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The Corridors of Power Tuesday 27 February 2018 Royal Festival Hall 7pm
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Contents
Welcome 06 Soloists and Orchestra 08 Programme notes Julian Haylock 10 Texts and translations 13 Support us 18 Biographies 20 OAE team 25 OAE Education 26 Supporters 28 Future concerts 30 OAE News 32
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Visions, Illusions and Delusions
From now until 2023, we’re going back to our roots with Six Chapters of Enlightenment. These are six special seasons of concerts exploring the Enlightenment, the golden age of science and philosophy that gave our Orchestra its name. Each year we’ll be examining through music ideas handed down to us by the great thinkers of the Enlightenment, whose work in the 18th century on everything from human rights to vaccinations helped make the modern world. In 2017-18, we open our first chapter, Visions, Illusions and Delusions. Shaken out of old certainties by quantum leaps in science, the Enlightenment started with radical doubts: Is seeing believing? Should we really judge by appearances? Who can I trust? Is love what you think it is? What is right and what is wrong? We’ll be exploring these questions, through characters like Judas, Semele and Berenice, musicians that are always confounding expectations, such as Nicola Benedetti and Sir András Schiff, and the jokes and hidden secrets of Mozart’s scores. This means our lovingly-crafted performances will be combined more than ever with special efforts to help you discover what the composers of this wonderful music were thinking, and the how the times they lived in influenced what they created.
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The Corridors of Power
“What muddled folly of dark thoughts clouds my reason? We gave this concert the title The Corridors of Power because of the dark interplay of politics and passions in the stories it tells. Should I judge by appearances? Who can I trust? Should I even trust my own feelings? In Haydn’s Scena di Berenice, Berenice is Queen of Egypt, set to marry Macedonia’s Antigono for political reasons. But she’s really in love with Antigono’s son, Demetrio. In this fabulous concert aria - perhaps classical music’s equivalent of the short story – she toys, anguished, with a familiar question. What wins out – love or duty? We also hear music from Mozart’s great opera about power and its abuses, La clemenza di Tito. There’s an assassination attempt fuelled by jealously and a remarkable plea for forgiveness. Haydn himself was no stranger to the corridors of power, spending around 30 years in the service of the Hungarian noble family, the Esterházys, living with them in a spectacular Baroque palace in the Habsburg Empire. He was only given the freedom to work elsewhere later in his life, and it’s from Haydn’s time in London that tonight’s music is taken.
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The Corridors of Power
Concert repertoire and soloists
Tuesday 27 February 2018 Royal Festival Hall 7pm The concert will finish at approximately 9pm, there will be one 20 minute interval. Mozart - Symphony No. 38 Prague (movements 1 and 2) Mozart - Ecco il punto...Non più di fiori from La clemenza di Tito Mozart - Symphony No.38 Prague (movement 3) Mozart - Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio from La clemenza di Tito INTERVAL Haydn - Scena di Berenice Haydn - Symphony no.103 in Eb Drumroll Ádám Fischer - conductor Stéphanie d’Oustrac - mezzo-soprano Pre-concert talk Dr. Martin Clarke, The Open University 6pm Level 5 Function Room, Royal Festival Hall
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Concert supported by JMS Advisory Limited
The Corridors of Power
Orchestra
Violin I Pavlo Beznosiuk Matthew Truscott Kati Debretzeni Ken Aiso Andrew Roberts Julia Kuhn Rachel Isserlis Laima Olsson* Roy Mowatt Violin II Margaret Faultless James Toll Alice Evans Daniel Edgar Stephen Rouse Joanna Lawrence Claudia Norz Emily Deans* Dominika Feher
Violas Max Mandel Annette Isserlis Nicholas Logie Martin Kelly Marina Ascherson Alba Encinas* Katie Heller Cellos Jonathan Manson Catherine Rimer Andrew Skidmore Ruth Alford Martyna Jankowska* Helen Verney Double Bass Cecelia Bruggemeyer Christine Sticher Juan Diaz* Kate Aldridge
Flute Lisa Beznosiuk Neil McLaren
Trumpet David Blackadder Matthew Wells
Oboe Daniel Bates Lars Henriksson
Timpani Adrian Bending
Clarinet Antony Pay Katherine Spencer Bassoon Peter Whelan Sally Jackson Horn Phillip Eastop Martin Lawrence
*Participants in the Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience Scheme for talented emerging period instrument players
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The Corridors of Power
Programme notes
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Symphony in D Prague (1786) I Adagio – Allegro II Andante III (Finale) Presto
