Haute Culture Magazine by Isabel Vergara

C H 03019 176

JAN 2015

H AU T E CULT UR E

JAN 2015

THEATRE

8 London Theatre 9 Bush Theatre 10 Judi Dench 12 Oliver Awards

COVER

Misty Copeland Soloist of American Ballet Makeup by Under Armour Clothes by Under Armour Picture by Little Shao for Under Armour More on INSTAGRAM @littleshao X @mistyonpointe www.facebook.com/littleshaophotographer

Haute Culture Magazine 4C Downtown Clever London EC-29033

15 National Youth Theatre Awards

BALLET

18 ยกLest We Forget! 19 Teresa Reichlenz 20 Misty Copeland 26 The Royal Ballet 27 Why a ballet dancer never gets dizzy

Editorial: 019839439393 Advertising: C8399020/389X940 PUBLISHER Galezo C. EDITOR Salazar V. CONTRIBUTORS Royal Opera House The Metropolitan Opera Under Armour London Theatre Art Daily London Opera News National Ballet Canada Published by Haute Culture 2015 www.hcmagazine.com

MUSIC

30 Van Kuijk 32 Concept Almbun 36 Patricia Kopatchinskaja 38 Classical Season 2015/16 41 Festival AIX

Origins Dear Customer,

e are pleased to be your choice to be in about Haute Culture, this magazine will be your guide in all kinds of events, celebrities, and relevant information retaliated with the main themes of this magazine. The purpose of Haute Culture is to attract all kinds of community with an interests in arts that are being neglected lately. No matter your age or profession if you feel called by any of these you will always find a place in our magazine. We hope you enjoy every single article of all of our publications, and be useful to you. Thank you, The founders, Galezo C & Salazar V.

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LONDON THEATRE GYPSY

TWITS What’s it all about?

What’s it all about?

Think of the two most repulsive people you can – Katie Hopkins and John McCririck, am I right? – now treble their vileness. These are The Twits, a horrendous husband and wife who spend life tormenting each other.But here the creations of Roald Dahl have been morphed by playwright Enda Walsh. They’re still as hideous a proposition as marmite-flavoured ice-cream, but now they’ve stolen a fairground and have tricked its previous owners into becoming ‘long-term guests’ at Chez Twit, giving them a greater pool of torture subjects than each other and their enslaved monkeys.

Two women. One, a persistently strong-minded woman determined for success. The other, a consistently strong performer who’s already had her fair share of it. The first, Momma Rose, finds herself at the heart of this rarely performed piece with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. A furiously driven mother, she is determined for her children to make it in the world of vaudeville and leads them on a journey across America in an attempt to fulfil that destiny.The second is the astonishing Olivier Award-winning leading lady who brings her critically acclaimed performance as the brash overbearing matriarch, first seen at Chichester Festival Theatre last autumn.

Gypsy has opened and has extended to 28th November 2015!

Who’s in it?

The always brilliant Jason Watkins and Monica Dolan are horrible as the shower-dodging central pairing; Watkins looking a little like Antony Worrall Thompson after a wilderness away day gone wrong and Dolan sporting teeth last seen on the Grand National winner. I obviously mean horrible as a compliment.

Who’s in it?

Imelda Staunton is pretty darn good in the role of Momma Rose, the epitome of a pushy parent. Her ruthless determination to turn her daughters into stars mixed with her comic interfering in the various vaudeville acts she conjures for them is pure.

What should I look out for?

Staunton. You’ll find her in a thesaurus under the word ‘Superb’.

In a nutshell?

This is Imelda Staunton at her best. Which is saying something! The Olivier Award-winning actress shines in this triumphant production of the Laurents, the first in the capital for more than 40 years.

John Tiffany directs a of Roald Dahl’s The Twits

The gruesomely pleasing climax to the show that finishes the Twits’ story in a suitably flamboyant and disturbing fashion. The least festive depiction of you’re ever likely to see.

In a nutshell?

Just when you think Roald Dahl can’t get any darker and stormy in his drama, the Royal Court proves anything’s possible.

BUSH THEATRE

“We seek new plays which reflect the vibrancy of British culture now”

he Bush Theatre is a world-famous home for new plays and an internationally renowned champion of playwrights. It discover, nurture and produce the best new playwrights from the widest range of backgrounds, and present our work to the highest possible standards. In the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard the Bush Theatre will be bubbling over with new work this summer and autumn as it brings two world premieres and one European premiere to its west London Theatre backstage.

