2016 | 17 Season
Bath Philharmonia
Saturday 29 September 2018, 7.30pm St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth Vaughan Williams Vaughan Williams Parry Parry Parry Parry
Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis Lark Ascending Lady Radnor Suite I was glad Blest Pair of Sirens Jerusalem
Violin Choir
Jennifer Pike Bournemouth Symphony Chorus Set sail to the South Coast of England and on the centenary of Sir Hubert Parry’s death we perform at the church in which Parry was christened and in which his mother is buried to take part in the Parry 100 Festival. Parry’s Jerusalem and I Was Glad lie firmly at the centre of British cultural life and feature at our collective moments of celebration, reflection and congratulation. We also explore his lesser-known works including the exquisite, Lady Radnor Suite. The first half of the program is dedicated to Parry’s most famous student Ralph Vaughan Williams, including his homage to the great Elizabethan composer Thomas Tallis and the wistful Lark Ascending. Renowned for her unique artistry and compelling insight into music from the Baroque to the present day, Jennifer Pike has established herself as one of today’s most exciting instrumentalists. Tickets £25/£22/£19/£12 (under 18s) Available from http://buytickets.at/parry100 For full festival details visit www.parry100.co.uk
Friday 5 October 2018, 7.30pm Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon Mozart Mozart Mendelssohn
Overture to Don Giovanni Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, KV466 Symphony No.4 (Italian)
Piano
Melvyn Tan
Breathe in the beauty of the Italian countryside, the austerity of age-old catholic traditions and the pageantry of Italian life as represented by Mendelssohn’s sunny and vibrant 4th Symphony; his picture postcard description of his travels in Italy during his Grand Tour in the early 19th century. Mozart’s Italian operas are some of the most famous in the canon and Don Giovanni is one of the greatest of them all. Seething with intense passion and drama, this overture prefaces Mozart’s uncharacteristically dark Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor. Celebrated international pianist Melvyn Tan is one of the world’s leading interpreters of Mozart’s keyboard works. Tickets £28/£10 (under 18s and students) Available from wiltshiremusic.org.uk or by phone 01225 860100
Friday 30 November 2018, 7.30pm The Forum, Bath Mendelssohn Richard Strauss Prokofiev Maxwell Davies
Overture to The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) Macbeth Violin Concerto No.2 An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise
Violin
Nicola Benedetti Head north for the misty glens, islands and highlands of Scotland with Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti at a true St Andrew’s Day celebration including bagpipes! Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa inspired Mendelssohn to write his greatest tone poem in which you can feel the great swell of the waves and the majesty of the Hebrides. Strauss’ seldom performed early tone poem displays the orchestra in virtuosic colour and splendor as it references ‘The Scottish Play’. Maxwell Davies’ An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise describes members of a wedding party stumbling across the moors of Orkney on the way back home after one too many ‘wee drams’ accompanied by an early morning call of the bagpipes. Nicola Benedetti, one of the world’s finest violinists joins us for our tartan tour in a performance of Prokofiev’s elegant 2nd Violin Concerto. Tickets £35/£30/£25/£5 (under 18s) Available at the Bath Box Office 01225 463362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk or by phone and online through Ticketline 08448 889991 www.bathforum.co.uk
Saturday 22 December 2018, 3.30pm The Forum, Bath Blake Blake
The Bear The Snowman
Set course for our annual trip to the North Pole just in time to see the Northern Lights, meet Father Christmas and have a dance with a snowman or two. The Snowman has become an unparalleled Christmas tradition, and The Bear is a perfect counterpart telling the story of Tilly’s attempts to help an escaped polar bear return home. This magical double bill is the perfect Christmas treat for all the family with Bath Philharmonia playing Howard Blake’s scores live to Raymond Briggs’ amazing animations. Tickets £22/£14 (under 18s) Available at the Bath Box Office 01225 463362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk or by phone and online through Ticketline 08448 889991 www.bathforum.co.uk
©Snowman Enterprises Ltd The Snowman by Raymond Briggs is published by Puffin www.thesnowman.com
Wednesday 27 February 2019, 7.30pm Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon Janacek (arr D. Matthews) On an Overgrown Path (excerpts) Mozart Piano Concerto No.22 KV482 Dvorak Symphony No.9 (from the New World) Piano
Leon McCawley
Pace out to the beautiful rolling countryside of Moravia and Bohemia; Janacek’s music captures the warmth, humor and deep pathos of the Czech people. Originally a piano work, On an Overgrown Path is a collection of heartfelt miniatures in which Janacek pours his innermost thoughts. Although written whilst the composer was in American, Dvorak’s 9th Symphony contains some of the greatest and well-known melodies ever written and their wistful reminiscences of his home country are undeniable. Leon McCawley, one of Britain’s foremost pianists, has forged a highly successful career since winning first prize in the 1993 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition the same year. He perfectly complements this folk inspired programme with Mozart’s fresh and playful Piano Concerto No.22.
