Beethoven Unwrapped brochure by Kings Place Music Foundation

BEETHOVEN UNWRAPPED

welcome to

BEETHOVEN UNWRAPPED the PIANO SONATAS 4 the QUARTETS 7 the PIANO TRIOS 8 the STRING TRIOS 10 the VIOLIN SONATAS 12 the CELLO SONATAS 15 works for WINDS 17 the SONGS 18 early ORCHESTRAL music 20 STUDY DAYS programme 21 TALKS plus 24 FILM programme 25 2008 – 2009 Calendar 30

It all started when veteran French pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier said he would like to play all the sonatas in the new hall at Kings Place. If you have to pick one musical figure to focus on over many months, Beethoven seemed to me to be the one: here is a composer who represents the culmination of one great tradition and the revolutionary beginning of another, which is still being played out today. Around this string of fascinating sonatas, we’ve wrapped all the other chamber music, from the earliest piano sonatas to the latest string quartets, plus one concert of orchestral works. I think Hall One at Kings Place will be a perfect venue: it’s intimate, the acoustics and the environment are entirely sympathetic to this repertoire. I’m delighted to welcome the Orion String Quartet from New York to play the string quartets, Christoph Richter the cello sonatas, and that we have an artist of the stature of oboist Maurice Bourgue leading the wind pieces. He is one of a group of soloists coming to Kings Place who bring unique depth and experience to this repertoire: mezzo soprano Ann Murray, joined by Iain Burnside, Peter Cropper, who performs the violin sonatas and trios with Martin Roscoe and Moray Welsh, the Avison Ensemble bringing a programme of early orchestral music and Jean-Bernard Pommier himself.

the Curators and Contributors 32 Tickets and Booking information 36

We hear a very small proportion of Beethoven’s music regularly, and few there are who have an intimate knowledge of all the chamber music. In focusing on a single composer’s output in this way, I’m hoping that the really subtle changes in his evolution as a composer will be revealed. Beethoven’s music has the spiritual depth to transport us, and the intellectual rigour to challenge us still, so I’m particularly pleased that Professor Barry Cooper is leading such a high-level study programme with a host of experts. I hope these days will excite students and stimulate music-lovers alike. The study days also allow us to explore the orchestral, choral and operatic music, as do the Beethoven films from the Louvre Film Festival. These will add a whole new dimension, and an entirely international perspective, featuring legendary conductors and priceless interviews. This series forms the backbone of our opening season at Kings Place. Whether you choose a particular strand to follow through or whether you dip into all of them, happy unwrapping!

Peter Millican

‘HE SET OUT...TO CREATE ART THAT NOT ONLY STRAINED THE CAPACITY OF HUMAN EMOTION, BUT THAT SOMEHOW EXPRESSED THE GREAT FORCES OF THE COSMOS.’ DANIEL PHILLIPS

PIANO SONATAS PERFORMANCES 2008-09

the PIANO SONATAS I have played these sonatas all my life. When I recorded the cycle I did so over a period of ten years: every time I felt ready to embark on the next part, I would do so. As a performer, I was facing the phenomenon of ‘agogy’: I was being shown the way by a leader, and I had to embark on that voyage. The important thing to remember is that these works do not start off in a ‘minor’ way. The first sonatas are by no means small pieces. The Op. 7 especially is of considerable technical difficulty. And, in a sense, the greatest changes occur in the first years, just as we change as people most between the ages of 12 and 22. Between Op. 2 no 3, and Op. 7 in E flat, the change is extraordinary. There is a great evolution in form between the very earliest sonatas and the ninth sonata. Then in Op. 13 we have the ground-breaking Pathétique, and we enter a new world, with fantastic new ideas. When we reach 1799, Beethoven was preoccupied with composing for the orchestra, and we have the lighter works, works written ‘on the side’ of the main stream of his creativity. I think at that point Op. 14 No. 1 in E major stands out, for its Schubertian beauty and calm. In the middle period we start to see Beethoven the great composer of ingenious variations emerging, and the Scherzo, which had been so prominent, disappears. Then he enters the late period, with the Waldstein, Op. 53 – this is the Jupiterian period, the composer is king of his form. When we talk about the meaning of these sonatas, we are speaking about the fundamentals: the meaning of life, shared values, values on which everyone must depend. When we sit together to listen to his music, we are debating what it means to be alive, what it means to be human, the basic philosophical questions of Beethoven’s time that remain with us still. Each time I play these pieces, I discover something new behind the familiar. I do not have favourites, just as if you have children, you must never have favourites. These sonatas are like a family, they all belong together. And they are all needed; they must be rediscovered by each new generation. Jean-Bernard Pommier

PIANO SONATAS MASTERCLASSES 2008-09 Jean-Bernard Pommier’s Masterclasses with conservatoire-level students will take place on the Thursday preceding each Friday concert. Each class will focus on one of the sonatas to be performed in the following day’s recital. Thursdays 7pm Hall Two £7.50 4

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Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Friday 24 October Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1 Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2 No. 2 Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2 No. 3 Sonata No. 4 in E flat major, Op. 7

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Friday 28 November Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op.10 No. 1 Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op.10 No. 2 Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op.10 No. 3 Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op.13, Pathétique

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Friday 30 January 2009 Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1 Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14 No. 1 Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op.14 No. 2 Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49 No. 2 Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Friday 27 February 2009 Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 26 Marche funèbre Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, Op. 27 No. 1 Quasi una fantasia Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 Moonlight Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 Pastorale

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Friday 27 March 2009 Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31 No. 1 Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2 Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31 No. 3 Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 Waldstein

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Friday 24 April 2009 Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54 Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, Appassionata Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major, Op. 78, A Thérèse Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79, A la tedesca Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a, Les Adieux

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Friday 29 May 2009 Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, Hammerklavier

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50 price

Friday 26 June 2009 Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110 Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 Jean-Bernard Pommier piano