Tanya Ronder’s F*ck The Polar Bears and Tom Holloway’s Forget Me Not are to join the previously announced The Invisible, by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, in the theatre’s line-up. New writing festival RADAR is also set to return to the Shepherd’s Bush venue. Ronder’s F*ck The Polar Bears (11 September to 24 October), which was commissioned by the Bush, is billed as a funny and surreal family drama. It follows hard-working Gordon, who’s on the verge of a major promotion at a large energy company, and his hard-working wife who dreams of the perfect life. But in their home bulbs keep

blowing, drains keep blocking and phones won’t charge. Is the life they want worth the cost? Forget Me Not, which runs from 8 December and is presented in association with HighTide Festival Theatre, delves into the story of the child migrants sent from Britain to Australia 1945 and 1968 who were promised better lives but received. The pair of premieres follows Lenkiewicz’s The Invisible, which runs from 3 July, into the Bush. The legal aid drama explores the effect of the government cutting £350 million of legal aid, and is built upon testimonies from real people across all levels of the British justice system.

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udi Dench is not about to put the brakes on a remarkable career that has already spanned nearly six decades. But the 80-year-old wouldn’t mind shaving off a few of those years. In an interview in HC’s new issue, she shares some candid thoughts about best her time in her life.

and also try and do new things. I believe in that tremendously. But in our job, that’s what we have to do all the time.” Dench, whose partner David Mills joined her at the London premiere of the film, has played queens Victoria and Elizabeth I (for which she won her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1999) in her varied career. And she met up with real royals Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cambridge, at the London premiere last month.

“There’s nothing good about being my age,” she says with a smile. “Someone said to me, ‘You have such a wealth of knowledge,’ and I just said ‘I’d rather be young and know nothing, actually.’ “I find [the royals] utterly charming, Bugger the wealth of knowledge.” doing an unenviable job,” Dench says. “We can all think ‘I’ve got to work very Dench’s latest movie, The Second Best hard for the next four days or whateExotic Marigold Hotel, puts her back on ver, and have a couple of days off,’ but screen with an ensemble including her theirs is day after day after day and friend and fellow dame, Maggie Smith, forever being in the public eye.”

and other longtime pals Bill Nighy and Celia Imrie and others. She adds: “It’s lovely what those boys

are doing – Harry with his march to

Joining them for the sequel to the sucthe Arctic with the wounded and the cessfult movie is Richard Gere. [Invictus] Games, and Prince Wi-

The movie is very much a celebration of lliam doing more and more. age. And the Oscar winner doesn’t want When she was made a dame by Queen to hear about retiring either. Elizabeth II in 1988, she was directing “I don’t think about slowing down,” young Kenneth Branagh in Much Ado says Dench, whose husband, actor Mi- About Nothing. And she had a surprise chael Williams, passed away in 2001. for costar Richard Clifford, and normally “So celebrate the things that you can do wore what she calls a “badge of office.”

“I said ‘That won’t do, I’ve got something better,’ “ she says, chuckling as

she explains that she she pinned her dame medal on him. “So for one night, there it was with the others, a little badge. He wore it for that one night, in amongst others!”

She has been a big star for decades and is accustomed to being the main female lead in movies. Surprisingly, the multiple Oscar nominee finds herself “starstruck” when on the red carpet.

“I DONT think about SLOWING DOWN”

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OLIVER AWARDS 2015

he Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard took place on Sunday 12 April, as the illustrious event once again returned to the stunning surroundings of Covent Garden’s iconic Royal Opera House for an incredible evening of celebration, award-giving and unbelievable live performances. This year comedian, presenter and acclaimed, award-winning actor Lenny Henry hosted.

Angela Lansbury and Ivo Van Hove

2015’s incredible line-up of winners included Mark Strong, Penelope Wilton, and Angela Lansbury, director Ivo Van Hove and musical legend Ray Davies. Guests on the night included award presenters Judi Dench, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dianna Agron, Anne-Marie Duff, Emilia Fox, David Harewood and Lorna Luft, who were treated to an incredible array of performances from some of this year’s nominated shows including all the MasterCard Best New Musical and Magic Radio Best Musical Revival.

Beverley Knight and Kevin Spacey performance

Beverley Knight and Katie Brayben performed numbers from Memphis The Musical and Beautiful – The Carole King Musical respectively, Cats’ Nicole Scherzinger wowed singing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic track Memory, while Here Lies Love’s Natalie Mendoza performed alongside the show’s composer David Byrne and there was an incredible surprise finale sung by Kevin Spacey and Knight. In Covent Garden Piazza, double Olivier Award nominee Michael Xavier and ITV This Morning’s Alison Hammond hosted a fantastic evening of entertainment on the ITV stage. This Morning Audience Award nominees Billy Elliot The Musical, Jersey Boys, Matilda The Musical and Wicked performed alongside Avenue Q , Beyond Bollywood, Sadler’s Wells’ Breakin’ Convention and the West End Gospel Choir. The ITV Stage once again featured a live stream of the ceremony, making it the only place theatre fans outside the Royal Opera House could watch a amazing live.

