLE

HOW TO BOOK: BOOK ONLINE:

Festival Fringe Box Ofﬁce

THE MEADOWS

MELV

The Queen’s Hall King’s Theatre

BRU N TS

Tattoo Ofﬁce

Festival of Politics, Scottish Parliament

K ER

PL A

Film Festival Box Ofﬁce

ORE

Jazz Festival Box Ofﬁce

The Ross Theatre, Princes Street Gardens B3

GILM

Other Festivals

The Hub, Edinburgh Festival Centre, Royal Mile

The Edinburgh Playhouse, Greenside Place E1 PL E A S A N

Festival of Politics

ILE AL M Festival R OY Fringe Box Office

RID

ROAD

Royal Lyceum Theatre

ST R

IV B

EDINBURGH CASTLE

Usher Hall

Film Festival Box Office

RGE

N LOTHIA

GEO

PRINCESS STREET GARDENS

KE T

MAR

RIDG

C The Ross Theatre

Y ERLE WAV IDGE BR

EET

MO U

PRIN

TR ES S

THE

Book Festival

RGE

Tourist Information Centre

ET TRE

TH B NOR

GEO

ET TRE

EET

EN S

CALTON HILL

ST R

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RO IOT

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0131 473 2000 +44 131 473 2000 0131 473 2003 Hub Tickets, The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NE

During the Festival, tickets are also available throughout the day to personal callers at all Festival venues except King’s Theatre and Greyfriars Kirk. Any unsold tickets go on sale at those venues an hour before the performance.

TICKET COLLECTION If you do not ask for your tickets to be posted to you, or if you book too close to the performance date, you can collect them from the venue from one hour before the performance starts. Prior to that, they will be held for you at Hub Tickets until lunchtime on the day of the performance, or the evening before for morning or afternoon events.

IMPORTANT BOOKING DATES:

Tickets for Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert

Wednesday 28 March

Ross Theatre tickets (£25) go on sale with all other Festival tickets.

Postal, fax and online priority booking for Festival Patrons and Muses. Saturday 14 April Telephone, postal, in person, fax and online booking opens to the general public.

HUB TICKETS OPENING HOURS: Saturday 14 April – Friday 27 July Monday to Saturday 10.00am – 5.00pm Saturday 28 July – Saturday 1 September Monday to Saturday 9.00am - 7.30pm Sunday 10.00am - 7.30pm Sunday 2 September 1.00pm – 6.00pm

Princes Street Garden tickets (£10) are allocated in three ways: 1) By postal ballot, limited to six per customer. Please send separate payment and application with SAE. Closing date for the ballot is Monday 21 May 2007. 2) Online – an allocation will be released for sale from 11.00am on Monday 23 July at www.eif.co.uk. These are limited to four per customer. 3) The ﬁnal allocation will go on sale on Sunday 26 August at 10.00am only from the counter at The Hub. These are limited to four per customer.

DISCOUNTS & ACCESS

Edinburgh International Festival

TICKET DISCOUNTS:

eif.co.uk

50% discount on selected performances from 14 April for all young people under the age of 18 and students in full time education.

Young People – Half Price from Saturday 14 April

Standby – Half Price from Wednesday 1 August 50% discount for senior citizens, unemployed people, Young Scot, Equity and MU card holders in addition to all young people as above, for selected performances, from 1 August. Youth Tickets £6 Youth Tickets for selected performances on the day of performance only. Available to all people aged 26 and under. Proof of age required. Monteverdi Madrigals series offer Book for all 5 concerts in the Monteverdi Madrigals series and get 1 completely free. Tickets must be booked at the same time. This offer cannot be combined with any other discount. Harmony and Humanity offer Book for 5 concerts in the Harmony and the Humanity Spirit series and get 1 completely free. Tickets must be booked at the same time. This offer cannot be combined with any other discount.