THE COMPLETE QUARTETS 2008-09

the QUARTETS As we look back on 20 years of quartet playing, there is no question that some of our most defining and important experiences have been the repeated traversals through the monumental quartets of Beethoven. Exploring the profound depths and heights of this music is a lifelong challenge and inspiration. Performing and recording the complete quartet cycle has shaped our musicality, sound, and technique in a fundamental way which affects how we play all the music we encounter. Beethoven ‘despised a world that did not feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.’ He set out in his composing to create art that not only strained the capacity of human emotion, but that somehow expressed the great forces of the cosmos. Beethoven’s quartets seem to provide an ultimate challenge to the string quartet. Not only is the musical content impossibly ambitious, but they are terribly difficult to play. Schuppanzigh, the violinist who premiered virtually all the quartets, complained that some passages were nearly unplayable. Beethoven retorted, ‘What do I care for your fiddle, when I am writing from inspiration from God?” What can you say to that, but go home and try a hundred fingerings. One of our most important mentors, Sandor Végh, said, that performing and listening to Beethoven strengthens you. I understand this more and more as we continue to grapple with these works. Often, as I turn the pages of my score, my lazy bones groan at the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual hurdles Beethoven is about to put me through. Yet, somehow the music is so absorbing we are compelled to follow it. I suppose this shows the reason every quartet player wants to play the complete Beethoven quartets. It is to us as Mount Everest is to mountain climbers. Todd and Daniel Phillips, Orion String Quartet

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Wednesday 22 October 2008 String Quartet in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3 String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135 String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130 (with Rondo as last movement)

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Thursday 23 October String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2 String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 74 Harp String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1 Razumovsky

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Saturday 25 October String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1 String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 Razumovsky String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Wednesday 28 January 2009 String Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4 String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127 String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3 Razumovsky

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Thursday 29 January String Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5 String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132

Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 £27.50 £34.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Saturday 31 January String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6 String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 Serioso String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 (as last movement) The Orion String Quartet Daniel Phillips violin Todd Phillips violin Steven Tenenbom viola Timothy Eddy cello

BEETHOVEN DESPISED A WORLD THAT DID NOT FEEL THAT ‘MUSIC IS A HIGHER REVELATION THAN ALL WISDOM AND PHILOSOPHY’ DANIEL PHILLIPS 7

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the PIANO TRIOS What a composer chooses to make his Opus 1 No. 1 is highly significant. When Beethoven came back to Vienna in 1792 it was no longer as a mere piano virtuoso but as a composer. Taking on the piano trio, a medium in which his teacher Haydn had excelled, was pointed. With these early pieces he is saying, ‘This is what I am going to do in the world.’ The very first trio already has the stamp of the 19th century. There’s a depth and a romanticism we have never heard before: the slow movement is so extraordinary, so full of passion, we are seeing into the soul of the composer already. Then came the Opus 1 No. 3 in C minor, and we encounter sheer Beethovenian angst. (Haydn said the C minor was not suitable for publication; no doubt there was rivalry there). So Beethoven began with the piano trio, and returned to it again in his middle period with the extraordinary Ghost and the great Eb major, Op. 70 No. 2, whose radiant minuet could almost be by Schubert, but whose second movement has his inimitable deconstructive drive. In his final period, we reach the Archduke, a work not quite of this world, we are hearing music as if through a gauze, slightly out of focus. Peter Cropper

PIANO TRIOS PERFORMANCES 2009 Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Wednesday 25 February 2009 Piano Trio in E flat, Op.1 No.1 Piano Trio in B flat, Op. 11 Piano Trio in D, Op. 70 No.1 Ghost

Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Saturday 28 February Piano Trio in G, Op. 1 No. 2 Piano Trio in G, Op. 121a Kakadu Variations Piano Trio in E flat, Op. 70 No. 2

Hall One 11.30am £11.50

Sunday 1 March Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1 No. 3 Variations in E flat, Op. 44 Piano Trio in B flat, Op. 97, Archduke Peter Cropper violin Moray Welsh cello Martin Roscoe piano

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the STRING TRIOS Haydn may have been Beethoven’s teacher for a while, but he learnt more from Mozart. Beethoven painstakingly copied out Mozart’s scores, and you can see Mozart’s sublime String Trio K563 was the inspiration for Beethoven’s own Op.3 String Trio. He does not intend to imitate Mozart’s wonderful melodies, however, but to break them up. Beethoven makes rhythm and motif the chief elements. He deliberately sets out in this Trio to destroy the melodic line, to deconstruct the 18th century. When you perform Mozart you feel you are showing the audience the sheer beauty of his music. When I play early Beethoven, I feel that what I am revealing goes beyond music. Beethoven is showing us how fantastic life can be, what a joy it is to be human. He shares his soul directly with us, he holds nothing back. Peter Cropper

STRING TRIOS PERFORMANCES 2009 Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Wednesday 24 June 2009 Serenade in D, Op.8 String Trio in D, Op.9, No.2 String Trio in G, Op.9, No.1

Hall One 11.30am £11.50

Sunday 28 June String Trio in E flat, Op.3 Serenade in D, Op.25 for flute, violin and viola String Trio in C minor, Op.9 No.3 Ludwig String Trio Peter Cropper violin James Boyd viola Paul Watkins cello with Philippa Davies flute

‘HE DELIBERATELY SETS OUT IN THIS TRIO TO DESTROY THE MELODIC LINE, TO DECONSTRUCT THE 18th CENTURY.’ PETER CROPPER

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VIOLIN SONATAS PERFORMANCES 2009

the VIOLIN SONATAS ‘Beethoven loved chamber music because he wanted to share his music with other musicians. A viola player himself, he had a great insight into string playing and pits piano and violin against each other in a brilliant way. We start with his three Opus 12 sonatas, written between 1797-9, when, dissatisfied with Haydn, he went to study Italian opera with Salieri, and dedicated the sonatas to him. One can detect a change. In Op. 12 No. 3 he writes in the slow movement Adagio con molta espressione, this is something new: a long, achingly tender melody sung by both instruments. The two strongly contrasting sonatas Op. 23 and 24, were written as a pair, much as the diametrically opposing Fifth and Sixth symphonies. The sunnily expansive, four-movement ‘Spring’ takes the pastoral key of F major, revelling in abundant ornamentation, while the condensed A minor opens with an explosive presto. Op. 30 No. 1 is interesting: it is in the key of A major, the brightest and most resonant key for the violin. But Beethoven denies its virtuosity and clear colour. He darkens its tone, starting the sonata very low. Then the Op. 30 No. 2 in C minor is absolutely frightening, tumultuous, epitomising everything Beethoven meant by that key. He began the second movement in G major and then changed it to A flat: that is so characteristic. He takes away the brightness, and produces another atmosphere altogether. The ‘Kreutzer’ was dedicated originally to the black British virtuoso George Bridgetower, who Beethoven so admired, until they fell out over a girl. Beethoven recognised that this was no longer chamber music but had reached the heights of a concerto, beginning as it does with a heroic announcement on solo violin. The relentless intensification of the motifs in both presto movements generates huge excitement, though Kreutzer himself deemed it a ‘composition outrageusement inintelligible’! The final, tenth sonata has an other-worldly, ethereal quality, and was influenced by the elegant style of its French dedicatee Pierre Rode. As Beethoven noted to Archduke Rudolph, ‘We like to have more surging passages in our finales, but Rode will not consent to that.’ He couldn’t resist putting in masses of szforzandi in the last movement though!’ Peter Cropper