Kevin Spacey and Judi Dench take a selfie backstage

This year the awards partnered with ITV’s This Morning to present the only award voted for by the general public, the This Morning Audience Award. Wicked triumphed to take home the accolade.

NATIONAL YOUTH THEATRE AWARDS

The Western regional ceremony of the National Youth Theatre Awards takes place this Sun, Aug 21, at the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix. Participating theaters include several who are also eligible for AriZoni Awards, as well as some who don’t participate in the AriZonis — including Valley Youth Theatre of Phoenix. Valley Youth Theatre is nominated in several categories, including outstanding production (“Grease”) and outstanding ensemble (“Alice in Wonderland” and “Grease”). I’m partial to the ensemble category because I’m big on recognizing the collective work of youth, and felt proud last year when my daughter Lizabeth was part of the cast honored for their performance of “The Laramie Project” with Greasepaint Youtheatre. In addition to VYT, ensemble nominees this year are Starlight Community Theatre, Desert Stages Theatre, East Valley Children’s Theatre, Actor’s Youth Theatre, Creative Stages Youth Theatre, Desert Foothills Theater, Spotlight Youth Theatre and Greasepaint Youtheatre. (Musical Theatre of Anthem is an outstanding ensemble nominee in the junior Also Mesa High School (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”) and Xavier/Brophy Theatre (“Fiddler on the Roof”). Mesa High School is also nominated for outstanding set design (also for “Joseph”) and Xavier/Brophy for outstanding lead actor in a musical. Other Valley schools nominated for a 20102011 National Youth Theatre Award are Horizon High School and Sandra Day O’Connor High School. Schools and theater companies from other Western states, including Arkansas, Colorado and Texas, are nominated for awwards as well for this great perfomance.

alice in wonderland by the western youth theatre company, detroit 2014.

The awarding organization recently changed its name and focus — from National Youth Theatre Awards to National Youth Arts — and reports plans to honor youth music, dance, film and writing as well. The Western regional ceremony this weekend will also honor achievements in outstanding youth orchestra and youth choral performance. Valley Youth Theatre’s “Most VYTal Event 2015 takes place Sat, Aug 20 at the Herberger Theater Center — making this an especially busy weekend for VYT, which is also performing “Hairspray” at the Herberger Theater Center through Aug 28.

THE new YOUTH THEATRE is A NEW HORIZON FOR THIS MAGNIFICIENT ART

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firebird of william G. by the e.n.b

ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET How do you capture the horrors of the First World War in dance? How do you represent the brutality, the impact of the deaths of over 16 million people, the seismic social shifts that took place as a result of disillusionment in the trenches? Tamara Rojo’s English National Ballet offers an occasionally too elegant but ultimately galvanising response in the form of four pieces created by leading choreographers: Liam Scarlett’s ‘No Man’s Land’, George D-LWillliamson’s ‘Firebird’, Russell Maliphant’s ‘Second Breath’, and Akram Khan’s ‘Dust’.

Now days the English National is giving to the people a great performnace Williamson’s revived ‘Firebird’ moves us musically into the twentieth century: although Stravinsky composed it in 1910 its spirit seems appropriate for the ravages that were to tear the world apart four years later. After the stylishly muted tones of the first piece, David Bamber and George Williamson’s set takes us into and glitter, and mythical universe, though violently primal Maliphant’s ‘Second Breath’ is a further shift abstraction: long term collaborator.

¡LEST WE FORGET!

Scarlett’s ‘No Man’s Land’ begins with thrilling and boldness, but lapses too quickly into a big lyricism.What haunts here is Jon Bausor’s subtly disturbing design: the backdrop is the wall of a munitions factory partly disfigured by a blasted hole, a striking evocation of the violent impact of the work the women perform there. Clad in their dark blue factory uniforms, the women initially strike a muscular pose, feet spread, mouths opened to the skies in silent agony. Bausor and Scarlett were both struck by the discovery that the women who packed explosives into shells were called ‘canaries’, because the chemicals turned their hands yellow. The dancers’ hands are coloured accordingly – which lends an added piquant dimension to the choreography

Andy Cowon’s music reflects both the gruelling sinister aspects of war and the gravitas of its impact. Maliphant has incorporated elements of capoeira and t’ai chi into the movement – the result is both hypnotic and dangerous, the dominant image that of the soldier rising up as if in a dream and then plunging backwards into death. Khan’s ‘Dust’, however, crowns the evening for sheer visceral impact – the first image is that of Khan’s flailing body in front of a bank of dry earth that alludes to the grim finality of the trenches. This is about war’s agony – spiritual, emotional and physical – stridently embodied by a ensemble of dancers whose focused muscular movements and harrowing expressions sum up the emotional void of conflict more potently than any other one who tried to developed in this scene.

