Tuesdays at 7.30pm
The Venue Quarry Hill, Leeds
With virtually any musician, scratch the surface and you’ll find someone deeply interested in at least one of the other arts – whether it’s visual and figurative art or dance, cooking, literature or, in short, anything which reflects the life of the mind and of fantasy and imagination beyond our present experience of the world.
For my season as Artistic Director of the Leeds International Chamber Season, I’ve chosen the themes of ‘Dawn and Dusk’ as inspiration for inviting some of my most interesting colleagues to perform music which reflects on this general idea; whether it’s about the first or final years of a composer’s output or about the strong bond between music and literary and visual arts. I’ve purposefully left the theme rather openended so as to encourage the creativity of these superb and interesting musicians, and I’m so pleased to introduce such consummate artists and fascinating repertoire so close to my own heart. From the melancholic nostalgia of the suite from Richard Strauss’ Capriccio, and the Enlightenment optimism of Haydn’s B minor quartet, to the thrilling fireworks from Debussy’s second book of preludes and one of Britain’s most exciting vocal groups, this series is sure to please every kind of concert-goer. I look forward to meeting you at these concerts! Mahan Esfahani Artistic Director
Tuesday 15 October 2019
Tuesday 5 November 2019
Tuesday 3 December 2019
Britten Sinfonia Mahan Esfahani
Pavel Kolesnikov
Doric String Quartet
harpsichord
CPE Bach Quartet for viola, flute, cello, and harpsichord Wq 93 JS Bach The Musical Offering BWV 1079: Ricercar a 3 Ricercar a 6 Trio Sonata Richard Strauss Suite: Capriccio Walter Piston Sonatina for violin and harpsichord Manuel de Falla Concerto for harpsichord and five instruments The opening concert of the season features a unique programme with guest Artistic Director Mahan Esfahani and the Britten Sinfonia. The first half of the concert explores the idea of tribute, with CPE Bach’s homage to his father in a late quartet whose first movement explores the name ‘B-A-C-H’ in its melodic material. JS Bach’s own trio from The Musical Offering represents the great master in the last few years of life when he turned his mind and pen to speculative and experimental projects in music. The instrumental excerpts from Strauss’ opera Capriccio evoke the world of the eighteenth century – a poignant reminder of the ‘lost world’ of the past in the midst of the birth of the Second World War. In Walter Piston’s Sonatina and Manuel de Falla’s spiky and intense Concerto we witness a rebirth for that great Sleeping Beauty of instruments, the harpsichord, in the form of the first modern work for violin and harpsichord and the first modern concerto, respectively.
piano
Chopin Fantasie Impromptu Chopin Nocturne Op 15, No 2 Chopin Scherzo No 3 Chopin Prelude Op 28, No 15 Beethoven Sonata Op 27, No 2 (Moonlight) Schumann Nachtstücke Op 23, No 1 Bartók Out of Doors: The Night’s Music Debussy Preludes Book II: Feux d’artifice Beethoven Sonata Op 53 (Waldstein) The young Siberian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov, celebrated for his unique programming and singular sensitivity at the keyboard, is already known to Leeds audiences for a recent concerto appearance with The Hallé. He now returns for one of his rightly-praised solo programmes, this time exploring the mysterious colours of ‘music of the night’ in the hands of the great composer-poets of the piano. Whether it is the bell-like tones asking the deep questions about existence in Beethoven’s famous Moonlight Sonata, the eerie loneliness of Bartók’s Out of Doors or the excitement of nighttime with Debussy’s unforgettable evocation of fireworks, this promises to be a thought-provoking evening with keyboard virtuosity of the highest order. To conclude the recital, the final movement of Beethoven’s twenty-first sonata evokes dawn and the coming of a new day.
Alex Redington violin Ying Xue violin Hélène Clément viola John Myerscough cello Haydn Quartet Op 33, No 1 Britten Quartet No 3 Beethoven Quartet Op 131 One of the most celebrated young string quartets of our day performs three core works from the string quartet repertoire, opening with the father of the string quartet, Josef ‘Papa’ Haydn, whose Op 33, dedicated to the Russian Grand Duke Paul, represents the late eighteenth-century quartet at its apogee. This is complemented by Benjamin Britten’s last major instrumental work, the Op 94 quartet in G major – containing several quotations from the composer’s Death in Venice – which was premiered two weeks after the composer’s death in 1976. Beethoven’s Op 14 quartet, his second to last is said to have been his favourite of them all. A performance of this quartet stunned no less a peer than the young Franz Schubert, who remarked afterwards, “after this, what is left for us to write?”