ACCESS INFORMATION AND DISCOUNTS The Edinburgh International Festival welcomes disabled visitors and we are happy to help plan your Festival experience and make booking tickets as simple and easy as possible. An Access Guide with full details of all facilities for disabled visitors is also on offer and both the guide and this brochure are available in braille, audio tape and large print formats. Wheelchair users, people with severe mobility difﬁculties, or with visual or hearing impairment and a companion will be sold seats/spaces at £10 in the area of the venue most appropriate to their needs (dress circle normally excluded). To take up an access discount or for information or advice on any aspect of your Festival experience call the access phone line +44 (0)131 473 2089 or email access@eif.co.uk. BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETED PERFORMANCES The Bacchae Friday 17 August 8.00pm Mabou Mines DollHouse Thursday 31 August 7.30pm

AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCES L’Orfeo Tuesday 14 August 7.15pm

Group Bookings (Tel: +44 (0)131 473 2089)

The Bacchae Saturday 18 August 8.00pm

We welcome groups to any of our performances subject to availability. If you would like to bring a group to a Festival performance please contact our dedicated Groups Staff on 0131 473 2089 or email groupbookings@eif.co.uk. We will try to allocate seats suitable to your party’s needs.

Mabou Mines DollHouse Monday 27 August 8.00pm

10% ticket discount for groups of 10 or more on selected performances (call the groups line for information) 10% discount on coach hire for EIF Group Bookers* AAA Coaches Ltd (Edinburgh and Lothians) Tel: +44 (0)1506 883000 or email info@aaacoaches.co.uk Redwing Coaches (UK) Tel: +44 (0)20 7733 1124 or email redwingsales@redwing-coaches.co.uk *quote “EIF” when booking to claim 10% discount

Capriccio Saturday 1 September 7.15pm

PERFORMANCES WITH ENGLISH SUPERTITLES L’Orfeo Saturday 11, Monday 13 & Tuesday 14 August 7.15pm Poppea Saturday 11 – Monday 13 August 7.30pm Capriccio Tuesday 28, Thursday 30 August and Saturday 1 September 7.15pm

TICKET PRICES

BANK OF SCOTLAND QUEEN’S HALL SERIES

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE

Centre stalls £25.50 Rear stalls £22.50 Side stalls £18.50, £15 Centre gallery £23.50 Side gallery £19 Limited view seats £9† No view £6†

Poppea, La Didone Grand circle £30, £25†, £20†, £15† Stalls £30, £25, £20† Upper circle £20, £15†, £10†

THE HUB (Unreserved)

Orpheus X, Optical Identity

Birthday Discussions All seats £2 Conversations with Artists All seats £6 The Festival Lectures All seats £8 Beowulf All seats £17

Grand circle £25, £21, £15† Stalls £25, £21, £15† Upper circle £18, £15†, £10† USHER HALL

GREYFRIARS KIRK Monteverdi’s Madrigals, Harmony and Humanity All seats £17

Opening Concert Candide Circle £45, £40 Stalls £45, £38, £32 Upper circle £20, £17.50, £15, £12.50, £10

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE L’Orfeo, Capriccio Circle £60, £55, £40, £10† Centre stalls £56, £50 Front/side stalls £40, £25* Rear stalls £36*, £25* Upper circle £40, £35, £27.50, £12.50, £10†

Orchestral Concerts/Opera in Concert Circle £37, £31 Stalls £37, £31, £26, £23 Upper circle £18.50, £16, £12.50, £10, £8 Organ gallery £10 (nb not available on 12, 20, 23, 26 August and 1 September)

Impressing the Czar Circle £40, £34, £22†, £10† Centre stalls £35, £30, £20 Front/side stalls £20, £15 Rear stalls £20, £15 Upper circle £25, £17, £10, £9.50

Alfred Brendel, Monteverdi Vespers of [1610], Dame Evelyn Glennie

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

Circle £28, £23, Stalls £28, £23, £19, £16 Upper circle £15.50, £13, £11, £9, £8 Organ gallery £8

On Danƒe, Trisha Brown Dance Company Circle £28, £23, £18, £12 Stalls £25, £20, £15, £12, £9, £8

The Tiger Lillies All seats £17

Scottish Ballet Circle £40, £35, £28, £22 Stalls £35, £29, £21, £15, £10, £8 Balcony £20, £12, £8 KING’S THEATRE The Bacchae Grand circle £30, £25, £10† Stalls £30, £25, £20 Upper circle £10, £8 Mabou Mines DollHouse Grand circle £25, £23, £17.50 Stalls £24, £20, £12, £10

BANK OF SCOTLAND FIREWORKS CONCERT Ross Theatre seated £25 Princes Street Gardens standing £10 N.B. Special booking arrangements, see p34.