T E R E S A j AT k T H E MAD HOT BALLET IN 2013, london

TERESA REICHLEN

A YOUNG BALLERINA LEARNS TO USE HER HEIGHT FOR ADVANTAGE

ABOUT TERESA Teresa Reichlen was born in Clifton, Virginia. She began her dance training at the age of 10 at the Russell School of Ballet with Thomas and Illona Russell, Mary Rogers, and Margaret McGarry. In 1999, Ms. Reichlen studied at the summer program of the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet. She entered SAB full-time in the fall of the same year. In October 2000, Ms. Reichlen became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in October 2001 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet, Reichlen can also be a quietly dominating figure, also quiet and perseverant with his job. She is know as Tess by her family, friends, coreographs and the ballet circle.

Is a rarity at New York City Ballet, though for more than her angelic face, long legs and soaring jump, which manages to spring up and float in the air like silk. What’s unusual about Ms. Reichlen is that in the arduous quest to become a ballerina at a competitive and grueling company like City Ballet, her delicacy hasn’t turned into a disturbing brittleness Her height makes her regal authority all the more apparent. Ms. Reichlen can’t hide. She is tall: 5 foot 9 before rising on point. While such stature does leave her out of the running for certain roles, it can also be an advantage. To enhance her dancing with a touch of rubato — a kind of teasing or playing with the music — she uses her elegant limbs to slow down moments or stretch them out like taffy. Unlike other classical companies, City Ballet traditionally has a fair share of parts for tall women. (Suzanne Farrell, after all, originated many of them.) Since joining

the company Ms. Reichlen has performed Balanchine roles in the repertory that are generally reserved for taller dancers or don’t require partnering: Memorably the statuesque sexpot in the “Rubies” section of “Jewels,” which she will perform Friday and Saturday nights; Dewdrop in “The Nutcracker”; the second female lead in “Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”; and the leader of the big and amazing Wrens in the extraordinary. But she is also easing into pas de deux roles. When the company was in residence at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center last summer, she performed “Stars and Stripes,” opposite both Stephen Hanna and Charles Askegard, and last month she again danced the Sugarplum Fairy in . She began dancing at 3 in her hometown, Clifton, Va., “at a little studio behind a grocery store.” Later, while studying at the Russell School of Ballet in Chantilly, Va, she learned of the City Ballet-affiliated

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The INTERVIEW “Sorry” Misty Copeland breathed out

as she arched backward to rest her head against the prince’s neck. It was soft but audible from the front row of the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, where Copeland and Brooklyn Mack were rehearsing a pas de deux from the second act of Swan Lake.

PERSEVERANCE

On Thursday night, Copeland would go on to make her American debut in the ballet’s demanding dual lead role of Odette, the tragically fated princessturned-swan, and sorceress Odile. Copeland, whose murmured apologies belied her spectacular bourées and fouettés, is the first female African American in two decades to reach the rank of soloist with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. Her performance at the Kennedy Center marks a historic moment, when a dancer from one of the world’s most prestigious companies, performing one of ballet’s greatest oeuvres, can finally be black and dance the crowning role of the pure white. That is why she is so relevant for the new era of Ballet.

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BALLET STAR TALKS OVERCOMING RACISM AND BODY SHAMING ON HER WAY TO THE TOP Q. What’s a word that defines your character? A. Perseverance. Q. Now that you’re an accomplished dancer, does perseverance mean something else to you? What does it look like day-to-day in rehearsal? A. Being a dancer is hard enough—it’s not just difficult because of the adversity that I’ve experienced. Something like 1 percent of dancers who train their whole lives actually get into a company at this level. That takes a lot of perseverance, in terms of hearing the words ‘no,’ auditioning over and over again, putting yourself through extremely grueling physical things. To get the right trainingtakes extreme focus, dedication, sacrifice. Q. Why is that the word that you would pick? A. I haven’t come from the typical path or background of someone who would make it to this level as a ballerina. When it came to my childhood—growing up in a single-parent home, often struggling financially—my mother definitely instilled in me and my siblings this strength, this will, to just continue to survive. Perseverance has always just been something that was in me. And it was a tool that came in very handy as a ballerina. Being one of the few African American women to make it to this level in a classical ballet company, the level of American Ballet Theatre, takes a lot of perseverance. Q. As a child and a younger dancer, what did perseverance look like for you? A. Starting out at the age of 13 years old, taking my first class on a basketball court at the Boys and Girls Club, is not usual. Most dancers usually take up to 15 years to get the right amount of training to make it to a professional level [by 17]. I had to shove all of that into four years before I went on to join American Ballet Theatre in New York City.