‘THE OP. 30 NO. 2 VIOLIN SONATA IS ABSOLUTELY FRIGHTENING, TUMULTUOUS, EPITOMISING EVERYTHING BEETHOVEN MEANT BY THE KEY OF C MINOR.’ PETER CROPPER

Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Wednesday 25 March 2009 Violin Sonata in D, Op. 12 No. 1 Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2 Violin Sonata in G, No.10 Op. 96

Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Saturday 28 March Violin Sonata in A, Op. 12 No. 2 Violin Sonata in G, Op. 30 No. 3 Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 23 Violin Sonata in F, Op. 24 Spring

Hall One 11.30am £11.50

Sunday 29 March Violin Sonata in E flat, Op. 12 No. 3 Violin Sonata in A, Op. 30 No. 1 Violin Sonata in A, Op. 47 Kreutzer Peter Cropper violin Martin Roscoe piano

the CELLO SONATAS ‘Beethoven, for me, is one of the most human composers. What we can learn from him is courage, belief in human capabilities, respect. He has everything that human kind can achieve – love, tenderness, strength – yet he also suffers through pain, sadness, loneliness, grief. This is dramatized in his radiant A Major Sonata, which was written ‘under grief and tears’, as he notes at the end of the first movement: after its warmly confident opening comes a lamentation recalling ‘Es ist vollbracht’ from Bach’s St John’s Passion in the development section. The five cello sonatas occur in Beethoven’s three important creative periods. In the first, the Op.5 sonatas, he puts the instruments in balance with each other and so emancipates the cello, giving it both leading and accompanying parts. These are the first real piano and cello sonatas in the history of the repertoire, shot through with wit and brio. More than ten years later he writes the magnificent Sonata in A major, Op. 69, which is sometimes called the ‘Grand Sonata’, with its expansive opening, dynamic, syncopated scherzo, heavenly slow movement and a finale of ecstatic velocity. Seven years later, at the beginning of the final period just after the piano sonata Op. 101, come the two great Op. 102 sonatas. The second, in D, is the only cello sonata with a real slow movement and an extraordinary fugal finale that wrestles with sforzati and sharp dissonance, prefiguring his last compositions. As for every cellist, these pieces play a central role in my repertoire and I feel honoured to play them all in the first season at this new hall. Christoph Richter CELLO SONATAS PERFORMANCES 2009 Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Thursday 28 May 2009 12 Variations on a theme from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus WoO 45 Sonata No.1 in F, Op.5 No.1 Sonata No.2 in G minor, Op.5 No.2 7 Variations E flat major on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe Fühlen’ from Mozart’s Magic Flute

Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Saturday 27 June 12 Variations on ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’ from Mozart’s Magic Flute Sonata No.3 in A, Op.69 Sonata No.4 in C, Op.102 No.1 Sonata No.5 in D, Op.102 No.2 Christoph Richter cello Dénes Várjon piano 15

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works for WINDS It is a rare and special opportunity to develop before an audience the richness and variety of all Beethoven’s music for winds. Many of these works are seldom played, and I’m particularly delighted to include the unfinished Quintet for oboe, bassoon and three horns. I discovered this in a book of incomplete works: it is for an unusual combination of instruments and has only three movements, ending with a menuet, but it is really remarkable, the cherry on the cake in this series. The piece I shall most be looking forward to is the only one in which I do not play – the Septet, Op. 20! Truly, this is a masterpiece of chamber music, in fact it is a great violin concerto with the winds providing a differently coloured discussion with the soloist. The Octet is one of those beautifully clear, classical compositions where the form is developed like a symphony. I have been playing Beethoven for forty years and my approach has evolved gradually over that time and become more pure: I hope I have cleaned away extraneous details, that I can communicate the substance of the music, and forget myself: that is always the aim. Maurice Bourgue WIND PERFORMANCES 2009 Hall One 7.30pm £17.50 £22.50 £27.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Thursday 23 April 2009 Quintet for oboe, bassoon and three horns Quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn, Op. 16 in Eb Septet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass, Op. 20 in Eb Carolin Widmann violin Hariolf Schlichtig viola Christoph Richter cello Graham Mitchell double bass

Hall One 7.30pm £17.50 £22.50 £27.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Saturday 25 April Sextet for two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, Op. 71 in Eb Trio for clarinet, cello and piano, Op. 11 in Bb Sonata for horn and piano, Op. 17 in F Octet for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and two horns, Op. 103 in Eb

Hall One 11.30am £11.50

Sunday 26 April Duet for clarinet and bassoon No. 3 in B flat WoO27 Trio for flute, bassoon and piano Trio for two oboes and cor anglais, Op. 87 Trio for piano, flute and bassoon in G major, WoO37 Maurice Bourgue and Gordon Hunt oboes Rosie Staniforth cor anglais 17

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the SONGS For the best part of two centuries Beethoven’s songs have had a raw deal. Only a handful appears regularly in concert, while several masterpieces sit lonely and unloved on library shelves. If Beethoven hadn’t written symphonies and sonatas and quartets, might we value his songs more? If Schubert hadn’t written his songs, might we hear Beethoven’s more often? Love songs abound, as Beethoven explores his obsession with a distant beloved. But he ranges far beyond, as well. Many of the songs are funny; others are spiritual, philosophical or patriotic. Several verge on the erotic. This variety is musical, too, with folksongs, hymns, arias, cantatas – and, in An die ferne Geliebte, a radically new sort of song-cycle. Indeed, an experimental quality runs through the songs, whether Beethoven is sending up Rossini or niggling away at a favourite poem, setting and resetting it several times over. If you think Lieder start with Schubert, come and join us. Iain Burnside

SONG RECITALS 2008-09 Hall One 7.30pm £17.50 £22.50 £27.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Thursday 27 November 2008 Ann Murray mezzo soprano Roderick Williams baritone Iain Burnside piano Programme includes: An die Geliebte Sehnsucht Gellert Lieder Op. 42 Vier Arietten und ein Duett Op. 82 Lieder Op. 52 Lieder Op. 75 Der Kuss Op. 128