† *

60 seats or fewer, give an alternative where possible. Supertitles not visible from these seats

No Booking Fee Please note the Edinburgh International Festival does not charge a booking fee. A charge will be made for posting out tickets – 60p per booking.

DIARY WEEK FESTIVAL 2007

August VENUES 10 Friday

Saturday 11 August

BANK OF SCOTLAND QUEEN’S HALL SERIES

11.00am Hebrides Ensemble, Jane Irwin (p38)

Sunday 12 August

13 Monday August

Tuesday 14 August

15 Wednesday August

11.00am Jordi Savall (p38)

11.00am Mark Padmore, Walking to Lübeck (p39)

11.00am Nachtmusique (p39) Mozart and Haydn

Clerk Street R WS T H WC C

THE HUB

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Dominique Hervieu (p48)

Castlehill P L LF WS T H WC C

2.30pm Happy 60th Birthday: Ways of Remembering (p48)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Dominique Hervieu (p48)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras (p48)

GREYFRIARS KIRK Greyfriars Place P L WS WC

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE Nicolson Street L R LF WS H T WC C

KING’S THEATRE Leven Street R WS H WC

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street ??? P L LF WS T H WC C

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE Greenside Place R WS H WC C

THE USHER HALL Lothian Road ?????? P R WS T WC C

ACCESS FACILITIES KEY:

8.00pm The Opening Concert: Candide (p3) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Robert Spano Conductor Sponsor Scottish & Newcastle plc

6.00pm Monteverdi’s Madrigals: Book 6 (p35) Concerto Italiano Supported by The Italian Cultural Institute

6.00pm Monteverdi’s Madrigals: Books 1-3 (p35) Concerto Italiano Supported by The Italian Cultural Institute

6.00pm Monteverdi’s Madrigals: Books 4 and 5 (p35) Concerto Italiano Supported by The Italian Cultural Institute

7.15pm L’Orfeo (p4) Jordi Savall Conductor Sponsor Lloyds TSB Scotland

7.30pm The Bacchae (p18) National Theatre of Scotland

8.00pm Chamber Orchestra of Europe (p28) Thomas Adès Conductor Toby Spence Tenor Supported by the Léan Scully EIF Fund

8.00pm Alfred Brendel (p28) Supported by Dunard Fund

7.30pm Poppea (p20) Vienna Schauspielhaus

7.30pm On Danƒe (p10) Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu Sponsor Standard Life

8.00pm Royal Scottish National Orchestra (p27) Neeme Järvi Conductor

7.00pm Orlando furioso (p6) Scottish Chamber Orchestra Jean-Christophe Spinosi Conductor

8.00pm Chamber Orchestra of Europe (p27) Thomas Adès Conductor Anthony Marwood Violin Supported by the Léan Scully EIF Fund

Designated Parking

Level Access

Ramped Access

LF Lift

WS Wheelchair Spaces in Auditorium

DIARY WEEK FESTIVAL 2007 Thursday 16 August

Friday 17 August

18 Saturday August

11.00am Nachtmusique (p39) Rossini, Krommer, Mozart

11.00am Montserrat Figueras, Arianna Savall, Hesperion XXI Jordi Savall (p40)

11.00am Olli Mustonen (p40)

2.30pm Festival Lecture: Marina Warner (p48)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra (p48)

7.30pm Beowulf (p26) Benjamin Bagby

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Alan Cumming, David Greig and John Tiffany (p48) 6.00pm Monteverdi’s Madrigals: Book 7 (p35) Concerto Italiano Supported by The Italian Cultural Institute

8.00pm Monteverdi Vespers [1610] (p28) Hespèrion XXI Jordi Savall Conductor Supported by The Consulate General of Spain