Q. Do you think that has influenced the way tha you dance? why? A. It’s absolutely influenced the way I dance. Every time I step onto the stage, it’s not only proving to the audience that I’m capable but to myself. It’s a test—not knowing physically what state you’re going to be in each morning when you wake up or you step onto the stage, and knowing that you have to push your body to that extreme level, no matter how you’re feeling, no matter what condition your body is in. Q. Do you feel like you identify more as an artist or an athlete? And how do those two aspects of dance play off each other for you? A. I’m definitely an artist. I think as a dancer it’s a given, at least for us, that we’re extremely hard-working athletes. But being an artist is so much more. It’s an understanding of telling a story with your body, of becoming an actress on stage, transforming into these ethereal characters that you don’t have experience becoming in your everyday life. It takes a lot of imagination. Q. What do you think has been a key to your big success in your career? A. Belief in myself. And allowing people to come into my life who believe in me and push me on those days that I just don’t have it in me. I do my best not to allow other people’s words and criticism to get to me. That’s been a huge part of me staying on this path and my own journey to success. Q. Do you get any jitters before performance? A. It’s more excitement, anticipation of what’s to come. It’s a strange feeling not knowing how your body is going to react in that moment, so there’s a lot of build-up to performing live.

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THE ROYAL BALLET Four World Premieres headline The Royal Ballet’s 2015/16 season announcement.

new production of Carmen by Carlos costa (though this is a one act ballet programmed alongside Liam Scarlett’s Viscera, Jerome Robbin’s Afternoon of a Faun and George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux), Liam Scarlett’s first full length narrative work for the Company, tackling Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (a co-produciton with San Francisco Ballet) and two one act ballets by Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Daniel Wellenton. Frederick Ashton’s The Two Pigeons will return to the rep in November for the first time in 30 years, placed in a bill that includes Monotones 1 and 11, and again in February with Rhapsody, which is to be restored to its original designs with sets by Ashton and costumes based on William Chappell and Oscar Wilde designs. Kevin O’Hare’s directorship brings a new initiative choreographic opportunities to encourage and nurture talent within the Company and the theatre.

Draft Works, where Royal Ballet dancers create short new works, becomes scattered throughout the year, as the Linbury Studio Theatre closes for refurbishment. Five Royal Ballet School graduates will be offered one year contract’s with the Company under the Aud Jebsen Young Dancer. World Ballet Day returns on Thursday 1st October; in 2014 this broadcast was watched by two million people worldwide and once again we’ll see collaborations with other ballet companies. Kenneth MacMillian’s Romeo & Juliet opens the season, promising Much has been made of the lack of choreographers coming through the schools, especially a number of great performances. the lack of female choreographers, but one of the potential reasons for this situation is that Revivial’s of Wayne McGregor’s women dancers who make it into the Company have a heavy workload and choreography Raven Girl and Kenneth Maccan take a backseat in the early years. It’s not to say that they don’t exist, or aren’t making Millian’s The Invitation also feanew works during their student years; it’s just a very hard balance to maintain if one is also ture. Christopher Wheeldon’s a full-time professional dancer. mixed programme features After This year, Charlotte Edmonds is the recipient of a 12 month stint being mentored by O’Hare The Rain and Within The Golden and Wayne McGregor, where she will shadow the Company and visiting choreographers, Hour, created for New York City and create work. Edmonds is currently studying at the Rambert School of Ballet and Con- Ballet and San Francisco Ballet temporary Dance, though she trained at the Royal Ballet School. As part of Deloitte Ignite and collaborate with the Canada 2014, Edmonds choreographed The Indifferent Beak for The Royal Ballet. Ballet in some scenes. THE INDIFERENT BREAK by the royal ballet in london 2015

WHY A BALLET DANCER NEVER GETS DIZZY Scientists uncover differences in ballerina's brains that mean they can do endless pirouettes

A study has identified important differences in their brain structures that pre- They were asked to turn a handle in vent them feeling dizzy during those time with how quickly they felt like endless spins. they were still spinning after they had stop dancing and doing. It implies that years of training can enable dancers to suppress signals from The researchers also measured eye rethe balance organs in the inner ear, flexes triggered by input from the vestibwhich might otherwise make them fall . ular organs. Later, they examined the participants’ brain structure with MRI scans. The findings, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, could help to improve In dancers, both the eye reflexes and treatment for patients with chronic diz- their perception of spinning lastziness, which affects 1 in 4 Britons at ed a shorter time than in the rowers. some point during their lives. The brain scans revealed differences Normally, the feeling of dizziness stems between the groups in two parts of the from the vestibular organs in the inner. brain: an area in the cerebellum where sensory input from the vestibular orThese fluid-filled chambers sense rotagans is processed and in the cerebral tion of the head through tiny hairs that cortex, which is responsible for the sense the fluid moving. perception of dizziness. The area in After turning around rapidly, the fluid the cerebellum was smaller in dancers. continues to move, which can make you Dr Seemungal thinks this is because feel like you’re still spinning. dancers would be better off not usBallet dancers can perform multiple ing their vestibular systems, relypirouettes with little or no feeling of ing instead on highly co-ordinatdizziness or something worse. ed pre-programmed movements. The findings show that this feat isn’t just down to spotting, a technique dancers use that involves rapidly moving the head to fix their gaze on the same spot as much as possible.