Hall One 7.30pm £17.50 £22.50 £27.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Thursday 26 February 2009 John-Mark Ainsley tenor Iain Burnside piano Programme includes: An die ferne Geliebte Op. 98 Andenken Der Wachtelschlag An die Hoffnung Op. 94 Drei Gesänge Op. 83 Lebensglück Op. 88 Adelaide Op. 46

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early ORCHESTRAL music As a period-instrument band, The Avison Ensemble is very excited to be presenting the only orchestral concert in the Kings Place Beethoven festival. The group, whose size is comparable with the orchestra of Prince Lobkowitz, Beethoven’s sponsor and dedicatee of the triple concerto, will be seeking to recreate the atmosphere of one of the Prince’s private concerts. The small string section (by modern standards) helps to re-establish the predominance of the winds in the orchestral balance and to focus on the more intimate aspects of these three examples of Beethoven’s genius. The irresistible first symphony bristles with Haydn-esque humour and colour, while the Piano Concerto No. 4 is arguably the most intimate of the master’s five essays in this form. The delightful triple concerto has perhaps suffered most in the last 200 years from a monolithic approach, turning it into a sort of monster. This performance will seek to re-focus the chamber music medium at its core, a Piano Trio writ large. Pavlo Beznosiuk

ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE 2009 Hall One 7.30pm £24.50 £32.50 £39.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Thursday 26 March 2009 Symphony No 1 in C, Op. 21 Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 Triple Concerto in C, Op. 56

STUDY DAYS programme 2008-09

The Avison Ensemble Pavlo Beznosiuk director & violin, Richard Tunnicliffe cello Alexei Lubimov fortepiano

‘THERE IS SIMPLY NO LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN DISCOVER IN THIS MASS OF MUSICAL HIEROGLYPHICS’ BARRY COOPER

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STUDY DAYS programme ‘Beethoven is commonly held to be a great composer, but not many people realise just how great he really was. Every time you look at his music, as I have been doing for a large part of my life, it yields up something new. He was always challenging the conventions, pushing at the boundaries, throwing down the gauntlet. There is several lifetimes’ work in studying his sketchbooks alone: there is simply no limit to what you can discover in this mass of musical hieroglyphics. It is fascinating to see how he works on his sketches, modifying, trying out novel ideas – sometimes very far-fetched ones – and refining and reshaping his initial material. He was continually inventing new approaches, as many others have done before and since: the difference is that all Beethoven’s ideas actually work as great music. I hope there will be something for everyone in these study days: we will be looking at the biographical context, why he wrote the works he did, and focusing on the works themselves – his creative process, from the sketches to the finished pieces. The talks, given by a host of invited experts, will have ample musical illustrations on record or at the piano.’ Professor Barry Cooper MONTHLY PROGRAMME 2008-09 Study Days are held in St Pancras Room 10.30am start – 4.30pm Each day consists of four sessions with two coffee/tea breaks and lunch, included in the ticket price: £39.50 Saturday 25 October Beethoven the Man Biographer John Suchet discusses the composer’s biographical milestones, after which Professor Barry Cooper, one of the world’s leading authorities on the composer, looks at his attitudes, beliefs, his deafness and relationship with women. Saturday 29 November Beethoven’s Orchestral Works In this study day Professor Barry Cooper examines the concertos and all the symphonies, concluding with a session dedicated to the ground-breaking Ninth. Saturday 31 January 2009 Why and How? This study day looks at why Beethoven composed what he did and the processes he went through to reach the finished music. Nicholas Marston from King’s College, Cambridge looks in detail at the composer’s sketchbooks and follows works through to the preparation of the finished piece. After lunch, Barry Cooper turns his attention to commissions and the professional composer, and how Beethoven’s personal life is reflected in his music.

Saturday 28 February 2009 The Piano Music David Ward from the Royal College of Music gives a special talk on Beethoven’s pianos through his life. This is followed by an examination of the piano sonatas, given by Barry Cooper, who has recently produced a new edition of them. In the afternoon Dr Kris Worsley of the Royal Northern College of Music examines the Diabelli Variations and their predecessors. Saturday 28 March 2009 Beethoven in Context Professor David Wyn Jones leads this day, starting with a look at those who influenced Beethoven, and going on to give an overview of musical life in the Vienna of his time, and the patrons associated with him. In the second part of the day, Jones will talk about Beethoven’s audiences and biographers, while Clive Brown joins the seminar to explore performance practice in Beethoven’s time. Saturday 25 April 2009 The Chamber Music Violinist Peter Cropper, formerly of the Lindsay Quartet, will be performing the violin sonatas, piano trios and string trios in the Beethoven Unwrapped concert series. For this day he will share a lifetime of playing experience with the audience, giving illustrated talks on the violin sonatas and the performance of the string quartets. In the afternoon, Barry Cooper explores originality in the string quartets. Saturday 30 May 2009 The Lesser-Known Beethoven: Songs and Unfinished Works Paul Reid, author of the ‘Beethoven Song Companion’, will speak about collecting the Lieder, while Lieder expert Amanda Glauert from the Royal Academy of Music explores ways of understanding these little-known works. Barry Cooper investigates the strange history of the folksong settings and concludes the day with an examination of the Tenth Symphony and other unfinished works. Saturday 27 June 2009 The Big Four Professor Barry Cooper concludes the Study Day programme with an examination of The Creatures of Prometheus and Christ on the Mount of Olives. In the afternoon, he follows the progress of Leonore to the final opera Fidelio and discusses the composer’s ‘greatest work’ (according to Beethoven himself), the Missa Solemnis.

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TALKS plus Saturday 30 May 2009 From Stein to Steinway: Two Centuries of Beethoven on the Piano

Beethoven unwrapped: FILM IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE LOUVRE FILM FESTIVAL

How did Beethoven’s piano music actually sound on instruments of his own day compared to those of subsequent generations? Using a selection of historical and modern pianos, renowned pianist and scholar Kenneth Hamilton will lead his audience through the dramatically differing sound worlds of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, from the light, highly articulated sound of the Viennese fortepiano, to the richly singing tone of the modern concert grand. In the process he will demonstrate the art of improvising preludes and transitions between pieces – a standard procedure in Beethoven’s day, though completely forgotten in ours – and gallantly attempt not to break as many strings on the fortepiano as Beethoven himself did.