‘Nobody will fail to see in Mozart a man of talent and an experienced, abundant and agreeable composer,’ read an anonymous obituary in the Viennese journal Musikalische Monatschrift. ‘But I have, as yet, encountered no true connoisseur of art who took him for a correct artist. Least of all will tasteful criticism regard him in the matter of poetry as a true and sensitive composer.’ Written just five years after the 1786 premiere of the Prague Symphony, it defies belief that the man whose rapturously inspired music opens tonight’s concert was unceremoniously buried in a communal pauper’s grave, the location of which remains a mystery. Mozart's relationship with Vienna was always ambivalent. Although concert-goers generally found his music enchanting (if occasionally somewhat ‘advanced’), those who wielded the greatest power were not always so enamoured. As the years went by, so ‘the musical capital of Europe’ became increasingly wary and weary of the youthful genius. The situation came to a head with the premiere of The Marriage of Figaro in 1786, which was almost cancelled by censors sensitive to having the nobility’s propensity for political intrigue and licentiousness lampooned. The general public couldn’t get enough of it, but increasingly disillusioned by the political in-fighting, Mozart decided to quit Vienna – at least for the time being. Meanwhile, the first Prague performance of The Marriage of Figaro had taken the city by storm, inspiring a deeply grateful Mozart to compose both Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito specifically for his thousands of Bohemian admirers. Additionally, he created one of his boldest symphonic soundworlds for the great city: the Prague Symphony – a three-movement work of unprecedented virtuosity that created a sensation at its premiere.
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The first movement opens with an imposing slow introduction – when the music slips into the minor mode one senses Don Giovanni waiting in the wings – which gives way to a propulsive Allegro of insatiable drive and energy. The central Andante's main theme is one of the composer's most heart-warming inspirations, albeit one that struggles to retain its sense of equanimity due to a series of agonised episodes and wistful harmonic asides. The whistle-stop finale, which follows in tonight’s concert after the first of two arias from La clemenza di Tito, sounds for much of the time like an escapee from a comic opera, carrying all before it with a seemingly inexhaustible stream of opera buffa symphonic invention.
Arias from La clemenza di Tito (1791) Ecco il punto... Non più di fiori (Act II) Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio (Act I)
Our Prague-based opening half continues with the first of two arias from La clemenza di Tito. The practice of working movements from longer works around other pieces was customary at the time, perhaps most notoriously in the case of the 1806 premiere of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, which was not only split in half by the main interval, but continued only after the soloist (Franz Clement) had performed one of his self-penned showstoppers with the violin held upside-down!
La clemenza di Tito was commissioned by the Bohemian Estates to mark the coronation celebrations of Leopold II, King of Bohemia. During his 25-year reign, Leopold had established in Tuscany an enlightened regime that was the envy of all Europe and so the Titus legend seemed a particularly apposite choice. Uppermost in the organisers’ minds was hiring the finest singers available and providing everyone with a thrilling visual spectacle. Mozart turned the whole thing around in just eight weeks, although most of the work was accomplished in just 20 days. To help things along, he even turned to his talented pupil Franz Süssmayr to fill in some of the less demanding passages of recitative.
We learn from the Krönigsburg für Prag, that La clemenza was the hottest ticket in town: ‘The Estates had spared no expense in performing the opera, even going as far as to send a special agent to Italy in order to secure the services of a leading primma donna and male singer … The demand for tickets was so great that they finally ran out, so that many local and foreign visitors, including persons of high degree, could not gain entry.’ As the opera opens, Vitellia, daughter of the deposed Emperor, Vitellius, has fallen passionately in love with Titus, his replacement. Titus considers marriage to three other women before finally deciding upon Vitellia, but by now, out of jealousy, she has arranged for him to be murdered with the help of her devoted admirer, Sextus. In Ecco il punto... Non più di fiori, Vitellia determines to confess to Titus her role in the intended assassination, while in Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio (which follows after the symphony’s finale), Sextus sings of his undying love for Vitellia in a glorious outpouring of melody shared with a solo clarinet – the part was written specifically for Mozart’s friend, Anton Stadler, who travelled especially to Prague to play in the premiere and for whom Mozart also composed his Clarinet Quintet and Concerto.