He said: ‘It’s not useful for a ballet dancer to feel dizzy or off balance.

‘Their brains adapt over years of training to suppress that input. Consequently, the signal going to the brain areas reResearchers at Imperial College London sponsible for perception of dizziness recruited 29 female ballet dancers to in the cerebral cortex is reduced, makcompare against 20 women rowers of ing dancers resistant to feeling dizzy. similar age and fitness levels. In chair ‘If we can target that same brain in a dark room.

area or monitor it in patients with chronic dizziness, we can begin to understand how to treat them better.’

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The VAN KUIJ QUARTET IN THE AIX FESTIVAL 2014

VAN KUIJK T

he Van Kuijk Quartet have beaten 10 other ensembles to take top prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. They are the first French group to win the prestigious triennial competition since 1997, beating quartets from the UK, US, Europe in general.

The Van Kuijk Quartet was established in 2012 and studied with the Ysaye Quartet at the Paris Conservatoire. Before this competition the quartet had already had a whirlwind career with residencies, competition triumphs, and festival performances held all over Europe and America.

The competition is for young quartets, with players under the age of 35. It has three rounds over five days that cover repertoire from contemporary classical, including a new piece by Mark-Anthony Turnage, right back to Haydn, the father of the modern string quartet. The competition was judged by quartet-veterans including violinist Levon Chilingirian and cellist Valentin Erben, as well as the chairman of the Wigmore Hall, John Gilhooly.

First prize is the grand sum of £10,000, and an array of opportunities and concer, that will no doubt push this quartet’s expertise even further. The star quartet also won the Esterházy award worth an extra £1000 for best Haydn performance. The Piatti and Verona Quartets took joint second prize, with the Aizuri Quartet in third place.

N E E B HAS around

n a h t r e g lon you think

Why Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Green Day owe Beethoven and Monteverdi a huge debt

hristoph Marthaler’s King Size presents a hugely diverse range of songs, from John Dowland and Alban Berg to the Jackson 5. But no matter how different the songs are from each other, they all become part of a continuous whole through the characters’ shared experience. It’s a striking, contemporary take on the German tradition of the Liederabend, or ‘evening of song’, in which music and theatre, classical music and pop all combine. King Size is Marthaler’s answer to a perennial question: how do you give a sense of coherence to a set of independent songs? In other words, how to make a decent concept album. Beethoven wrote An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved) in 1815–16. This set of six songs is different from previous German song collections in that they are all sung by a single protagonist, combining like one long monologue to describe the story of the singer and his absent love. What’s more, the cycle is ‘through-composed’: the songs follow each other without a break. Beethoven’s idea of using a collection of songs to tell a story has been enthusiastically taken up by a myriad of composers and musicians since – perhaps most famously in the song cycles of Schubert (Die schöne Müllerin, and Winterreise) and Schumann (Dichterliebe, and others). In popular music today, concept albums as diverse as Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ and Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ are clear descendants of these earlier works, even if their musical language is very different. Pink Floyd’s famed 1973 album, like Beethoven’s earlier example, is through-composed. But the focus is perhaps broader than in An die ferne Geliebte, or indeed in the Schubert and Schumann cycles: there is not so much the suggestion of a story underlying the songs, but rather a web of recurring themes, in part a reaction to Syd Barrett’s departure from the band five years previously. Like the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, the album is proof that

there are ways to connect albums together beyond a shared That’s not to say that pop albums can’t tell a story – ‘American Idiot’ is a famous recent example, so successful that it was adapted into a musical. But there are scores of variations on the theme, from David Bowie’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ to Janelle Monáe’s ‘Metropolis’ series, which has encompassed all three of her albums to date. Monáe’s dazzling odyssey is the story of a time-travelling android on a mission to liberate a society from an oppressive regime. It is proof that, across musical styles, artists are still finding novel ways to link songs together, even two centuries after Beethoven. But then again, it’s not hard to argue that Beethoven wasn’t the first, after all. Monteverdi’s Fourth Book of Madrigals of 1603, for instance, was brilliantly staged several years ago by I Fagiolini as ‘The Full Monteverdi’, convincingly teasing out the thematic and dramatic connections between the songs. More remarkably still, the 14th-century composer and poet Guillaume de Machaut may well have structured seventeen of his Motets as a cycle, charting a spiritual journey towards unity with Christ. At the very least, we can say for sure that the question of how to organize collections of songs together is a very old one indeed – even if the types of song, and the terms we use to describe them, are changing all time.

