Bath Philharmonia 2016 | 17 Season
Welcome
Dear Friends In our 2016/17 Season, music becomes a narrative for many imaginative journeys, either into the world of fantasy and fairy tales, with Ravel’s sumptuous complete ballet for Mother Goose and Debussy’s iconic masterpiece Prelude à l’après midi d’un faune, or with a literary inspired theme with Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet, or indeed in a very introspective personal way with Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto. Helping us to tell these stories are an array of international soloists. In April, violinist Nicola Benedetti returns for the Shostakovich Violin Concerto. Peter Donohoe returns for the Brian Roper Memorial Concert in July for Rachmaninov’s epic Third Piano Concerto. In February, we welcome Australian guitarist Craig Ogden for Rodrigo’s Concerto d’Aranjuez. I’m delighted that we launch our season with Organist Shean Bowers for Saint-Saen’s massive Organ Symphony featuring Bath Abbey’s Klais Organ before it goes into storage during the Abbey’s restoration. Concluding the season in September, we feature our friend Gavin Carr who will be singing Mahler’s most poignant song cycle Kindertotenlieder. We want as many people as possible, from every part of our community to experience live orchestral music. We shall be sharing lots of musical stories this year, some fairy tales, some fables, some the poignancy of real life, but all of them are beautiful, enchanting and powerful. Come and join us on a fantastical journey! Jason Thornton Music Director
Friday 28 October 2016, 7pm Bath Abbey Debussy Prelude à l’après midi d’un faune Poulenc Concerto for Strings, Organ and Timpani Saint-Saëns Symphony No.3 ‘Organ’ Organ Conductor
Shean Bowers Jason Thornton
Bath Philharmonia presents a concert designed to open up all the stops and lift the roof on Bath Abbey just before the mighty Klais Organ is put under wraps for several years as part of the Abbey Footprint Project. Debussy’s Faune is one of the most iconic and atmospheric pieces in the orchestral repertoire and many identify this work as the start of modernism in music. The Poulenc Organ Concerto is a storm of colour, virtuosity and power. Saint-Saën’s Third Symphony marks the high point of French Romanticism and is the epitome of French grandeur in which the composer endeavours to make the orchestra sound like an organ and the organ sound like an orchestra. Joining Bath Phil as organ soloist is Shean Bowers, Acting Director of Music at Bath Abbey. Tickets £25/£20/£15/£5 (under 16s) Available at the Bath Box Office 01225 463362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk
Thursday 22 December 2016, 3.30pm The Forum, Bath Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker Suite Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Blake The Snowman Treble
Leo McNiffe
©Snowman Enterprises Ltd
Bath Philharmonia performs Howard Blake’s music live to Raymond Briggs’ magical animated film ‘The Snowman’ on the big screen at The Forum (a beautifully restored art deco cinema). First broadcast on Channel 4 in 1982, The Snowman has been an annual favourite ever since. Blake’s reputation rests very squarely on the success of the acclaimed children’s film, and particularly on its haunting theme ‘Walking in the Air’. Coupled with this Christmas classic is a screening of excerpts from the 1940 Disney film, Fantasia, as the orchestra dazzle and delight with an accompanying performance of classical favourites, The Nutcracker Suite and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Tickets £18/£12 (under 16s) 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
Thursday 9 February 2017, 7.30pm The Assembly Rooms, Bath De Falla Rodrigo Ravel
Ritual Fire Dance Guitar Concerto Mother Goose (Full Ballet)
Guitar Conductor
Craig Ogden Jason Thornton
Bath Philharmonia transports you into a world of fire, passion and fantasy. Taken from his ballet El Amor Brujo (The Bewitched Love), De Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance describes a young gypsy girl’s frenzied dance with the ghost of her dead husband. Transcending time and place and inspired by the gardens at Palacio Real de Aranjuez, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez is full of evocative Iberian melodies and embued with the natural world. In writing Mother Goose, Ravel sought to reflect the fantastical world of childhood. Drawing on the fairy tales of Perrault, Ravel introduces fairy tale characters and colourful orchestrations in the most wonderful sophisticated manner. Australian born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. He regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at the major venues and collaborates with many of the UK’s top artists and ensembles. Tickets £25/£20/£15/£5 (under 16s) Available at the Bath Box Office 01225 463362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk
Learning & Participation
Bath Philharmonia is passionate about enabling people from all different backgrounds and abilities to take part in music making in a fun, friendly and safe environment. We continue to create original music with lots of different people in loads of different settings. We are also passionate about producing music of the highest quality, taking the orchestra and its repertoire as inspiration for the music and performances we create. For more information go to www.bathphil.co.uk/learning
Tuesday 14 March 2017, 7pm King Edward’s School Gala Concert The Guildhall, Bath In 2016/17 Bath Philharmonia are delighted to work in partnership once again with King Edward’s School, enabling the next generation of orchestral players to experience challenging repertoire, professional rehearsals and masterclasses and a Side by Side gala concert. The culmination of our partnership is a performance at The Guildhall involving KES Orchestra alongside Bath Philharmonia players and concerti performed by talented soloists from the school. Tickets Available from King Edward’s School 01225 464313, box-office@kesbath.com
Saturday 8 April 2017, 7.30pm Bath Abbey Verdi
Requiem
Soprano Mezzo-soprano Tenor Bass
Naomi Harvey Nina Alupii-Morton Alex Tsilogiannis Thomas Faulkner
Bath Minerva Choir Conductor
Gavin Carr