Hall One 7.00pm £14.50 £19.50 £24.50 Saver Seat £9.50

Programme to include: Fantasy Op. 77 32 Variations in A minor. WoO 80 Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101 Variations, Op. 35 Eroica Kenneth Hamilton piano

‘HE WAS CONTINUALLY INVENTING NEW APPROACHES, AS MANY OTHERS HAVE DONE BEFORE AND SINCE: THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT ALL BEETHOVEN’S IDEAS ACTUALLY WORK AS GREAT MUSIC.’ BARRY COOPER

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FILM programme PROGRAMME 2008-09 Hall One tickets £7.50

Tuesday 21 October 7pm • In search of Beethoven (II) Dir. Andy Sommer, 1997 (26 mins) Beethoven’s Fifth conducted by Muti, Solti, Maazel and Boulez. • Herbert von Karajan conducts Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony Dir. H G Clouzot, 1967 (40 mins) Saturday 25 October 11.30am Glenn Gould • Beethoven: Conversation with Glenn Gould Prod. Humphrey Burton / BBC 1966 (60 mins) The inimitable Gould discusses Beethoven with musical illustrations. • 32 Variations in A minor WoO 80 Prod. CBC, 1967 (14 mins) A performance of Beethoven’s rarely heard A minor piano variations by Glenn Gould Wednesday 26 November 7pm • Bernstein conducts The Creatures of Prometheus op.43 Unitel 1982 (5 mins) • In search of Beethoven (III) Dir. Andy Sommer, 1997 (26 mins) Roger Norrington rehearses Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 • Rafael Kubelik conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 The Eroica Dir. Henri Colpi / Unitel 1967 (50 mins) The great Czech conductor with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Saturday 29 November 7pm • Celibidache Conducts SFB 1954 (9 mins) Legendary Romanian maestro Sergiu Celibidache conducts Beethoven’s Egmont Overture • Symphony No. 9 NBC 1948 (68 mins) Arturo Toscanini conducts the NBC Symphony and Chorus, with soloists Anne McKnight, Jane Hobson, Irwin Dillon and Norman Scott.

Tuesday 27 January 2009 7pm Quartets • Quartet Op. 132, Hungarian Quartet (1958) • Quartet Op. 18, No. 6 Malincolia, Amadeus Quartet, (1970) • Quartet Op. 59, No. 1, Alban Berg Quartet (2007) Three generations of great chamber ensembles; the only extant footage of Hungarian Quartet leader Zóltan Szkeley, and the moving last concert of the Alban Berg Quartet in 2007. Saturday 31 January 11.30am • Missa Solemnis Dir. Zeffirelli, 1970 (88 mins) Radio Orchestra of Rome, Bavarian Radio Choir, Wolfgang Sawallisch with Christa Ludwig, Placido Domingo, Kurt Moll. To celebrate the bicentenary of Beethoven’s birth, Pope Paul IV requested a performance of the Missa Solemnis in the splendour of Saint Peter’s, Rome. Tuesday 24 February 7pm Trios • Piano Trio Op. 70 No. 1 Ghost Dir. Christopher Nupen 1983 (28 mins) Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman, Jacqueline Du Pré • Trio Op. 97, Archduke France 1970 (43 mins) Eugene Istomin, Leonard Rose, Isaac Stern Two classic films of two legendary groups of interpreters. Saturday 28 February 11.30am The Violin Concerto • In search of Beethoven, Part IV Dir. Andy Sommer, 1997 (26 mins) Eavesdrop on rehearsals with Frank Peter Zimmerman and Lorin Maazel with the Vienna Philharmonic. • Violin Concerto in D Op. 61 France 1968 (45 mins) A peerless performance by Zino Francescatti, with the Dutch Television Orchestra. Tuesday 24 March 7pm Piano • Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 Pathétique Lazar Berman (piano) France 1978 (15 mins) • Sonata No. 26 in E flat, Op. 81a, Les Adieux Rudolf Serkin (piano) Austria 1978 (14 mins) • Piano Concerto No. 5 Emperor Emil Gilels (piano), Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Alain Lombard. Dir. André Flédérick. 1978 (40 mins) Three great Russian pianists take on Beethoven, including a newly discovered recording of Gilels live in Strasbourg. 27

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FILM programme continued PROGRAMME 2008-09 Hall One tickets £7.50

Saturday 28 March 2009 11.30am Films: Violin • Sonata Op. 30, No. 1 Henryk Szeryng with Charles Reiner France 1970, (21 mins) • Sonata Op. 24 Spring David Oistrakh with Lev Oborin France 1962 (23 mins) • Sonata Op. 47 Kreutzer Nathan Milstein with Georges Pludermacher France 1969 (20 mins) Jewels from the French television archives: Szerying on the occasion of Beethoven’s centenary; Oistrakh with his long-time collaborator Oborin; and Milstein giving an intense reading of Beethoven’s chef d’oeuvre. Wednesday 22 April 7pm • Fidelio Vienna Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein, dir. Otto Schenk With Gundula Janowitz, René Kollo, and Lucia Popp Unitel, 1978 (169 mins) An unforgettable production from the historic Theater an der Wien where Fidelio was brought to the stage for the first time in 1805. Bernstein leaves cast and audience in a frenzied trance. Saturday 25 April 11.30am • Symphony No. 4 Boston Symphony Orchestra, dir. Charles Münch USA 1961 (35 mins) • Triple Concerto Martha Argerich, Renaud & Gautier Capuçon, Flanders SO/ Alexandre Rabinovitch France 2005 (36 mins) A warmly spontaneous performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony by the Boston players, and a heart-warming testament to an exciting new generation of Beethoven interpreters as Argerich sparks off the young Gautier brothers in the Triple Concerto.

Wednesday 27 May 7pm Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli • Sonata No. 11 in B flat, Op.22, dir. Janos Darvas 1981 (15 mins) • Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 Germany 1970 (20 mins) • Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 Vienna SO/Guilini Austria (36 mins) The elusive Italian pianist gives a fascinating account of Op. 111, taking the music to its most abstract edge, as if in a waking dream. The concerto shows the dynamic collaboration between Michelangeli and the ever-expressive Guilini. Saturday 30 May 11.30am Cello • Sonata Op. 5, No. 1 Mstislav Rostropovich with Sjvatoslav Richter BBC/Idéale audience, 1964 (22 mins) • Sonata Op. 5 No. 2 Jacqueline Du Pré with Daniel Barenboim France 1970 (25 mins) • Sonata Op. 69 Paul Tortelier with Sergio Lorenzi France, 1969 (26 mins) Three great cellists of the 20th century: Rostropovich on a rare visit to Edinburgh Festival in 1964 with his most brilliant partner, Richter; a poignant black and white film of the young Du Pré and Barenboim, and Tortelier in his prime. Tuesday 23 June 7pm Wilhelm Kempff • Sonata Op. 27 No. 1 Moonlight France, 1970 (20 mins) • Sonata Op. 106, Hammerklavier Canada, 1964 (40 mins) Wilhelm Kempff (piano) The great German pianist insists on a revolutionary character to his interpretation of the monumental Hammerklavier Sonata, while the Moonlight reveals his special ability to make the piano sing. Saturday 27 June 11.30am • The Ninth Dir. Pierre Henry Salfati, based on book by Esteban Buch (100 mins) Since 1824, the year of its creation, the Ninth Symphony has been the subject of paradoxical appropriations. Before becoming the European hymn it was used by Ian Smith in Rhodesia, and for Nazi and socialist propaganda. The Ninth tells the story of the successive manipulations of this protean work.