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“This is why we have music, because we find a way to explain things you can’t explain in words” The words tumble out with the same impunity as the notes that flow from Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s violin when she plays one of her idiosyncratic improvisations. “People are very focused on perfection and the polished surface,” she says, referring to modern music-educational ideals and performance standards. “They like to see a cake brought to

the stage, all nice and ready-made. I don’t bring a cake. I bring the ingredients and bake it on the stage. We have to take the risk that it will go wrong – we need mistakes because they make us rethink and find new and interestings ways to do it”

Kopatchinskaja, 34, does not make a secret of her disdain for convention. She prefers to play barefoot. She improvises her own stylistically controversial cadenzas (the portion of a concerto where the soloist plays alone in free time). She favours spontaneity – a bewitching quality for those who like their music close-to-the-edge but unsettling for collaborators who favour a more predictable style. Tradition, she says, is a cage. “Sometimes I feel I’ve fallen from the 20th floor and feel totally broken when I see people don’t understand me.”

Did she learn her improvisational skills from her parents?“I’m not typical of any zoological breed,” she replies impishly. “My parents were classically trained but they never played from a score, and I never played folk music. My mother had to write it down so that I could play with them. I don’t say there’s a right way and a wrong way to play music but it’s very right to follow your instinct. That’s something civilisation takes away: ratio the enemy of instinct. This is why we have music, because we find a way to explain things you can’t explain in words.”

When Kopatchinskaja talks about music, intuition and intellect walk hand in hand but when she starts playing, the earth-spirit takes over. She says she takes “great care” to analyse the music she plays but, in the moment of performance, “there is a strength that takes [hold of] me: I don’t know anything any more. It’s not me – it’s my soul in touch with the piece. I feel that, sometimes in classical music, we think it’s a stone monument. I’m not interested in this. I’m interested in the act of creation – I try to create the moment of the premiere.”

But her message is getting through to the top of the music business. This week she won Recording of the Year at the Gramophone awards, the Oscars of the classical record in“My technical machine does not work without imagination. dustry. Her disc of violin concertos by Bartók, Ligeti and Peter I can’t play a scale in tune for you: I need always a pictorial Eötvös eclipsed the claims of better-established artists such imagination. If you ask for a scale to heaven, then I can play as Simon Rattle, András Schiff and Jonas Kaufmann. Her next it. Not many conductors let me play [the way I want to play]. If disc, released next month, features concertos by Prokofiev and you go to the borders, to the edge of something dangerous, you Stravinsky. She will also play the Stravinsky in London with meet resistance. Some orchestras look at me, see that I am the Philharmonia Orchestra. young and don’t take me seriously. I observe the reaction. How And it’s not just the post-romantic repertoire that responds to her quicksilver artistry. When I first heard her in Geneva in May, she brought a similarly unaffected intensity to Mozart’s . The Moldovan violinist’s sudden rise to prominence is an acknowledgment that it is precisely her nonconformity that makes her special. Music-making, she says, “is an experi-

ment. I hope never to become a finished product – even when I lie in my grave. I don’t want to be a Pharisee, I want to stay a heretic. I want to be a student all my life.”

far can they deal with something so unpredictable?”

Just now her favoured collaborators are Philippe Herreweghe’s Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and Vladimir Jurowski’s London Philharmonic, with whom she will be reunited in December for a concert tour of Germany and France. “They are like the best acro-

bats: every time it’s different, it’s developing. I need this quality. I can’t copy something that was done before. ’m not a guide showing the building. I’m rebuilding the building,” she says.

As for the future, Kopatchinskaja seems ambivalent about being swept up in the whirl of international concert-giving. She still enjoys composing but when asked how she finds the time, she replies “I

Kopatchinskaja’s family background helps to explain her defiant attitudes. Born during the Soviet era, she spent much of don’t. I lose the time. I’m never at home. I ask myself every day her childhood with her Romanian-speaking grandparents in if I want this life. At the moment I feel I am needed, to show we the countryside while her folk-musician parents – one a piacan make the next step to a different world, not the reproductive, nist, the other a cimbalom player – toured for a living. Aged six, mechanical routine. Maybe when I’m older I’ll become a monk.” she started violin lessons. When she was 13 the family moved to Vienna to enable her to study music and composition. At 21 Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s new recording of the Prokofiev No 2 and she won a scholarship to study in Bern, Switzerland, where she Stravinsky Violin Concertos will be released next month on the Naïve. now lives with her husband and seven-year-old child.