INTERVAL Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) Scena di Berenice (1795) Haydn is consistently ranked alongside Beethoven and Mozart as one of the three great masters of the Classical era, yet his unadorned plain-speaking and emotional directness has occasionally been mistaken for a lack of musical finesse. Haydn touched on this very problem with his biographer and friend, Albert Dies: ‘If an idea strikes me as satisfactory to the ear and heart,’ he explained, ‘I would far rather overlook a grammatical error than sacrifice it to mere pedantic trifling.’ If Mozart’s music often seems to walk on air, Haydn appears perfectly content to create his miracles anchored on terra firma. Haydn was once asked how he managed to compose at such a blistering pace: ‘I get up early,’ came the disarming reply, ‘and as soon as I have dressed I go down on my knees and pray to God and the Blessed Virgin that I may have another successful day. Then, when I've had some breakfast, I sit down at the clavier and begin my search. If I hit on an idea quickly, it goes ahead easily and without much trouble. But if I can't get on, I know that I must have forfeited God's grace by some fault of mine, and then I pray once more for grace.’ This clearly did the trick as he went on to compose no fewer than 107 symphonies, 83 string quartets, 45 piano trios, 62 piano sonatas, 14 masses and 26 operas, among countless other scores. Tonight’s concert is entitled The Corridors of Power, and if in the first half we visited Prague to experience the healing power of an emperor’s forgiveness, in the second we move to London for Haydn’s Scena di Berenice – a stand-alone concert aria that explores the moral dilemma faced by the Queen of Egypt between her formal betrothal to Antigano and her undying love for his son, Demetrio, who faced by the unbearable thought of losing Berenice has vowed to kill himself. Cast in the form recitative-aria-recitat ive-aria, Haydn’s highly dramatic setting leaves no emotional stone unturned. 010
Symphony No. 103 in E flat Drumroll (1795) 1 Adagio – Allegro con spirito 2 Andante più tosto allegretto 3 Menuet 4 Finale. Allegro con spirito
Haydn spent most of his creative life in isolation away from the bright lights of Vienna, working for the Esterházy family at their magnificent palace in Austro-Hungary. ‘I was cut off from the world,’ he declared. ‘There was no one near to torment me or make me doubt myself, and so I had to become original.’ Several important elements helped Haydn forge his symphonic style. Firstly, the prevailing gallant mode of expression, with its propensity for formal balance, grace and symmetry; also, the world of opera, from which he borrowed the structure of the traditional overture, as well as passages reminiscent of arias, recitative and blustering buffo finales. The early Viennese symphony was also of crucial importance, with its love of dramatic contrast and experimental interplay of tonal areas. So too the concerto grosso, whose special feature was the contrast between solo and tutti passages, and the relatively light-hearted serenade . These various musical ingredients were absorbed by Haydn’s insatiable creative personality, characterised by his delight in rusticity, his revelling in the unexpected, his tongue-in-cheek musical ‘jokes’ for the special appreciation of the cognoscenti, his dabbling in unusual instrumental combinations and colours, and unrivalled flexibility with form and design. At the invitation of the violinist and impresario Johann Peter Salomon, Haydn began the first of two historic visits to England on New Year’s Day 1791 – he was nearly 59 and stayed until June the following year. For this first visit he wrote, among other things, six symphonies (Nos.93-98), which were performed in the Hanover Square Rooms by an orchestra led by Salomon with Haydn himself at the keyboard. In 1794 Haydn returned to England with a further set of six symphonies (Nos.99-104) that stand at the summit of his creative achievement.
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Symphony No 103 was composed for the spring season of 1795, and immediately arrests the attention with a haunting introduction announced by the drum-roll that gives the symphony its nickname and which re-emerges towards the end of the vivacious allegro main section that follows. The Andante – a set of variations on two alternating folk tunes – created a sensation at its premiere such that it had to be immediately repeated. There follows a minuet whose symphonic muscle all but obliterates the genre’s light dance-music origins, and a finale set in motion by horn-calls, whose dazzling invention and insatiable life-force are remarkable from a composer in his early sixties.
Programme notes by Julian Haylock © 2018
The Corridors of Power
Texts and translations Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ecco il punto... Non più di fiori from La clemenza di Tito
Recitative
Recitative
Vitellia Ecco il punto, o Vitellia, d'esaminar la tua costanza: avrai valor che basti a rimirar esangue il Sesto tuo fedel? Sesto, che t'ama più della vita sua? Che per tua colpa divenne reo? Che t'ubbidì crudele? Che ingiusta t'adorò? Che in faccia a morte sì gran fede ti serba, e tu frattanto non ignota a te stessa, andrai tranquilla al talamo d'Augusto? Ah, mi vedrei sempre Sesto d'intorno; e l'aure, e i sassi temerei che loquaci mi scoprissero a Tito. A' piedi suoi vadasi il tutto a palesar. Si scemi il delitto di Sesto, se scusar non si può, col fallo mio. D'impero e d'imenei, speranze, addio.