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BEETHOVEN UNWRAPPED DATE

EVENT

CALENDAR 2008-09

ARTISTS

TIME

DATE

Week One 2008 21 Oct Film: The Fifth Symphony 22 Oct Beethoven’s String Quartets 1 23 Oct Piano Masterclass 23 Oct Beethoven’s String Quartets 2 24 Oct Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 1 25 Oct Study Day: Beethoven, The Man 25 Oct Film: Glenn Gould 25 Oct Beethoven’s String Quartets 3

Herbert von Karajan Orion String Quartet Jean-Bernard Pommier Orion String Quartet Jean-Bernard Pommier Barry Cooper/John Suchet Glenn Gould Orion String Quartet

Hall One 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall Two 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 11.30am Hall One 7.30pm

Week Two 26 Nov Film: The ‘Eroica’ 27 Nov Piano Masterclass 27 Nov Beethoven’s Songs 1 28 Nov Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 2 29 Nov Study Day: Beethoven’s Orchestral Music 29 Nov Film: Egmont & Symphony No. 9

Rafael Kubelik Jean-Bernard Pommier Burnside/Murray/Williams Jean-Bernard Pommier Barry Cooper Celibidache / Toscanini

Hall One 7.00pm Hall Two 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 7.00pm

Week Three 2009 27 Jan Film: Quartets 28 Jan Beethoven’s String Quartets 4 29 Jan Piano Masterclass 29 Jan Beethoven’s String Quartets 5 30 Jan Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 3 31 Jan Study Day: Why and How? 31 Jan Film: Missa Solemnis 31 Jan Beethoven’s String Quartets 6

Hungarian/Amadeus/Berg Qts Orion String Quartet Jean-Bernard Pommier Orion String Quartet Jean-Bernard Pommier Nicholas Marston/Barry Cooper Sawallisch/Domingo/Zeffirelli Orion String Quartet

Hall One 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall Two 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 11.30am Hall One 7.30pm

Week Four 24 Feb Film: Trios 25 Feb Beethoven’s Piano Trios 1 26 Feb Beethoven’s Songs 2 26 Feb Piano Masterclass 27 Feb Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 4 28 Feb Study Day: The Piano Music 28 Feb Film: The Violin Concerto 28 Feb Beethoven’s Piano Trios 2 1 Mar Beethoven’s Piano Trios 3

Istomin/Stern/Rose/Barenboim Cropper/Welsh/Roscoe John Mark Ainsley/Iain Burnside Jean-Bernard Pommier Jean-Bernard Pommier David Ward/Kris Worsley Zimmermann/Francescatti Cropper/Welsh/Roscoe Cropper/Welsh/Roscoe

Hall One 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall Two 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 11.30am Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 11.30am

EVENT

ARTISTS

TIME

Week Five 24 Mar Film: Piano 25 Mar Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas 1 26 Mar Piano Masterclass 26 Mar Beethoven’s Triple Concerto 27 Mar Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 5 28 Mar Study Day: Beethoven in Context 28 Mar Film: Violin 28 Mar Beethoven Violin Sonatas 2 29 Mar Beethoven Violin Sonatas 3

Berman/Serkin/Gilels Peter Cropper/Martin Roscoe Jean-Bernard Pommier The Avison Ensemble Jean-Bernard Pommier David Wyn Jones/Clive Brown Szeryng/Oistrakh/Milstein Peter Cropper/Martin Roscoe Peter Cropper/Martin Roscoe

Hall One 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall Two 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 11.30am Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 11.30am

Week Six 22 Apr Film: Fidelio 23 Apr Piano Masterclass 23 Apr Beethoven’s Music for Winds 1 24 Apr Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 6 25 Apr Study Day: The Chamber Music 25 Apr Films: Symphony No. 4 etc. 25 Apr Beethoven’s Music for Winds 2 26 Apr Beethoven’s Music for Winds 3

Bernstein/Janowitz/Popp/Kollo Jean-Bernard Pommier Maurice Bourgue and friends Jean-Bernard Pommier Peter Cropper/Barry Cooper Boston SO/Charles Munch Maurice Bourgue and friends Maurice Bourgue and friends

Hall One 7.00pm Hall Two 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 11.30am Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 11.30am

Week Seven 27 May Film: Michelangeli 28 May Piano Masterclass 28 May Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas 1 29 May Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 7 30 May Study Day: Lesser-known works 30 May Film: Cello 30 May Beethoven’s Pianos Lecture/recital

Michelangeli/Giulini Jean-Bernard Pommier Christoph Richter/Dénes Várjon Jean-Bernard Pommier Paul Reid/Amanda Glauert Rostropovich/Du Pré/Tortelier Kenneth Hamilton

Hall One/7.00pm Hall Two/7.00pm Hall One/7.30pm Hall One/7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 11.30am Hall One 7.30pm

Week Eight 23 Jun Film: Hammerklavier 24 Jun Beethoven’s String Trios 1 25 Jun Piano Masterclass 26 Jun Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 8 27 Jun Study Day: The Big Four 27 Jun Film: The Ninth 27 Jun Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas 2 28 Jun Beethoven’s String Trios 2

Wilhelm Kempff Ludwig String Trio Jean-Bernard Pommier Jean-Bernard Pommier Barry Cooper Documentary by Henry Salfati Christoph Richter/Dénes Várjon Ludwig String Trio

Hall One 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm Hall Two 7.00pm Hall One 7.30pm St Pancras Rm 10.30am Hall One 11.30am Hall One 7.30pm Hall One 11.30am

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the Curators THE AVISON ENSEMBLE / PAVLO BEZNOSIUK

PROFESSOR BARRY COOPER

The Avison Ensemble is North East of England’s foremost exponent of 18th century music. It is named after Charles Avison (1709-1770), the Newcastleborn composer, conductor and organist, ‘the most important English concerto composer of the 18th Century’ (New Grove). Comprised of some of Europe’s leading musicians and soloists, the Avison Ensemble is directed by celebrated period instrument violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk. In addition to playing other works from the Baroque and early Classical periods, the Avison Ensemble is also a training ground for young up and coming musicians to gain experience at period performance practice and styles, affording them the opportunity to work with outstanding directors and soloists. The Avison Ensemble performs on period instruments in order to recreate as closely as possible the distinctive ‘sound world’ of the late 18th century.