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CLASSICAL SEASON

2015/

Southbank Centre takes pride in challenging conventions and championing new thinking through its acclaimed festivals and series and the rich variety This season provides a platform for Indian classical musicians who have never travelled outside their own country, the first London performances of Opera North’s ground-breaking Ring cycle, and the greatest international orchestras and artists

Here’s what’s coming up in the season: •Resident Orchestras •The London Philharmonic Orchestra marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death •The Philharmonia Orchestra celebrates its 70th anniversary and the music of Stravinsky •The London Sinfonietta presents a special performance of Stockhausen’s Hymnen •The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment celebrates its 30th anniversary This is the first live performance of Wagner’s complete Ring cycle at Royal Festival Hall. International Orchestra Series, International Piano Series, International Chamber Music Series and more We continue to celebrate important anniversaries with a special concert marking 60 years since Daniel Barenboim first performed on the Royal Festival Hall stage. Full concert details are online on Monday 23 February 2015. The International Chamber Music Series celebrates the work of some fantastic female musicians including violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who takes us into Kurtág’s Kafka-inspired musical maze and explores the emo-

tionally direct music of Galina Ustvolskaya. Full concert details are online on Monday 23 February 2015. A succession of the world’s finest pianists comes to London to perform in the International Piano Series 2015/16 , from venerable maestros such as Maurizio Pollini and Mitsuko Uchida to emerge artists such as Denis Kozhukhin. Full concert details are online on Monday 23 February 2015. In autumn 2015 we are starting the refurbishment of Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery to bring them up to a standard worthy of our artistic ambition. During the refurbishments we are delighted to be taking concerts from our classical season to St John’s Smith Square.

International Orchestra Series 2015/16

Booking for Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles opens at 10am on Monday 26 January 2015. General booking opens at 10am on Monday 16 February 2015. The International Chamber Music Series celebrates the work of some fantastic female musicians including violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who takes us into Kurtág’s Kafka-inspired musical maze and explores the emotionally

The Ring Cycle with Opera North

Booking for the full Ring cycle subscription (tickets for all four operas) for Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles opens at 10am on Monday 26 January 2015. Booking for individual performances for Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles opens at 10am on Monday 2 February 2015. International Organ Series, International Chamber Music Series and International Piano Series Booking for Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles opens at 10am on Monday 23 and in February 2015. Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Priority booking for Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Friends opens at 10am on Monday 26 Jan 2015. General booking opens at 10 on Monday 16 February 2015. London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra Booking for Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles opens at 10am on Monday 2 February 2015. General booking opens at 10 on Monday 16 February 2015. Booking for newly announced events as part of the Classical Guide 2015/16 go on sale to Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles at 10am on Friday 24 April.

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FESTIVAL AIX VIVEZ UNE SOIRÉE D’EXCEPTION AU FESTIVAL

nternational Lyric Festival in Aix-en-Provence was launched in 1948 with Mozart’s “Così Fan Tutte” on a tiny stage in a church courtyard. Now a world-class event—three weeks of operas and concerts concluding this year on July 23, plus an Easter festival and a June prelude—it recently won Best Opera Festival at the International Opera Awards in London. Here are 10 reasons why: Magical venues // These include Episcopal Palace courtyard, Jeu de Paume theater and Silvacane Abbey. Ancient art // Don’t miss Nicolas Froment’s 14th-century triptych “Le Buisson Ardent” in St. Sauveur or Barthelémy d’Eyck’s 15th-century “Annunciation,” currently in St. Esprit. Fountains // Founded near natural hot springs in 124 B.C. by Roman consul Gaius Sextius Calvinus, Aix has over 40 fountains, some fed by the original springs at a constant 34°C. Cours Mirabeau // Lined with plane trees and sidewalk cafes, it’s said to be the most beautiful street in Provence. Architecture // Many of the city’s 17th- and 18th-century mansions feature mascarons, ornamental masks or heads—a probably unintended reminder that pre-Roman Celtic warriors displayed enemies’ severed heads everywhere. Outdoor markets // Whether produce, flowers, artisans, antiques, bric-a-brac or clothing, there’s at least one every day. Modern artists // Cézanne’s house and studio remain as they were when he died in 1906. Outside town, the Mount St. Victoire he incessantly painted was also the home of Picasso, who is buried at the Château de Vauvenargues. Shops // Gems include Rose et Marius for fragrances and candles (8 rue Papassaudi) and Confiserie du Roy René for sweet calissons d’Aix (13 rue Gaston de Saporta). Terrace tables // Have breakfast on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville and lunch at sidewalk spots near the Rotonde fountain. 2014 headliners // Handel’s “Ariodante,” with Sarah Connolly,Patricia Petibon,Sandrine Piau; Rossini’s “Il Turco,” Marc Minkowski; Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” Simon McBurney; and Schubert’s “Winterreise,” by William Kentridge.