Vitellia Now is the moment, O Vitellia, to test your firmess: will you have sufficient courage to look upon your faithful Sextus lifeless? Sextus, who loves you more than his own life, who for your sake committed a crime, who obeyed you, cruel one, and adored you, unjust as you are; who in the face of death remains so true to you, while you, aware of this, calmly go to Caesar's bridal bed? Ah, I should always see Sextus near me and fear the breezes and the stones might speak and betray me to Titus. Let me go and confess all at his feet. Let Sextus's crime, If it cannot be forgiven, be lessened through my guilt. Ah farewell, hopes of dominion and marriage!
Aria
Aria
Non più di fiori Vaghe catene Discenda Imene Ad intrecciar.
No more shall Hymen descend to weave fair garlands of flowers.
Stretta fra barbare Aspre ritorte Veggo la morte Ver me avanzar.
Bound in harsh, cruel chains, I see death advance towards me.
Infelice! qual orrore! Ah, di me che si dirà? Chi vedesse il mio dolore, Pur avria di me pietà.
O wretched me! How horrible! Ah, what will be said of me? Yet he who could see my distress would have pity on me.
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Parto, parto, ma tu ben mio from La clemenza di Tito Sesto Parto, ma tu ben mio, Meco ritorna in pace; Sarò qual più ti piace, Quel che vorrai farò.
Sextus I go, but, my dearest, make peace again with me. I will be what you would most have me be, do whatever you wish.
Guardami, e tutto oblio, E a vendicarti io volo; A questo sguardo solo Da me sì pensera. Ah, qual poter, oh Dei! Donaste alla beltà.
Look at me, and I will forget all and fly to avenge you; I will think only of that glance at me. Ah, ye gods, what power you have given beauty!
Franz Joseph Haydn
Scena di Berenice
Recitativo
Recitative
Berenice Berenice, che fai? Muore il tuo bene, stupida, e tu non corri? Oh Dio! Vacilla l’incerto passo; un gelido mi scuote insolito tremor tutte le vene, e a gran pena il suo peso il piè sostiene.
Berenice Berenice, what are you doing? Your beloved is dying, and yet you, like a fool, do not run to him? Oh God, my uncertain footsteps falter! A strange, icy chill courses through my veins, and only with great pain can my feet support their burden.
Dove son? Qual confusa folla d’idee tutte funeste adombra la mia ragion? Veggo Demetrio: il veggo che in atto di ferir… Fermati! Vivi! d’Antigono io sarò. Del core ad onta volo a giurargli fè: dirò che l’amo; Dirò… Misera me, s’oscura il giorno, balena il ciel! L’hanno irritato i miei meditati spergiuri. Ahimè! Lasciate ch’io soccorra il mio ben, barbari Dei. Voi m’impedite, e intanto forse un colpo improvviso…
Where am I? What muddled folly of dark thoughts clouds my reason? I see Demetrius: I see him in the act of striking… Stop! Live! I shall marry Antigono. In spite of my true feelings, I fly to swear my fidelity to him. I shall say I love him; I shall say... Wretched me! The daylight fades, the heavens flash with lightning! My intended perjury has angered them. Alas! Let me come to the aid of my beloved, cruel Gods! You block my way, and meanwhile perhaps some sudden blow…
Ah, sarete contenti; eccolo ucciso. Aspetta, anima bella: ombre compagne a Lete andrem. Se non potei salvarti potrò fedel… Ma tu mi guardi, e parti?
Ah, you will be content: behold him, killed. Wait, my beloved soul-mate; let our shades go as companions to Lethe. Though I was unable to save you, I can still be faithful… But you look at me, and leave?
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Aria
Aria
Non partir, bell’idol mio: Per quell’onda all’altra sponda voglio anch’io passar con te.
Do not go, my beloved; I too want to cross that river to the other side with you.
Recitativo
Recitative
Me infelice! Che fingo? Che ragiono? Dove rapita sono dal torrente crudel de’ miei martiri? Misera Berenice, ah, tu deliri!
Unhappy me! What am I pretending? What am I thinking? Where am I being dragged off by the cruel torrent of my anguish? Wretched Berenice, ah, you are delirious!