Tuesday 21 January 2020
Tuesday 25 February 2020
Tuesday 31 March 2020
Smetana Trio
The Queen’s Six
Florence Malgoire
Radim Kresta violin Jan Páleníček cello Jitka Čechová piano
Programme to include:
Rachmaninov Trio élégiaque No 1 Martinů Trio No 2 Beethoven Trio Op 70, No 1 (Ghost) The Smetana Trio’s work came to international attention with its album of the complete Martinů trios on Supraphon; to unanimous praise from critics in Britain and elsewhere. The programme opens with the elegant, pensive trio that Rachmaninov penned in homage to Tchaikovsky – or, as he unforgettably put it, ‘in the memory of a great artist’. The sardonic nostalgia of the second piano trio by Bohuslav Martinů presents an amusing and yet sad contrast to Rachmaninov’s brooding, written as it was after the end of the Second World War when the composer was in exile from his beloved Czechoslovakia. This reflective programme closes with Beethoven’s Op 70, No 1 trio in D minor, with an eerie second movement that gives the trio its name, said to have been originally sketched for incidental music to Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
William Byrd Ye sacred muses Henry Purcell Remember not Lord our offences Thomas Morley Arise, awake Nico Muhly God will be their light Philip Moore O clap your hands Leigh Harline & Ned Washington, arr Ruairi Bowen When you wish upon a star Trad Spiritual, arr Simon Whiteley Amazing Grace Trad English, arr Alexander L’Estrange Early one morning Duke Ellington, arr Stephen Carleston I’m beginning to see the light Harry Casey & Richard Finch/ Ludwig van Beethoven & Walter Murphy/Kimberley Rew, arr Simon Whiteley That’s the way I like a fifth of sunshine See leedsconcertseason.co.uk for the full programme The Queen’s Six is formed of six lay-clerks from St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. In a short period of time, their adventurous programming and fetching style has won them significant accolades both here and abroad. Rarely-heard works of Iberian composers such as Lobo and López Capillas initiate us into the dark world of holy visions before we enter the light with Morley’s Arise, awake and Nico Muhly’s God will be their light – a cleverly exquisite modern take on the Anglican motet. Their clever and engaging arrangements of light and popular works, and fetching renditions of Michael Jackson, Duke Ellington, and Burt Bacharach will be sure to win many hearts.
violin
Mahan Esfahani harpsichord
Jean-Féry Rebel Sonata in D minor Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre Sonata No 4 in G major Jean-Marie Leclair Sonata Op 3, No 9 Claude-Bénigne Balbastre La de Caze, La Courteille, La D’Héricourt Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville Sonata Op 1 This final programme of the season, featuring our guest Artistic Director and the celebrated French specialist of baroque violin, Florence Malgoire, looks at the concept of ‘Aube et Crépuscule’ – the dawn and dusk of the violin in pre-revolutionary France. The violin was adopted by French musicians as a vehicle for solo expression and virtuosity, first by remarkable 17th Century composers who combined new techniques and ideas from Italy with the sublimity of French musical expression. It found its highest exponent in the Italiantrained Jean-Marie Leclair, the very model of the classical virtuoso. The works of Balbastre and Mondonville are a testament to the waning of French early classicism in the years prior to the revolution, as a uniquely French style eventually gave way to the chilly Germanic winds of Enlightenment. We conclude this programme and the season on a note of regret for the passing of great musical phenomena and hope for the future.
Location Leeds Active Map - The Venue_85x85_D2_VECTOR.pdf
Access 1
20/06/2019
16:27
There is a lift at the front of the building to The Venue and disabled toilets in the foyer area. Patrons with disabilities and their essential carers may obtain two tickets for the price of one – via the LICS Essential Carer Scheme – details from the Box Office 0113 376 0318. Support dogs are welcome. Please let us know when booking of any special access requirements you may have.
The Venue
The Venue is equipped with an infra-red system for the hard of hearing.
Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7PD There is a designated disabled car park beside Leeds College of Music which has spaces for at least ten cars.
To order a copy of this brochure in an alternative format, please contact 0113 378 6600 or email music@leeds.gov.uk.
Ticket prices and booking information Ticket prices
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£22
£20
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£20
£18
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£11
£10
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10am – 6pm, Monday to Saturday
Book online www.leedsconcertseason.co.uk Book in person or by post City Centre Box Office
Leeds Town Hall, The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 3AD 10am – 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Cheques should be made payable to Leeds City Council. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope if you would like your tickets to be sent to you. Whilst every effort is made to avoid programme changes, we reserve the right to change artists and programmes without notice if unavoidable.
Booking dates 8 – 19 July: For existing chamber subscribers retaining seats Please note this is a separate subscription from the Endellion String Quartet series.
Requests for seat changes by existing subscribers will be processed on a first-come-first-served basis from 22 – 26 July and can be returned to the Box Office any time from 8 July. 29 July: For new subscribers 17 August: General booking Subscription renewals may be made by phone, post, or in person. New subscriptions may also be booked online from 29 July.
Talk to us! If you have any questions or comments about Leeds International Concert Season, please call us on 0113 378 6600 or email us at music@leeds.gov.uk. For more information on the music and performers visit www.leedsconcertseason.co.uk.
@LeedsConcerts Leeds International Concert Season
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