Barry Cooper is a Professor of Music at the University of Manchester. He is best known for his research on Beethoven and is regarded as a world authority on this composer. His books include Beethoven and the Creative Process (Oxford, 1990); Beethoven’s Folksong Settings (Oxford, 1994); and Beethoven (The Master Musicians, Oxford, 2000). He is also the General Editor of The Beethoven Compendium (London, 1991), and in 1988 his completion of the first movement of Beethoven’s unfinished Tenth Symphony attracted widespread international attention when premiered at the Royal Festival Hall. In 2007 he completed an acclaimed scholarly performing edition of Beethoven’s 35 piano sonatas, published by the Associated Board.

PETER CROPPER

Maurice Bourgue is one of the finest oboists in the world today. In 1966, he shared first prize with James Galway in the International Wind Competition in Birmingham and consequently won competitions in Munich, Prague and Budapest. He was chosen by Charles Munch to become the solo oboist of the Orchestre de Paris. His career as a soloist has brought him to major concert halls all over Europe, in the USA, Japan and Russia. He is a regular soloist with the Lucerne Festival Strings, all the major French orchestras, BBC orchestras, LSO, COE and the Vienna Philharmonic. Bourgue has recorded for all the major record labels. Henri Dutilleux dedicated his Diptyque: les Citations to Bourgue, who also gave premiere performances of Olivier Messaien’s Concerto No 4. His Ensemble à Vent Maurice Bourgue performs all over the world, and in 2004 he also founded the Ensemble CONTINUUM with Sergio Azzolini. Bourgue combines solo performance with a busy conducting and teaching career particularly in Paris, Geneva and at the Martinu International Chamber Music Academy, of which he is director.

MAURICE BOURGUE

THE ORION STRING QUARTET

IAIN BURNSIDE Interweaving roles as pianist and Sony Award-winning radio presenter with equal aplomb, Iain Burnside (‘pretty much ideal’ BBC Music Magazine) is also a master programmer with an instinct for the telling juxtaposition. His recordings straddle an electic repertoire ranging from Schoenberg, Korngold and Copland to Debussy and Judith Weir, with a special place reserved for the highways and byways of English Song as his recent acclaimed recordings of Britten, Finzi and Vaughan Williams have proved. Signum will shortly release two volumes of Beethoven songs with Ann Murray, John Mark Ainsley and Roderick Williams. Other partnerships include those with Lisa Milne, Joan Rodgers, Susan Gritton, Susan Bickley, Mark Padmore and Bryn Terfel. He is currently presenter of Voices and Iain Burnside on BBC Radio 3.

For over 40 years the name Peter Cropper was synonymous with the Lindsay Quartet whose impassioned style and close identification with the quartets of Beethoven (as well as Mozart, Haydn and Schubert) set it in the vanguard of British chamber ensembles. As well as leading the Lindsays Cropper maintained an active solo career that has blossomed after the disbandment of the quartet in 2005. A duo partnership with Martin Roscoe has produced more insightful recordings of Beethoven (the complete violin sonatas), and with Moray Welsh adding cello, Cropper is exploring the piano trio repertoire anew. He is also recognised for his imaginative programming: his Sheffield-based Music in the Round series won the Royal Philharmonic Society Festival prize and has evolved into a major force not only in the city but UK-wide. ‘Cropper’s violin playing is thrilling to witness and embodies the explosive force of Beethoven’s thought.’ Manchester Evening News.

The Orion String Quartet is one of the most sought-after ensembles in the United States, consistently praised for the fresh perspective and individuality it brings to performances. Formed in 1987, the quartet consists of violinists Daniel Phillips and Todd Phillips (brothers who share first violin equally), violist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Timothy Eddy, who have worked closely with legends such as Casals, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma and András Schiff. The Orion serves as Quartet-in-Residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and New York’s Mannes College of Music and is the Resident Quartet at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Its members have commissioned composers as diverse as Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, John Harbison, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis. The Orion String Quartet recently celebrated its 20th anniversary with a sold-out, all-Beethoven program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and has recorded the complete Beethoven quartets for Koch International Classics. The final instalment is slated for release in early 2009.

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the Study Day contributors JEAN-BERNARD POMMIER

NICHOLAS MARSTON

Having given his first public recital at the age of seven, French-born pianist and conductor Jean-Bernard Pommier was the youngest finalist (aged 17) in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition, where he was awarded ‘First Honourable Mention’ by a jury headed by Emil Gilels. A concerto career followed with the likes of the Berlin, Vienna and New York Philharmonics under conductors ranging from Karajan and Muti to Masur and Rattle. Recordings include the complete Beethoven and Mozart Sonatas for the Erato label, and chamber music with Perlman, the Guarneri Quartet and Paul Tortelier. Increasingly, conducting has played an important part in his music-making. He was music director of the Northern Sinfonia for many years and the Orchestra Filharmonica di Torino, whilst his Musiké Academy is active in the UK, France and Hungary. ‘His performances can be spoken of in the same breath as interpretations by Brendel, Ashkenazy and Kempff ... unsurpassed on record’. (Gramophone).

is Director of Studies in Music at King’s College, Cambridge and co-author of The Beethoven Compendium (London).

CHRISTOPH RICHTER A student of the great cellists Andre Navarra and Pierre Fournier, (and a close collaborator with Sandor Végh at the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove and in Salzburg), Christoph Richter scooped prizes at the Rostropovich Competition in Paris, and in Geneva. Firmly committed to contemporary music he has worked with composers including Penderecki, Kurtág, Henze, Lachenmann and Holliger. As a soloist he has performed with many leading European orchestras, and his festival appearances have embraced all four continents. He is also a keen and active chamber musician, being cellist of the Heine Quartet, one half of the Boccherini Cello Duo, and a member of Capella Andrea Barca. Solo recordings include works by Schumann and Heinz Holliger with the pianist Dénes Várjon for ECM label.

DAVID WYN JONES

is Professor of Music at Cardiff University and author of The Symphony in Beethoven’s Vienna (CUP).