Tickets £28/£10 (under 18s and students) Available from wiltshiremusic.org.uk or by phone 01225 860100
Friday 29 March 2019, 7.30pm The Assembly Rooms, Bath Mozart Max Richter Haydn Mozart Jonathan Dove Haydn
Overture to Cosi fan Tutte On the Nature of Daylight Cello Concerto No.2 in D major Overture to Marriage of Figaro Sunshine Cello Concerto No.1 in C major
Cello
Steven Isserlis
Check in to the city of Vienna as we are treated to an audience with one of the greatest composers of all time, and who better to make the introductions than Steven Isserlis, one of the world’s most distinguished musicians. In a unique performance, internationally renowned cellist Steven Isserlis performs both Haydn Cello Concertos, prefaced by two of Mozart’s most popular overtures The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan Tutte. We also present two of Britain’s most celebrated living composers. Max Richter is a voice of the modern age straddling the genres of pop and classical music and Jonathan Dove’s music is both inventive and attractive. Tickets £35/£30/£25/£5 (under 18s) Available at the Bath Box Office 01225 463362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk
Thursday 20 June 2019, 7.30pm St Peter’s Church, Shaldon, Devon Humperdinck Elgar Saint Saens Elgar
Overture to Hansel & Gretel Cello Concerto Dance Macabre Enigma Variations
Cello
Miriam Lowbury
Stride on to the beautiful rolling countryside of the Malvern Hills. Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations is a set of charming characterizations of all his friends with a backdrop of the Worcestershire and Herefordshire countryside. Bath Philharmonia’s own Principal Cellist Miriam Lowbury joins us for Elgar’s most celebrated masterpiece the Cello Concerto. Tickets £tbc Available from www.shaldonfestival.co.uk (from 1 April 2019)
Thursday 4 July 2019. 7.30pm St George’s, Bristol Shostakovich Stravinsky Bernstein Gershwin Gershwin Gershwin
Jazz Suite No.1 Ebony Concerto Preludes, Fugues & Riffs An American in Paris Variations on ‘I Got Rhythm’ Rhapsody in Blue
Clarinet Piano
Sacha Rattle Peter Donohoe
Take five in Paris, the early twentieth century city and the centre of the new age and a melting pot of composers, dancers, artists, thinkers and writers. There is no doubt this amazing place and time significantly influenced the music of Gershwin and Stravinsky and many of their contemporaries. Gershwin’s music is imbued with the textures and rich harmonies of the nightlife of Paris; a sound he folded into his New York inspired jazz sound. Joining us is pianist internationally-renowned pianist Peter Donohoe and our very own coprincipal Clarinetist Sacha Rattle for a relaxed yet sophisticated evening of Jazz inspired masterpieces. Tickets £30/£25/£20/£5 (under 18s) Available from www. stgeorgesbristol.co.uk or by phone 0845 4024001