Aria
Aria
Perché, se tanti siete, che delirar mi fate, perché, non m’uccidete, affanni del mio cor?
Why, since you are so numerous, you who cause me to rave, why do you not kill me, torments of my heart?
Crescete, oh Dio, crescete finché mi porga aita con togliermi di vita l’eccesso del dolor.
Increase, oh God, increase, until the surfeit of grief at least comes to my aid by taking away my life.
We are grateful to Classical Opera & The Mozartists for this translation of Scena di Berenice
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Luise Buchberger – Co-Principal Cello
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Support us The past 30 years have seen the OAE grow to become one of the world’s leading period instrument orchestras performing to a global audience of over 5 million people each year. Our education work reaches over 12,000 participants annually across the UK. The Night Shift, our pioneering late night series of informal performances, now tours internationally attracting audiences of over 4,000 each year. We love what we do and we’re proud of our international reputation for performing with warmth, imagination and expertise. We could not have reached these milestones without our loyal band of supporters. Our box office sales, touring and public funding brings in 70% of the income we need and the generosity of our donors is vital to make up the remaining 30%. Without this support, we could not realise our ambitious plans to continue our pioneering work on the concert platform and beyond.
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The Corridors of Power
Biographies
Ádám Fischer
Stéphanie d¹Oustrac
Dynamic initiative and diversity characterise the creative work of the world-renowned conductor Adam Fischer. He is the founder of two international festivals where he has found an artistic home. Under his direction, the Wagner Festival in Budapest has established an excellent reputation in the more than ten years of its existence. The Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt was founded in 1987 and has established its reputation as a renowned centre for performing the music of Haydn.
From a very young age, Stéphanie d’Oustrac started dedicating herself to music and the stage. William Christie was the first to discover her talents as a singer and an actress and offered her her first tragic roles. Her early career was undeniably devoted to the baroque repertoire (Médée by Charpentier/ title-role, Dido and Enea/Dido, Armide by Lully/ title-role, Alcina/Ruggiero).
Adam Fischer is also Artistic Consultant to the Tonhalle concert hall in Düsseldorf where he has initiated a human rights award presented every year at a specially organised human rights concert. He has appeared for more than thirty years at leading opera houses worldwide including the MET in New York, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Covent Garden in London, the Opéra de Bastille in Paris, Oper Zürich and La Scala in Milan, where he recently conducted a highly acclaimed new production of The Magic Flute. In the concert hall, Adam Fischer regularly appears on the podium with the Wiener Philharmoniker Wiener Symphoniker and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg and in collaboration with orchestras such as the Münchner Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic, Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras, NHK Symphony Orchestra. He is a recipient of the Order of Dannebrog which was given to him by the Queen of Denmark and has been awarded the honorary title of professor by the Austrian Federal President.
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Her perfect diction soon drew public attention and she has now become one of the most sought-after singers in the French repertoire (Carmen/title-role, Les Contes d’Hoffmann/La Muse/Nicklausse, Béatrice et Bénédict/Béatrice, Pelléas et Mélisande/ Mélisande…). Mozart’s operas also have a very special place in Stéphanie d’Oustrac’s repertoire (La Clemenza di Tito/Sesto, Così fan tutte/Dorabella). Her artistry appeals to prestigious stage directors such as R. Carsen, R. Castellucci, M. Clément, W. Decker, J. Deschamps, Y. Kokko-s, D. Mc Vicar, L. Pelly, J-F. Sivadier, J-M. Villegier, D. Tcherniakov… as well as the most respected conductors, such as A. Altinoglu, M-W. Chung, J. Conlon, A. Curtis, Sir C. Davis, C. Dutoit, Sir J. E. Gardiner, P. Jordan, J. Lopez Cobos, M. Minkowski, L. Morlot, J. Nelson, K. Ono, J. Rhorer, M. Schönwandt, A. Fischer. She sings on the greatest international stages: Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Concertgebouw and Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, Opéra de Lausanne, Opernhaus Zürich, Barbican Center, Wigmore Hall, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Milan Scala, Glyndebourne Festival, Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Future projects include Carmen at the Dallas Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the New National Theater (Tokyo), Werther in Nancy and Monte Carlo, L’Incoronazione di Poppea /Ottavia in Zurich, Salzburg, Les Troyens/Cassandre and Don Giovanni/ Donna Elvira at the Opéra de Paris, Ariadne auf Naxos/Komponist in Toulouse, Béatrice et Bénédict/ Béatrice in Barcelona.
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
“Not all orchestras are the same”.