KRIS WORSLEY is a pianist, classical specialist and teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music.

PAUL REID is author of The Beethoven Song Companion (Manchester University Press).

AMANDA GLAUERT is Head of Academic Development at the Royal Academy of Music, and a contributor to The Cambridge Companion to Lied.

JOHN SUCHET is author of the best-selling Beethoven biography, The Last Master (Time Warner).

DAVID WARD is a pianist, fortepianist and a Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music

CLIVE BROWN is author of Classical and Romantic Performing Practice 1750-1900 (OUP)

KENNETH HAMILTON is a pianist and author of After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance (OUP).

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR FURTHER BIOGRAPHIES OF PERFORMERS, PROGRAMME NOTES AND VIDEOS.

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BRITISH LIBRARY ST PANCRAS

Tickets at Kings Place

Booking Information

KING’S CROSS

£9.50 seats available online for all concerts HALL ONE ASSIGNED SEATING Choose where you would like to sit. You’ll find ticket prices are listed next to each event. £9.50 and only available online. You are guaranteed a seat, but its location will be allocated from the best available one hour before the performance. Limited availability. HALL TWO GENERAL ADMISSION Tickets start at £9.50 0nline (£11.50 offline) but may rise in price. The earlier you book the cheaper the ticket. Choose your seat on arrival. OTHER SPACES GENERAL ADMISSION Choose your seat on arrival. FREE Events: Tickets are available by phone or in person at the Box Office – these are not available online. At Kings Place all tickets are £2 cheaper when booked online. We do not charge any booking fees. If you do not have access to a computer you can use an online booking terminal in the atrium at Kings Place. If you book more than 7 days in advance we will post your tickets out free of charge, otherwise you can pick them up on arrival. Book online at www.kingsplace.co.uk Box Office telephone: 020 7520 1490 In person at Kings Place Box Office

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Online: www.kingsplace.co.uk Tickets £2 less online, and no booking fee. By Phone: 020 7520 1490 10am – 8pm Monday to Saturday, 12 noon – 8pm on Sundays & Bank Hols. In Person: Ticket Desk open Mon – Sat: from 10am until 30 mins. after the start of last performance; On Sundays: from 12 noon until 30 mins. after the start of last performance. By Post: Kings Place Box Office, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG

TICKETS We do not offer an exchange or refund service. However, we are happy to offer to re-sell tickets once all house seats have been sold. Ticket re-sales will be at the discretion of the Box Office Manager. Tickets that have been sold will be refunded in the form of a gift certificate valid for 12 months. Gift certificates can be used as full or part payment against tickets for future performances or events at Kings Place. REFUNDS Tickets will not be refunded unless a performance is cancelled or abandoned when less than half the performance has taken place. DELIVERY Tickets will be sent out free of charge by 2nd Class post. If the booking is within 7 days of the event your tickets will be held at the Box Office and may be collected from the Automated Ticketing Kiosks on production of the credit / debit card that was used to make your booking. TERMS & CONDITIONS We reserve the right to: i) Refuse admission ii) Request any ticket holder to leave the premises iii) Change details of any performance in case of illness or events beyond the management’s control. ACCESS Kings Place is fully accessible for wheelchair users. There are fully accessible toilets on each floor. A number of wheelchair and carer spaces are available in both auditoria. A free ticket is available to a designated companion on purchase of a standard ticket by the wheelchair user. Infra red hearing assistance exists in Hall One. Hall Two and the Box Office are equipped with ‘Loops’ to help hearing aid users. Visitors can use this facility by switching their hearing aids to ‘T’. The website has been designed to be friendly for the visually impaired. PHOTOGRAPHY is absolutely prohibited during performances, concerts and exhibitions. This also holds true for film, video and sound recordings. Kings Place or any permitted third parties may carry out general filming and sound recording in or about the venue. By purchasing tickets you consent to you and your party being included in, and to the exploitation of, such films and recordings without payment. LATE ARRIVALS for the start of a performance or after an interval – we appreciate that you will want to take your seat as soon as possible. We will do everything possible to assist. To limit disturbance to fellow audience members and artists we may ask you to wait until a suitable break in the performance. Occasionally it may not be possible to enter once the performance has started. 37

Getting to Kings Place

Kings Place is located just 150 metres from King’s Cross and St Pancras Stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe. The main entrance is situated on York Way beneath the distinctive, undulating glass façade, visible from the York Way exit at King’s Cross Station. PUBLIC TRANSPORT Transport for London’s Journey Planner – http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk provides up to the minute travel options on how to reach Kings Place quickly and accurately. Alternatively, call London Travel Information on 020 7222 1234. UNDERGROUND The nearest Underground station is King’s Cross/St Pancras on the Circle, Metropolitan, Piccadilly, Victoria, Hammersmith & City and Northern lines. TRAIN The nearest mainline railway stations are King’s Cross, St Pancras and Euston. Visitors travelling by Eurostar will arrive at St Pancras International. BUS The Bus Route to York Way is 390. Other services running to nearby King’s Cross St Pancras: 10, 17, 30, 45, 46, 59, 63, 73, 91, 205, 214, 259, 476. CAR Kings Place is easily accessible by car and is clearly signposted in the immediate area. The building is outside of the Congestion Charge Zone. BICYCLE For recommended cycling routes to Kings Place please visit Transport for London’s website at www.tfl.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can call London Travel Information on 020 7222 1234. TAXIS Visitors can pick up taxis either on York Way and the streets immediately surrounding Kings Place or at the taxi ranks at King’s Cross and St Pancras Stations.

Where to park

CAR Limited parking is available to visitors in the surrounding streets and the nearest NCP Car Park is close by on Pancras Road next to St Pancras International Station. For details visit the NCP website at http://www.ncp.co.uk or telephone 0845 050 7080. COACH Coaches may set down and collect passengers in Crinan Street (See Map). For further information please contact the Events Team via www.kingsplace.co.uk BICYCLE Cycle racks are available on Crinan Street. Cycle helmets and other equipment can be left in any of the cloakrooms at King Place.

Sculptures of Beethoven: Ernst Julius Hähnel 1845; Klaus Kammerichs 1986; Naoum Aronson 1905; Pierre-Félix Fix-Masseau 1902; Wilhelm Hüsgen 1920-27; Eduard Merz 1945; and Beethoven’s birthplace photographs ©Tom Bland.

Spring House Design | Print: statex colour print

www.kingsplace.co.uk

a new creative centre presenting music, painting and sculpture from around the world, with a waterside restaurant, bar/cafĂŠ, conference and events facilities