Induction Loop

7.30pm Beowulf (p26) Benjamin Bagby

8.00pm Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (p28) Gustavo Dudamel Conductor Sponsor LogicaCMG

Tuesday 21 August

VENUES

11.00am Kate Royal, Christine Rice, Roger Vignoles (p41)

11.00am Tokyo String Quartet (p41)

BANK OF SCOTLAND QUEEN’S HALL SERIES

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: The Wooster Group (p48)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Benjamin Bagby (p48)

6.00pm Anonymous 4 (p36) Music from Eleventh Century Provence Supported by The Director’s Circle

6.00pm Monteverdi’s Madrigals: Book 8 Madrigals of Love and War (p35) Concerto Italiano Supported by The Italian Cultural Institute

7.30pm The Bacchae (p18) National Theatre of Scotland

20Monday August

Clerk Street R WS T H WC C

THE HUB Castlehill P L LF WS T H WC C

7.30pm Beowulf (p26) Benjamin Bagby

6.00pm The Orlando Consort (p36) Josquin Desprez

GREYFRIARS KIRK Greyfriars Place P L WS WC

Supported by The Director’s Circle

9.00pm Anonymous 4 (p36) A Ladymass Supported by The Director’s Circle

7.30pm Impressing the Czar (p12) Royal Ballet of Flanders

7.30pm The Bacchae (p18) National Theatre of Scotland

Sunday 19 August

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE

7.30pm Impressing the Czar (p12) Royal Ballet of Flanders

Nicolson Street L R LF WS H T WC C

KING’S THEATRE

7.30pm The Bacchae (p18) National Theatre of Scotland

Leven Street R WS H WC

7.30pm La Didone (p21) The Wooster Group

7.30pm Scottish Ballet (p14) Scottish Ballet Orchestra Sponsor First ScotRail

4.00pm Scottish Ballet (p14) Scottish Ballet Orchestra Sponsor First ScotRail

8.00pm Dame Evelyn Glennie (p28)

Infra Red System

WC Accessible Toilets

7.30pm La Didone (p21) The Wooster Group

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street ??? P L LF WS T H WC C

7.30pm Scottish Ballet (p14) Scottish Ballet Orchestra Sponsor First ScotRail

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

7.30pm The Creation (p30) Scottish Chamber Orchestra Sir Roger Norrington Conductor Supported by MacDonald Orr

THE USHER HALL

Accessible Catering/Bar

Greenside Place R WS H WC C

Lothian Road ?????? P R WS T WC C

DIARY WEEK FESTIVAL 2007

VENUES

22Wednesday August 23Thursday August

BANK OF SCOTLAND QUEEN’S HALL SERIES

11.00am Silvana Dussmann, Charles Spencer (p41)

11.00am Christoph Prégardien, Michael Gees (p42)

11.00am Yuri Bashmet, Oleg Maisenberg (p43)

11.00am Fretwork, Susan Bickley (p43)

2.30pm

2.30pm Festival Lecture: Karen Armstrong (p48)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: The Tiger Lillies (p48)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Chiara Banchini and Nicholas McGegan (p48)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Maude Mitchell (p48)

2.30pm Festival Lecture: Simon Schama (p48)

7.30pm Mabou Mines DollHouse (p22)

7.30pm Orpheus X (p24) American Repertory Theatre Sponsor Lloyds TSB Scotland

7.30pm Trisha Brown Dance Company (p16) Sponsor Lloyds TSB Scotland

8.00pm Stabat Mater (p30) Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chiara Banchini Director/Violin Andreas Scholl Countertenor

8.00pm The Tiger Lillies - A Tribute (of sorts) to Monteverdi (p31) Concerto Caledonia

8.00pm Dido and Aeneas Prima la musica, poi le parole (p7) Scottish Chamber Orchestra Nicholas McGegan Conductor

Clerk Street R WS T H WC C

THE HUB Castlehill P L LF WS T H WC C

Happy 60th Birthday: What Really Happened? (p48)

4.30pm

Conversations with Artists: Paul Hillier (p48)