But that’s not the only way we do things differently.
That’s been our calling card since a pioneering group of musicians formed the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment a little over thirty years ago.
Most orchestras have a single Music Director who calls the shots. That’s not for us. Our musical decisions lie in the hands of our players, who chose to work with a range of distinguished artists. These include our five Principal Artists – Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Vladimir Jurowski, John Butt and Iván Fischer. And they choose to play an extraordinary range of music. This year we’ve performed composers from Palestrina (1525-1594) to Sally Beamish (1956-) and works from every century inbetween.
But what does it really mean? Our starting point is always our period instruments. At its simplest, this means we play on instruments (or replicas) from the time the music was written. The trumpets Bach wrote for in the 1730s in Leipzig. The violins Mozart wrote for as he travelled Europe in the 1770s. Or Mahler’s mighty horns from turn of the century Vienna. This makes life more difficult, and more exciting. What would Bach or Beethoven have heard? How might the players in their day have played? What does that mean for playing concerts now, with this historic information? Each concert needs hours of research to understand the performance tradition, making old music new.
In our 32 years, we’ve become Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre and Associates at Glyndebourne and Kings Place. But being welcomed by these organisations hasn’t stopped us experimenting. The Night Shift, our series of informal classical gigs taking our music to people in pubs and clubs, goes from strength to strength. And our Education programme brings old music to young people in towns and cities from Durham to Lowestoft and beyond.
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The OAE is a registered charity number 295329 and a registered company number 2040312 Registered office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG Telephone 020 7239 9370 info@oae.co.uk Design and art direction –LucienneRoberts+ Photography – Angela Moore 024
OAE Education
Vision 4 Music A New Year and a busy start for OAE Education - in January alone we delivered 70 workshops in London and County Durham and in early February travelled to Durham Cathedral for the world premiere of a new work inspired by Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen. The Fairy Queen: Midsummer, Magic and Mayhem Children from eight Durham primary schools joined us in a reworking of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen.
Written by Hazel Gould and with new compositions by James Redwood, our story was told by soprano Amy Carson and bass Timothy Dickinson, the orchestra and the children themselves.
A programme to involve, empower and inspire So far this season we have undertaken 112 workshops 16 concerts over 8000 people across the country 025
Coming soon: A Camden Celebration Monday 12 March 2018 Royal Albert Hall The project is about everyone in it and what we can achieve together irrespective of our own ability. It is about sharing ideas and creating something much bigger than we could do on our own, involving, empowering and inspiring.
Support our education programme The work we do could not happen without the support of our generous donors. If you would like to support our Education programme please contact: Emily Stubbs Development Director emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk Telephone 020 7239 9380
Wondrous Machine: Our Recipe 1. Take a fabulous movement from Henry Purcell’s Ode to St Cecelia 2. Add in ideas from pupils from Gospel Oak, St Patrick’s and Frank Barnes Primary Schools and students from Swiss Cottage Schools in London. 3. Mix in ideas from Composer James Redwood 4. Blend ideas from players from the Orchestra and students from the Royal Academy of Music 5. Mix and leave to settle for a month 6. Practise and refine 7. Add 1500 singers from Camden and lots of wider opportunity groups 8. Bring in the Camden Jazz Band, Concert Band and Youth Orchestra 9. Practise some more 10. Perform at the Royal Albert Hall in a world premiere!
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Supporters
The OAE continues to grow and thrive through the generosity of our supporters. We are very grateful to our sponsors and Patrons and hope you will consider joining them. We offer a close involvementin the life of the Orchestra with many opportunities to meet players, attend rehearsals and even accompany us on tour.
OAE Thirty Circle The OAE is particularly grateful to the following members of the Thirty Circle who have so generously contributed to the re-financing of the Orchestra through the OAE Trust. Thirty Circle Patrons Bob and Laura Cory Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Thirty Circle Members Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones Selina and David Marks Julian and Camilla Mash Mark and Rosamund Williams Our Supporters Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience scheme Ann and Peter Law Principal Sponsor
Corporate Partners Apax Partners E.S.J.G. Limited Lubbock Fine Chartered Accountants Mark Allen Group Parabola Land Stephen Levinson at Keystone Law Swan Turton
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Season Patrons Julian and Annette Armstrong Bob and Laura Cory Adrian Frost Bruce Harris John Armitage Charitable Trust Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones Selina and David Marks Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE Mark and Rosamund Williams Project Patrons JMS Advisory Limited Julian and Camilla Mash Haakon and Imogen Overli Philip and Rosalyn Wilkinson Aria Patrons Denys and Vicki Firth Madeleine Hodgkin Stanley Lowy Gary and Nina Moss Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Caroline Steane Eric Tomsett Chair Patrons Felix Appelbe and Lisa Bolgar Smith – Co-principal Cello Mrs Nicola Armitage – Education Director Hugh and Michelle Arthur – Viola Victoria and Edward Bonham Carter – Principal Trumpet Anthony and Celia Edwards – Principal Oboe Sir Vernon and Lady Ellis – Co-Principal Viola James Flynn QC – Co-Principal Lute/Theorbo Paul Forman – Co-Principal Cello, Co-Principal Bassoon and Co-Principal Horn Su Li and Stephen Gibbons – Violin The Mark Williams Foundation – Co-Principal Bassoon
Jenny and Tim Morrison – Second Violin Andrew Nurnberg – Co-Principal Oboe Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA – Co-Principal Bassoon Olivia Roberts – Violin John and Rosemary Shannon – Principal Horn Christopher Stewart Roger and Pam Stubbs – Sub-Principal Clarinet Crispin Woodhead and Christine Rice – Principal Timpani Education Patrons John and Sue Edwards – Principal Education Patrons Mrs Nicola Armitage Patricia and Stephen Crew The Nigel Gee Foundation Venetia Hoare Rory and Louise Landman Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA Associate Patrons Noël and Caroline Annesley David and Marilyn Clark Christopher and Lesley Cooke David Emmerson Ian S Ferguson and Dr Susan Tranter Jonathan and Tessa Gaisman Peter and Sally Hilliar Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust Noel De Keyzer Marc-Olivier and Agnes Laurent Madame M Lege-Germain Sir Timothy and Lady Lloyd Michael and Harriet Maunsell Roger Mears and Joanie Speers David Mildon in memory of Lesley Mildon Andrew and Cindy Peck Ivor Samuels and Gerry Wakelin Emily Stubbs and Stephen McCrum Shelley von Strunckel Rev’d John Wates OBE and Carol Wates Mr J Westwood
We are also very grateful to our anonymous supporters and OAE Friends for their ongoing generosity and enthusiasm.
Young Ambassador Patrons William Norris Young Patrons Josh Bell and Adam Pile Nina Hamilton Marianne and William Cartwright-Hignett Sam Hucklebridge Joseph Cooke and Rowan Roberts Natalie Watson Gold Friends Mrs A Boettcher Michael Brecknell Mr and Mrs C Cochin de Billy Geoffrey Collens Hugh Courts Silver Friends Dennis Baldry Haylee and Michael Bowsher Tony Burt Christopher Campbell Michael A Conlon Mr and Mrs Michael Cooper Simon Edelsten Norman and Sarah Fiore Malcolm Herring Patricia Herrmann Rupert and Alice King Stephen and Roberta Rosefield David and Ruth Samuels Susannah Simons Her Honour Suzanne Stewart Bronze Friends Tony Baines Keith Barton Dan Burt Anthony and Jo Diamond Mrs SM Edge Mrs Mary Fysh Ray and Liz Harsant Auriel Hill Nigel Mackintosh Angus Macpherson Julian Markson Anthony and Carol Rentoul Paul Rivlin Alan Sainer Gillian Threlfall Mr and Mrs Tony Timms Mrs Joy Whitby David Wilson
For more information on supporting the OAE please contact: Emily Stubbs Development Director emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk Telephone 020 7239 9381
Trusts and foundations AMK Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation Apax Foundation Arts Council England Catalyst Fund Arts Council England Small Capital Grants Arts Council England Strategic Touring Fund Barbour Foundation Boltini Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation Brian Mitchell Charitable Settlement Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust The Charles Peel Charitable Trust Chapman Charitable Trust Chivers Trust Cockayne – London Community Foundation John S Cohen Foundation Derek Hill Foundation D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund Ernest Cook Trust Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Fenton Arts Trust Foyle Foundation Garfield Weston Foundation Geoffrey Watling Charity The Golden Bottle Trust Goldsmiths’ Company Charity Idlewild Trust Jack Lane Charitable Trust JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation J Paul Getty Jnr General Charitable Trust John Lyon’s Charity Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust The Mark Williams Foundation Michael Marks Charitable Trust National Foundation for Youth Music Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust Old Possum’s Practical Trust Orchestras Live Palazzetto Bru-Zane Paul Bassham Charitable Trust The Patrick Rowland Foundation PF Charitable Trust PRS Foundation Pye Charitable Settlement RK Charitable Trust
RVW Trust Schroder Charity Trust Sir James Knott Trust The Loveday Charitable Trust The R&I Pilkington Charitable Trust The Shears Foundation Valentine Charitable Trust Violet Mauray Charitable Trust
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Upcoming concerts Like what you heard tonight? There are plenty of opportunities to hear us throughout the year...
What's next?
Two Rogers
Bach and Handel : Great Balls of Fire Thursday 1 March 2018 Kings Place 7.30pm
Mozart: Master of Deception
This concert explores the virtuosic keyboard music of Bach and Handel – two great German composers who in their day enjoyed unrivalled reputations as masters of the keyboard. Bach – Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 Handel – Organ Concerto Op. 4 no. 1 Handel – Organ Concerto Op. 7 no. 5 Marin Alsop – conductor
Wednesday 11 April 2018 Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre 7pm Join us for the second of two concerts exploring the hidden secrets of Mozart’s familiar scores, with its very own two Rogers – Emeritus Conductor Sir Roger Norrington and Principal Horn Roger Montgomery. Mozart – Symphony No. 33 Mozart – Horn Concerto No.4 Mozart – Horn Concerto No.1 Mozart – Symphony No. 36 Sir Roger Norrington – conductor Roger Montgomery – horn
Visit oae.co.uk for more details on all upcoming concerts. 029
Songs from the heart
Credit: Nadia F Romanini
Celebrate the Easter Story
Credit: Marco Borgreve
Love and Duty Monday 4 February 2019
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre 7pm Can you enjoy all three of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Or do you have to compromise? We explore this question with sublime arias by Mozart and Gluck, sung by Czech soprano Magdalena Kožená. Mozart – Symphony No. 40 Gluck – Arias from Il Parnaso Confuso, Antigono and La Clemenza di Tito Gluck – Dance of the Furies from Orfeo Mozart – Arias from The Marriage of Figaro and La clemenza di Tito
Bach's St Matthew Passion
Giovanni Antonini – conductor Magdalena Kožená – mezzo-soprano
Commemorate Easter with Bach’s St Matthew Passion, featuring an allstar line-up of singers, led by Mark Padmore.
Monday 26 March 2018 Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre 7pm
Bach – St Matthew Passion
Book now southbankcentre.co.uk/oae 020 3879 9555, daily 9am–8pm Ticket Office, Royal Festival Hall, daily 10am–8pm
Mark Padmore – director/Evangelist Roderick Williams – Christus Claudia Huckle – contralto Hugo Hymas – tenor Jessica Cale – soprano Eleanor Minney – mezzo-soprano Matthew Brook – bass Choir of the Age of Enlightenment 030
OAE news
Farewell Alex/Welcome Marina Abel Smith Sadly this month we said farewell to our Head of Individual Giving, Alex Madgwick, who is joining the trust of Canterbury Cathedral. We'd like to extend a warm welcome to Marina Abel Smith, who joins us after working as Membership Development Manager at Garsington Opera . Come say hi at our next concert!
The Night Shift goes to Conway Hall The Night Shift is a freethinking kind of music series. So where better for it to go than the home of the oldest surviving ‘freethought’ association in the world, Bloomsbury’s Conway Hall?This Grade II listed, art-deco venue is still a hotbed of radical thought and a perfect match for our rule-bending, classical music gigs. With period architecture straight out of a Wes Anderson film and unrivalled acoustics, it’s going to be a treat for the eyes and the ears. Our Principal Horn Roger Montgomery is in charge for a set of horn concertos by Mozart, the original musical freethinker. oae.co.uk/events/conway-hall
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Glyndebourne goes on sale If you've been raring to buy tickets to Glyndebourne Festival, don't worry - the wait is nearly over! Public booking opens at 6pm this Sunday (4 March). You'll be able to catch us in a revival of the legendary 2005 production of Handel's Giulio Cesare, which reunites many of the original team behind this spectacular production, including conductor William Christie and Sarah Connolly. We'll also be performing in Barrie Kosky's acclaimed staging of Handel's Saul, an oratorio which blends unusual instrumentation and psychological drama of Shakespearean proportions. glyndebourne.com/tickets-and-whats-on/ our-seasons/festival-2018/
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Peter Whelan – Co-Principal Bassoon [above] and Lisa Beznosiuk – Principal Flute [front cover]
Principal sponsor oae.co.uk orchestraoftheageofenlightenment theoae oae_photos