This concert is promoted by Bath Minerva Choir Composed when Verdi was at the height of his powers and fame, the Requiem is truly a masterpiece of epic proportions. Scored for large orchestra, chorus and four soloists, it combines scale and drama of his late great operatic pieces with an overwhelming sense of spiritual profundity. The Dies Irae is a vision of damnation like no other, with the wailing of souls and the fires of hell, whilst the Sanctus is a compositional tour de force of joy and hope, contained within an amazing double fugue. With our friends at Bath Minerva, their conductor Gavin Carr and four international soloists (all recognised as Verdi specialists) it will be a night to remember in the inspirational setting of Bath Abbey. Tickets £28/£20/£15/£10 (under 16s £5) Available at the Bath Box Office 01225 463362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk
Friday 21 April 2017, 7.30pm The Forum, Bath Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 Prokofiev Romeo & Juliet (excerpts) Violin Conductor
Nicola Benedetti Jason Thornton
King Edward’s School, Bath proudly sponsors Nicola Benedetti performing with Bath Philharmonia Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought after violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate audiences with her innate musicianship and dynamic presence, coupled with her wide appeal as a high profile advocate for classical music, has made her one of the most influential classical artists of today. Nicola will bring Shostakovich’s dark introspective First Violin Concerto to life with a performance that promises energy, torment, and breath-taking passion. The hostile political environment of Russian state censorship in the 1940’s meant that Shostakovich kept the concerto unpublished until after Stalin’s death. Prokofiev however was lured back to the Soviet Union with promises of lucrative commissions. Romeo and Juliet, possibly one of the most dramatic and colourful scorings of all ballets, was premiered in 1938. Its centerpiece, The Montagues and Capulets (or The Dance of the Knights) has gained notoriety both for its sheer drama and as the theme tune to the television programme, The Apprentice. Tickets £35/£30/£25/£20/£5 (under 16s) 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
Friday 30 June 2017, 7.30pm The Forum, Bath The Brian Roper Memorial Concert Stravinsky The Firebird (excerpts) Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel) Piano Conductor
Peter Donohoe Jason Thornton
Bath Philharmonia present their second annual concert dedicated to the memory of local philanthropist Brian Roper; a concert that encourages future generations to develop their own love of classical music. Stravinsky’s ground-breaking ballet was an instant sensation when it was premiered and remains an audience favourite today. Based on a Russian folk legend, it features gorgeous melodies, fierce rhythmic intensity, and one of music’s most breathtaking finales. Pictures at an Exhibition is probably Mussorgsky’s most famous composition. Written to perpetuate the memory of his dear friend, artist and architect Victor Hartman, Mussorgsky musically depicts a set of ten figurative art works. Ravel later brought these works to life with his wonderful and exotic orchestrations. Since his success as joint winner of the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition for his performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, Peter Donohoe has gained international renown as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique. Rachmaninov’s concerto combines technical wizardry with melodic intimacy for one of the composer’s most masterly and electrifying creations. Tickets £35/£30/£25/£20/£5 (under 16s) 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 23 September 2017, 7.30pm St Swithin’s Church, Bath Schubert
Death & the Maiden (Movt 1)
(arr. Mahler)
Mahler Faure
Kindertotenlieder Requiem
Baritone
Gavin Carr
Cantilena Choir Conductor
Jason Thornton
Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder is a study in the death of innocence and one his most seldom performed works. The poignancy of this song-cycle and the chamber-music textures employed suggests a level of intimacy never explored in his symphonies. Faure’s Requiem on the other hand is a study in human hope. By favouring serenity, joy and liberation over the dread often used by other composers in their requiem settings, Faure comforts and crafts music of astonishing beauty. Gavin Carr is a celebrated baritone and conductor of international standing with wide experience in both the opera and choral worlds. Tickets £25/£20/£15/£5 (under 16s) Available at the Bath Box Office 01225 463362, www.bathboxoffice.org.uk
Jason Thornton, Music Director, Bath Philharmonia Our Friends and Patrons are the cornerstone upon which Bath Philharmonia is built. By supporting us, you are enhancing the cultural life of Bath and the South West through: • Concerts of outstanding artistic quality with internationally renowned soloists. • Broadening audiences by promoting the live orchestral experience to all members of our community. • Enabling open access participation in live music-making through our education performances and workshops. • Furthering learning and professional development by working in collaboration with other music education providers. • Programming a rich and diverse repertoire in innovative contexts. We have a range of membership packages available ranging from £35 for individual Friends Membership to £2500+ for Bath Philharmonia Benefactors.
To help us make all of this happen please call 07525 857720 or go to www.bathphil.co.uk for more details
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“We passionately believe in the power of orchestral music to move, entertain and most importantly bring people together. We want as many people as possible, from every part of our community, to experience live orchestral music and to take part in music-making. Music enhances and even changes people’s lives, and every penny raised is directed towards this goal.”
Bath Philharmonia Widcombe Institute Widcombe Hill Bath BA2 6AA 07525 857720 info@bathphil.co.uk www.bathphil.co.uk
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