7.30pm

Beowulf (p26) Benjamin Bagby

GREYFRIARS KIRK Greyfriars Place P L WS WC

6.00pm The Orlando Consort (p37) Machaut and Dufay Supported by The Director’s Circle

24Friday August

25Saturday August

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Trisha Brown Dance Company (p48) 6.00pm Theatre of Voices, Phantasm (p37) Byrd Masses Supported by The Director’s Circle

26Sunday August

Monday 27 August 11.00am Chiara Banchini, Ensemble 415 (p44)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Katrina Brown and Richard Wright (p48)

6.00pm Theatre of Voices, Ars Nova (p37) John Taverner Supported by The Director’s Circle

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE Nicolson Street L R LF WS H T WC C

KING’S THEATRE

7.30pm Mabou Mines DollHouse (p22)

Leven Street R WS H WC

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street ??? P L LF WS T H WC C

7.30pm La Didone (p21) The Wooster Group

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE Greenside Place R WS H WC C

THE USHER HALL

8.00pm Orpheus Oedipus Rex (p7) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Ilan Volkov Conductor Supported by The Stevenston Charitable Trust

Lothian Road ?????? P R WS T WC C

ACCESS FACILITIES KEY:

Designated Parking

Level Access

Ramped Access

LF Lift

8.00pm Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (p31) Strauss, Sibelius Mariss Jansons Conductor Supported by the EIF Patrons and Muses

WS Wheelchair Spaces in Auditorium

DIARY WEEK FESTIVAL 2007 Tuesday 28August

29Wednesday August 30Thursday August

31 Friday August

Sunday 01 Saturday September 02 September VENUES

11.00am Christine Brewer, Roger Vignoles (p44)

11.00am La Venexiana (p44)

11.00am John Williams (p45)

11.00am David Pyatt, Leon McCawley (p45)

11.00am Gidon Kremer, Members of the Kremeratini Quartet (p45)

4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Cathie Boyd and the T’ang Quartet (p48)

2.30pm Happy 60th Birthday: The Future (p48) 4.30pm Conversations with Artists: Markus Stenz (p48)

6.00pm La Venexiana (p37) Gesualdo Tenebrae Responses Supported by The Director’s Circle

6.00pm Huelgas Ensemble (p37) Orlande de Lassus Supported by The Director’s Circle

6.00pm The Tallis Scholars (p37) Giovanni Palestrina Supported by The Director’s Circle

6.00pm The Tallis Scholars (p37) Spanish Golden Age Supported by The Director’s Circle

7.15pm Capriccio (p8) Cologne Opera Made possible by Dunard Fund

6.00pm Cantus Cölln (p37) Bach Motets Supported by The Director’s Circle

7.15pm Capriccio (p8) Cologne Opera Made possible by Dunard Fund

7.30pm Mabou Mines DollHouse (p22)

7.30pm Orpheus X (p24) American Repertory Theatre Sponsor Lloyds TSB Scotland

8.00pm Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (p32) Beethoven, Debussy, Shostakovich Mariss Jansons Conductor Supported by the EIF Patrons and Muses

8.00pm San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (p32) Michael Tilson Thomas Conductor Yeﬁm Bronfman Piano Sponsor IBM

Induction Loop

8.00pm San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (p33) Michael Tilson Thomas Conductor Deborah Voigt Soprano Sponsor Mactaggart & Mickel Ltd

Infra Red System

7.30pm Optical Identity (p26) Theatre Cryptic, T’ang Quartet

8.00pm Gürzenich Orchestra (p33) Markus Stenz Conductor Supported by Dunard Fund

8.00pm A Celebration of Francis Poulenc (p34) Stéphane Denève Conductor Dame Gillian Weir Organ Christine Brewer Soprano

WC Accessible Toilets

Accessible Catering/Bar

9.00pm Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert (p34) Scottish Chamber Orchestra Clark Rundell Conductor

PRINCES STREET GARDENS L WS WC

SPECIAL NOTE Visual Arts – Jardins Publics (p46) will be on every day throughout the Festival

eif.co.uk 0131 473 2000

Design: The Leith Agency ÂŠ 2007 leith.co.uk Print: Target Direct Print

FESTIVAL 07

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL