oae.co.uk
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
Sunday 4 February 2018 Royal Festival Hall 7pm
KIRKER MUSIC HOLIDAYS F O R D I S C E R N I N G T R AV E L L E R S Kirker Holidays offers an extensive range of independent and escorted music holidays, many with flights available from your local airport. Tours include leading festivals in Europe such as Grafenegg and the Verdi Festval in Parma, as well as Glyndebourne, Buxton and opera weekends in Vienna, Milan, Venice and New York. We also host our own exclusive music festivals on land and at sea, and arrange short breaks with opera, ballet or concert tickets, to all the great classical cities in Europe.
MUSIC IN BADEN-BADEN A SIX NIGHT HOLIDAY | 23 MARCH 2018 FIVE NIGHT HOLIDAYS | 17 MAY & 20 JULY 2018 Baden-Baden is one of Europe’s most stylish and beautiful spa towns – for years the favoured destination of Europe’s royalty and aristocrats. Its glorious woods and parks have also attracted leading writers, musicians and artists, and the state-of-the-art Festspielhaus is now one of Europe’s finest music venues. We will visit Baden-Baden on three separate occasions in 2018, staying at the 4 star Radisson Blu Badischer Hof Hotel, and making excursions to the house where Johannes Brahms spent his summer holidays, the Frieder Burda Museum and the Baroque palace at Ludwigsburg in the Black Forest. Our first holiday will include Sir Simon Rattle’s final Easter Festival with the Berlin Philharmonic; the baton passes to Kirill Petrenko in 2019. The Easter Festival is followed by two mouthwatering programmes at Whitsun, including appearances from Bryn Terfel and Diana Damrau; and then the annual Valery Gergiev Festival in July, featuring the orchestra and chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre. Price from £2,475 per person including return flights, accommodation with breakfast, one lunch, four dinners, all performance tickets, all sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities and the services of the Kirker Tour Leader.
THE GRAFENEGG MUSIC FESTIVAL A FIVE NIGHT HOLIDAY | 5 SEPTEMBER 2018 A varied programme featuring acclaimed musicians from around the world, performing in a beautiful corner of Austria, makes Grafenegg a highlight of the musical calendar each year. Concerts are held in the architecturally dramatic Wolkenturm, in the grounds of the Metternich estate. The Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder is the Director of the Festival and he regularly brings together some of the world’s great orchestras and soloists, including for 2018, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Mariinsky Orchestra. Staying at the 4* Steigenberger Hotel, we will also enjoy day trips to the picturesque village of Dürnstein, the Benedictine Abbey at Melk, and a panoramic tour of Vienna. Price from £2,694 per person including flights, accommodation with breakfast, one lunch, five dinners, tickets for four concerts, all sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities and the services of the Kirker Tour Leader.
Speak to an expert or request a brochure:
020 7593 2284 quote code GCN www.kirkerholidays.com
TURNER VIOLINS
Dealers in Fine Violins, Violas, Cellos, Basses and Bows
Dealers in Fine Violins Violas, Cellos, Basses and Bows
AssessmentsAssessments • Valuations ••Consultations • Restorations • Expertise Valuations • Consultations Also at Cavendish Square, London by Appointment
Restorations • Expertise 0115 943 0333
0115 943 0333
info@turnerviolins.co.uk • www.turnerviolins.co.uk 1-5 Lily Grove Beeston 1-5 Lily Grove, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1QL
Also at Cavendish Square, London by Appointment
Nottingham NG9 1QL
info@turnerviolins.co.uk www.turnerviolins.co.uk
EX CATHEDRA ffrey Skidmore Je
Vocal excellence, made in Birmingham
Sacrifice, betrayal, passion
Harmonic Spiritual Theatre
Mon 26 March, 7.30pm St John’s Smith Square
Ex Cathedra Consort & Continuo Jeffrey Skidmore conductor Carissimi Jephte Charpentier Le reniement de St Pierre
The agonisingly beautiful lament of Jephte’s daughter concludes this programme, which opens the SJSS Holy Week Festival with glorious Lenten music by Carissimi, Charpentier, Monteverdi, Gesualdo and Anerio – whose Teatro armonico spirituale de madrigali lends the concert its name.
To book, call 020 7222 1061 or www.excathedra.co.uk
Life Support Habitat loss and conflict with humans is threatening our planet’s biodiversity. Help us find ways to protect it. Be our lifeline for the planet. Please donate today. +44 (0)1865 318838 development@earthwatch.org.uk
earthwatch.org/donate Registered charity number 1094467. Image Š Vicky Potts
Life_support_theatre_ads_toprint.indd 32
09/03/2011 09:42
Contents
Welcome 06 Soloists and orchestra 08 Introducing our instruments Cecelia Bruggemeyer 10 Interviews Nicola Benedetti and Marin Alsop 12 Programme Notes Andrew Mellor 14 Support us 18 Biographies 20 OAE team 25 OAE Education 26 Supporters 28 Future concerts 30 OAE News 32
05
Welcome “Not all orchestras are the same”. 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. But what does it really mean? Well 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.
06
But that’s not the only way we do things differently. 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. In our 32 years, we’ve become Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre, and Associates at Glyndebourne and King 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 programmes brings old music to young people in towns and cities from Durham to Lowestoft and beyond.
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 Enlightenment authors and scientists, 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.
07
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
Concert repertoire and soloists
Sunday 4 February 2018 Royal Festival Hall 7pm The concert will finish at approximately 8.50pm, there will be one 20 minute interval. Beethoven - Symphony No. 4 Beethoven - Violin Concerto
Concert supported by Rosalyn and Philip Wilkinson David and Selina Marks
Marin Alsop - conductor Nicola Benedetti - violin
Pre-concert talk 6pm The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall
08
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
Orchestra
Violins I Michael Gurevich Alice Evans Andrew Roberts Claire Holden Kinga Ujszaszi Claudia Norz Silvia Schweinberger James Toll Jayne Spencer Bruno van Esseveld* Anna Curzon Violins II John Crockatt Dominika Feher Declan Daly Iona Davies Julia Kuhn Debbie Diamond Roy Mowatt Laima Olsson* Stephen Rouse Sophie Simpson*
Violas Max Mandel Ian Rathbone Kathryn Heller Nicholas Logie Marina Ascherson Lisa Cochrane* Ruth Nelson
Cellos Luise Buchberger Andrew Skidmore Catherine Rimer Helen Verney Camilla Morse-Glover* Ruth Alford Double Bass Cecelia Bruggemeyer Carina Cosgrave Eva Euwe* Kate Aldridge
Flute Lisa Beznosiuk Oboe Daniel Lanthier Leo Duarte Clarinet Antony Pay Katherine Spencer Bassoon Meyrick Alexander Sally Jackson Simone Walters Horn Phillip Eastop Martin Lawrence Trumpet David Blackadder Phillip Bainbridge Timpani Adrian Bending *Participants in the Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience Scheme for talented emerging period instrument players
09
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
Introducing our period instruments Cecelia Bruggemeyer, Double Bass
"One of the most important things about our Orchestra is that we play on period or historic instruments, which means that when we play Beethoven we try and find instruments that were around in Beethoven’s time, the early 1800s. Or if those instruments are in museums and no longer playable, we might have copies made. One of the basses I play is around 300 years old. It’s great to think here’s this instrument that’s been around all these centuries and we can only imagine who might have played it and where. That is quite a thought. We love the music we play and we love asking questions about the music we play. When you have an historic instrument, you find it doesn’t necessarily do the things a modern instrument would do.
That sets off a train of questions. If it doesn’t do what a modern instrument would do, what would Bach or Beethoven have heard? How might the players in his day have played? What does that mean for live music now, with this historic information? We’re not trying to recreate the past, but create something that’s exciting now using what we know about what happened then. We do it because the sound world we get is amazing and is very different to a modern orchestra. We’re not saying one is better or worse, it’s just different, and I find it a wonderful world to be part of. We like sharing our music and we enjoy it so much we want everybody to enjoy it too. We don’t mean that in a medicinal way, that you should listen to classical music because “it’s good for you”. We mean classical music is there, it’s part of our shared history, it doesn’t belong to any one group and it can be for anyone who wants to be part of it."
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
From sheep to stage - making our strings
From Nicola Benedetti’s violin to the double basses, all the stringed instruments you see tonight have so-called ‘catgut’ strings. These are not made from cats but, in fact, from sheep intestines. While most modern instruments use metal strings, these were only introduced in the 20th century. So to recreate the sound world of Beethoven and many of the other composers we play, we use gut strings reflective of the time the composers were writing.
How are gut strings different for our players? – They snap more easily. – They lower in pitch in hot and humid conditions, and their pitch rises when it’s cold. – They’re quieter than modern strings. – But our players love them for the warmer, earthier sound they produce. Think of it like vinyl over MP3, or craft beer over a mass-produced lager!
Gut strings are still made by hand by skilled manufacturers. Here’s how:
1 Sheep intestines are delivered from an
abattoir – as by-products of the slaughter process.
2
Next they are cleaned, salted and soaked in water for several days.
3
Just the collagen in the gut is needed for strings. To remove the fat and membranes they are scraped with a knife, then softened in an alkaline solution five times a day for a whole week.
4
Next the gut is gently separated in thin fibres for violin and viola strings, and thicker strips for cello and double bass strings.
5
The fibres are put on a ringer and twisted together to bind them into strings. Five fibres are needed for a violin E string, while more are needed for the thicker strings. This process also dries the strings out.
6
Then the strings are smoothed by rubbing with horse hair and polished, often using dried grass and olive oil.
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
An interview with Nicola Benedetti
Credit: Simon Fowler
"My first experience of classical music was when I started to play the violin. I was four years old and that was the first time I had any exposure to the instrument. My parents didn’t play – no one in our family did – my sister and I started the same day and actually for the subsequent six years I didn’t have any experience of going to see classical music live. I had some recordings – mainly of violinists. Then I went to the Yehudi Menuhin School when I was 10 which was when I really started to appreciate hearing classical music. I think so much of the experience for young people, when they are listening to orchestral music or solo instrumental music for the first time, depends on the repertoire. Everybody’s taste is very different. I get asked a lot what would be the best piece of music for young people to listen to if it’s their first time going to a concert and it’s hard to advise, I think the magnitude of sound and impact from a full orchestra can be extremely exciting and memorable.
012
"the magic arrives after hundreds and hundreds of hours of practice" Hearing a solo violinist like me playing, I guess there’s something magical about all the diversity of techniques you’re seeing one person do, and the concertos are written to have that element of showmanship. When I’m teaching kids or playing in a school I always describe it as something magical, but the magic arrives after hundreds and hundreds of hours of practice. "
Interview courtesy of Fiona Fraser for Town Hall Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
Speed interview: Marin Alsop What/when was your big breakthrough? Conducting a concert with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood. He was my hero and then my teacher and mentor and my inspiration. What do you fear the most? Being afraid. Which mobile number do you call the most? My best friend, Leslie. Mostly because my family gets annoyed if I call too much! What – or where – is perfection? Taking a walk with my son. Talking and laughing together. Credit: Adriane White
Who is your favourite hero from fiction (book/comic/film/opera), and why? Leonore from Fidelio. The woman as hero, empowered by the strength of love. Wouldn’t this be a better world if all heroes were like her? What’s your favourite ritual? Early mornings at home, studying and hanging with my family.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
My father always said, ‘if you don’t enjoy the rehearsals, you’ll never enjoy the concert.’ Enjoy every experience and never take yourself too seriously.
Malala, Jude Kelly, Obama, Bill Gates. All people who want to change the world…
What is the most played piece of music on your MP3 player or in your CD collection?
What other talent or skill would you like to possess?
Brahms Requiem and Bernstein Mass.
I wish I could draw and paint. And do home repairs, too!
What’s the best thing about working with the OAE? Everything! With the OAE it’s all about the music. And we enjoy the rehearsals!
013
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
Programme note Andrew Mellor
014
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No.4 in B flat, Opus 60 I Adagio – Allegro vivace II Adagio III Allegro vivace IV Allegro ma non troppo
Much of Beethoven’s music sounds every bit as revolutionary as the time in which it was written. In the first years of the nineteenth century, new social impulses were surging through Europe in the aftermath of the French Revolution. In these turbulent times, the first fully freelance composer of note was wresting musical expression from the grip of the aristocracy. Two of the most iconic manifestations of Beethoven’s struggle are his Third and Fifth Symphonies. One heroic, one tragic, both deal in the big gestures that aligned musical expression with the upheavals of the time. In between the two came a symphony that sounded rather different. Beethoven actually wrote his Fourth Symphony either side of work on his Fifth. The piece has been described variously as ‘delicate’ and ‘shrinking’. Perhaps it is best viewed not as a departure from the imperatives of the Third and Fifth, but as a catching of the breath in between them. As in the Violin Concerto heard later tonight, it’s easy to miss the progressive characteristics in a piece that doesn’t stampede or rail like its neighbours. In this symphony, Beethoven maintains the elements of surprise, shock and suspense with which he had ensured audiences at his concerts would sit up and listen. But here, they’re more guarded and obscured. As the Beethoven expert Barry Cooper has observed, this symphony shows a far greater degree of integration between sections. It blurs its boundaries more.
We hear that happening in the symphony’s opening movement. After a slow introduction full of suspense, the Allegro vivace seems to collapse into life. A steady stream of boisterous music follows until the movement loses power and we hear ominous rumblings from the tuned drums at the back of the orchestra, the timpani. This is an unusual gesture from Beethoven. Firstly because it’s a drum rather than a melody instrument which proceeds to herald the return of the opening music, with a 23-bar timpani rumble on the keynote, B flat. Secondly, because Beethoven creates a curiously stabilizing mixture of rootedness and expectation in that timpani roll, an idea he would take further in the Violin Concerto. The timpani come to the fore again in Beethoven’s Adagio. We hear a graceful song over a pulsating accompaniment, both on strings to begin with. Not really music for drums, you might think. But Beethoven’s timpani creep into the discourse once more, taking over that that accompaniment figure entirely in the movement’s closing bars. Traditionally, symphonic third movements referenced aristocratic dances, a Minuet alternating with a Trio in three-time. As in his First Symphony, the republican Beethoven subverts his dances, obliterating them physically and aesthetically with cross-rhythms and syncopations. Point made. All the musical themes presented so far are heard again in Beethoven’s final movement. But there are games in store here too. After a lone bassoon introduces a breakneck theme, the orchestra charges forwards before appearing to completely lose power again, twice. The second time, the music stops completely. First violins play the same theme quietly and at half speed, the bassoon follows hesitantly, and suddenly the full orchestra lunges in again to bring the symphony to its close.
015
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Violin Concerto in D, Opus 61 I Allegro ma non troppo II Larghetto III Rondo: Allegro
Yet another piece was brewing inside Beethoven in 1806, one that also prompts thoughts of an emotional escape. In the very same notebooks as he was sketching the Fifth Symphony, Beethoven was playing with ideas for a work that would share some of its characteristics but would sound entirely different once more. It was a Violin Concerto in the sunny key of D major, the brightest and most contented orchestral work the composer would write. The concerto was commissioned by Franz Clement, leader of the Theatre an der Wien’s orchestra, which had introduced the composer’s Third Symphony the year before. There wasn’t a great deal of time separating Beethoven’s finishing of the piece in mid-December 1806 and Clement’s booking to perform it on 23 of that month. Either way, the first performance was a notorious fiasco in which Clement resorted to showmanship in an attempt to maintain the audience’s attention. It took the more committed partnership of violinist Joseph Joachim and conductor Felix Mendelssohn to rescue the concerto from obscurity, in London, almost forty years later. The demands placed on both Clement and Joachim were sizeable. Despite it’s cheerful nature, Beethoven’s concerto is a tricky customer. It is also a piece from which many of our modern notions of virtuosity stem. Beethoven was insistent that the role of music in society be changed, an ideal he reflected musically as well as physically in his five piano concertos. The Violin Concerto may be genial and tender, but its solo line is a triumphant endorsement of individual will, spirit and integrity that almost all subsequent concertos for the violin have built on.
016
Once again, we experience a determined but quiet revolution in this piece. And once again, the timpani are to the fore. Five rooted but understated drumbeats secure the concerto’s foundations and are followed by a theme that does much the same via a combination of grandeur and economy. When the solo violin enters soon afterwards, it does so on the sharpened pitch of the keynote D, with Beethoven asking that it be played ‘sweetly’. This was an unorthodox way to begin a concerto (which might well have put the frighteners on Clement) but one that gave the piece its distinctively genial footing. These first pages establish the work’s tonal and rhythmic centres of gravity despite – or perhaps because of – that semitone diversion. Listen out for the return of the drumbeats, at pivotal moments, as the concerto proceeds (sometimes they are reimagined by the orchestra itself). Another vital example of the concerto’s unusual disposition comes in the middle movement, marked Larghetto (‘fairly slow’). Here the violin presents variations on a contemplative theme over a muted accompaniment that includes touching pizzicatos (plucked strings). In Beethovenian terms, this is music of comparatively little action. But it rises to poignant climaxes before the strings hurl the music back into the home key with a sudden fortissimo (‘very loud’) outburst. The soloist’s cadenza* – an improvised flourish – then plonks the orchestra onto the rails of the playful final movement, which employs a theme Beethoven doesn’t once feel the need to alter. The music charges along until it veers into a quiet diversion, and then into another strange key (A flat), before halting conclusively once and for all.
Programme notes by Andrew Mellor © 2017
A new cadenza Tonight Nicola Benedetti will be performing a new cadenza produced in collaboration with composer and pianist Petr Limonov. Beethoven only wrote a cadenza for the piano version of the concerto, which unusually includes a kind of dialogue between pianist and timpanist. Nicola and Petr's cadenza also incorporates a timpani and quotes the wistful “hunting theme” from Beethoven’s piano version of the cadenza, as well as its lyrical trills which could be transcribed to the violin without changing a note. The rest is all new, composed with fidelity to Beethoven's original.
Vienna's Theater an der Wien, where a number of Beethoven's works were premiered (and the composer reportedly slept rent-free, for a year).
Joseph Joachim's cadenza
017
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.
Love the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment? Curious about what goes on behind the scenes? Become part of the OAE family by supporting us today.
Images opposite, left to right: Steven Devine – Co-Principal Keyboard Roger Montgomery – Principal Horn Simone Jandl – Co-Principal Viola 018
Supporting our projects Every year, the OAE curates a season full of inspiring and unique projects. We are always looking for enlightened individuals who are interested in supporting this aspect of our work. Project supporters enjoy the chance to meet players and soloists and be involved in the creative process from the early stages right up to the performance. For more information please contact: Emily Stubbs Development Director emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk Telephone 020 7239 9381 OAE Friends As an OAE Friend [from £50], you can be sure to get your hands on your favourite seats with our priority booking period. You’ll also benefit from a unique insight into the inner workings of the Orchestra with regular rehearsal access, opportunities to meet the players and invitations to other events throughout the season. Join the OAE Friends at oae.co.uk/support or contact: Helena Wynn Helena.wynn@oae.co.uk Telephone 020 7239 9386
OAE Patrons OAE Patrons [from £1,000] enjoy unrivalled access to our artistic activity, with opportunities for involvement including invitations to Glyndebourne dress rehearsals, dinner with OAE players and guest artists, Patron trips, and the chance to select a concert in our Southbank Centre season, gaining special insight into the artistic process through backstage and rehearsal access. OAE Young Patrons We’re committed to enthusing the next generation of philanthropists through our Young Patrons programme. Aimed at people under 45, this membership scheme includes the opportunity to socialise with our musicians, 2 for 1 tickets to The Night Shift and a chance to meet like-minded people at networking events. Leaving a legacy to the OAE Legacies are crucial to our fundraising and help to sustain and increase the scope of our work. By leaving a legacy to the OAE you will be helping to shape the Orchestra’s future ensuring we can continue to inspire, enthuse and challenge audiences for years to come. To find out more visit oae.co.uk/support or contact: Alex Madgwick Head of Individual Giving alex.madgwick@oae.co.uk Telephone 020 7239 9380
019
Marin Alsop and Nicola Benedetti
Biographies Marin Alsop
Her outstanding success as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) since 2007 has been recognised by two extensions in her tenure, now confirmed until 2021. As part of her artistic leadership in Baltimore, Alsop has created several bold initiatives: ‘OrchKids’, for the city’s most deprived young people, and the BSO Academy and Rusty Musicians for adult amateur musicians. Alsop became Principal Conductor and Music Director of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) in 2012, where she continues to steer their highly creative programming and outreach activities; her contract is now extended to the end of 2019, when she becomes Conductor of Honour. Alsop led the orchestra on European tours in 2012, 2013 and 2016, with critically acclaimed performances at the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh International and Lucerne festivals, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and further concerts in Berlin, Paris, Salzburg and Vienna. Marin Alsop conducts the world’s major orchestras, with recent and forthcoming European highlights including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestre National de France, London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In the US, Alsop regularly conducts the Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago Symphony orchestras, including at their summer residencies at Saratoga, Blossom and Ravinia. Further highlights of the 2017/18 season include the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and a second residency at Aldeburgh’s Snape Maltings with the Britten-Pears Orchestra.
020
Credit: Grant Leighton
Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene, a Music Director of vision and distinction who passionately believes that “music has the power to change lives”. She is recognised across the world for her innovative approach to programming and for her deep commitment to education and to the development of audiences of all ages.
As one of Leonard Bernstein’s best known pupils, Alsop is central to his 100th anniversary global celebrations in 2018: she opens the LSO’s tribute, an orchestra with whom she has a close and long-standing relationship, and conducts performances of Bernstein Mass at the Ravinia Festival, where she has been appointed Musical Curator for 2018 and 2019, and at Southbank Centre, where she is Artist in Residence. Also at Southbank Centre she conducts Beethoven with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE), as part of a UK-wide tour. She conducts the OAE most seasons, including at the BBC Proms with recent performances of Brahms, Schumann and Verdi on period instruments. In September 2013, Marin Alsop made history as the first female conductor of the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms, which she returned to conduct in 2015. Her extensive discography has led to GRAMMY and Gramophone awards and includes highly praised Naxos cycles of Brahms with the LPO and MDR Leipzig, Dvořák with the BSO, Prokofiev with OSESP, and further recordings for Decca Classics, Harmonia Mundi and Sony Classical. She is dedicated to new music, born out in her 25-year tenure as Music Director of California’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Among her many awards and academic positions, Marin Alsop is the only conductor to receive the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, is an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Philharmonic Society, and was recently appointed Director of Graduate Conducting at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute. She attended the Juilliard School and Yale University, who awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in 2017. Her conducting career was launched in 1989, when she won the Leopold Stokowski International Conducting Competition and was the first woman to be awarded the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize from the Tanglewood Music Center.
Nicola Benedetti MBE
Credit: Simon Fowler
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. With concerto performances at the heart of her career, Nicola is in much demand with major orchestras and conductors across the globe. Conductors with whom Nicola has worked include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jirí Belohlávek, Stéphane Denéve, Christoph Eschenbach, James Gaffigan, Hans Graf, Valery Gergiev, Alan Gilbert, Jakub Hrůša, Kirill Karabits, Andrew Litton, Kristjan Jar̈ vi, Vladimir Jurowski, and many more. Nicola enjoys working with the highest level of orchestras including collaborations with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C., Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, Czech Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival. This 17/18 season Nicola makes her debut with the Orchestre de Paris and collaborates with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Philadelphia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, New World Symphony and Baltimore Symphony with Marin Alsop. Fiercely committed to music education and to developing young talent, Nicola has formed associations with schools, music colleges and local authorities. In 2010, she became Sistema Scotland’s official musical “Big Sister” for the Big Noise project; a music initiative partnered with Venezuela’s El Sistema (Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar).
As a board member of Southbank Centre and teacher, Nicola embraces her position of role model to encourage young people to take up music and work hard at it, and she continues to spread this message in school visits and masterclasses, not only in Scotland, but all around the world. In addition, Nicola developed her own education and outreach initiative entitled The Benedetti Sessions that gives hundreds of aspiring young string players the opportunity to rehearse, undertake and observe masterclasses culminating in a performance alongside Nicola. She has presented The Benedetti Sessions at the Royal Albert Hall, Cheltenham Festival and Royal Concert Hall Glasgow, and has plans to develop this on an international scale. Winner of Best Female Artist at both 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola records exclusively for Decca (Universal Music). Her most recent recording of Shostakovich & Glazunov Violin Concertos has been met with critical acclaim. Richard Morrison of The Times maintains that “This riveting performance of Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto is Nicola Benedetti’s best recording to date.” Her past seven recordings on Universal/Deutsche Grammophon include a varied catalogue of works from Szymanowski Concerto (London Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding) to Homecoming; A Scottish Fantasy, which made Nicola the first solo British violinist since the 1990s to enter the Top 20 of the Official U.K. Albums Chart. Nicola's international television appearances have been wide and varied including performing at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games to a live audience of approximately 40,000 and TV viewing audience of 9.4 million people. Nicola was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2017, the youngest ever recipient, and was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours, in recognition of her international music career and work with musical charities throughout the United Kingdom. In addition, Nicola has received eight honorary degrees to date. Born in Scotland of Italian heritage, Nicola began violin lessons at the age of five with Brenda Smith. In 1997, she entered the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Natasha Boyarskaya. Upon leaving, she continued her studies with Maciej Rakowski and then Pavel Vernikov. Nicola plays the Gariel Stradivarius (1717), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds. 021
The authoritative voice on classical music since 1923 C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Discover the world’s best classical music reviews magazine today SUPERB RECORDINGS
INCREDIBLE ARTISTS
GREAT COMPOSERS
Discover essential classical music recordings every month, with over 100 reviews every issue, written by an unrivalled panel of expert critics.
We are devoted to exploring the artists stamping their mark on recording today, with captivating features and exclusive interviews.
We celebrate composers both past and present, providing you with a unique perspective on the lives and work of the greats of the classical music world.
To find out more about our five subscription packages, visit www.magsubscriptions.com/gramophone or call our team on 0800 137 201 Full annual retail price for print only (13 issues) is £74.75; print only annual subscription, Digital Edition and reviews Database (£61); Digital Club (£80); Gramophone Club (£101). Postage and packaging is not included for overseas orders. If you have a subscription enquiry then please email subscriptions@markallengroup.com
13:55
03_L
Gramophone OAE Subs Advert 165x240mm.indd 1
08/09/2017 15:10
OAE Advert 14.5x10.5cm_2012_v2_PRESS.pdf
n
1
31/08/2012
10:29
Lubbock Fine is proud to be associated with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and wishes it every success. LF Creative, the dedicated arts and music division of Lubbock Fine, provides specialist accounting and tax advice for musicians.
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
Contact Clive Patterson clivepatterson@lubbockfine.co.uk
CMY
K
Russell Rich russellrich@lubbockfine.co.uk Russell Bedford House, City Forum, 250 City Road, London EC1V 2QQ
www.lfcreative.co.uk
020 7549 2333
Member of Russell Bedford International - with affiliated offices worldwide
ay
h ou the of
17 15:10
03_Lubbock Fine_Swan Turton.indd 1
24/09/2012 13:55
OAE team
Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead
Finance Officer Fabio Lodato
Director of Finance and Operations Ivan Rockey
Digital Content Officer Zen Grisdale
Development Director Emily Stubbs Director of Marketing and Audience Development John Holmes Director of Press Katy Bell Projects Manager Jo Perry Orchestra Manager Philippa Brownsword Choir Manager David Clegg Projects Officer Ella Harriss Librarian Colin Kitching Education Director Cherry Forbes Education Officer Andrew Thomson
Marketing and Press Officer Thomas Short Head of Individual Giving Alex Madgwick Development and Events Administrator Helena Wynn Development Manager Catherine Kinsler Trusts and Foundation Manager Andrew Mackenzie Development Trainee Andrea Jung
Board of Directors Sir Martin Smith [Chairman] Luise Buchberger Steven Devine Denys Firth Nigel Jones Max Mandel David Marks Rebecca Miller Roger Montgomery Olivia Roberts Susannah Simons Katharina Spreckelsen Mark Williams Crispin Woodhead OAE Trust Sir Martin Smith [Chair] Edward Bonham Carter Paul Forman Julian Mash Imogen Overli Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Diane Segalen Leaders Kati Debretzeni Margaret Faultless Matthew Truscott Players’ Artistic Committee Luise Buchberger Steven Devine Max Mandel Roger Montgomery (Chair) Katharina Spreckelsen
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 025
OAE Education
A programme to involve, empower and inspire Over the past twenty years our OAE Education family has grown to include thousands of people nationwide through creative musical projects. In 2016–17 we worked with over 20,500 people, delivered more than 250 workshops and performed over 80 concerts in 22 cities, towns and villages across England. Our participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and we pride ourselves in working flexibly, adapting to the needs of local people and the places where they live. The extensive partnerships we have built up over many years helps us to engage fully with all the communities we work with to ensure maximum and lasting impact.
026
We take inspiration from the OAE’s repertoire, instruments and players, which makes for a vibrant, challenging and engaging programme where everyone is involved; players, animateurs, composers, participants, teachers, partners and stakeholders all have a valued voice in the work we do.
Vision 4 Music In 2017–18 we will be creating a programme of events inspired by the question we asked in our Musical Landscapes flagship project: ‘What world do we want to create for tomorrow?’ Vision 4 Music will encompass all our strands in our residency work. Our TOTS programme will be based on ‘Stories of old’. Our OPERA and SCHOOLS work will focus on a newly written opera based on Purcell’s Fairy Queen by Hazel Gould and James Redwood. Our Nurturing talent work will be extended to include general teacher training, endangered instrument work and a new summer school for post A Level students. Finally, our Special Needs programme will be expanded to seven groups across the country with our new Our Band project.
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: Alex Madgwick Head of Individual Giving alex.madgwick@oae.co.uk Telephone 020 7239 9380 027
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
028
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 Mr and Mrs C Cochin de Billy Mrs A Boettcher Michael Brecknell 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
029
Upcoming concerts Like what you heard tonight? There are plenty of opportunities to hear us throughout the year...
What's next?
More Marin?
Credit: Grant Leighton
The Corridors of Power Tuesday 27 February 2018 Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre 7pm Hear world-leading mezzo-soprano Stéphanie d’Oustrac sing arias by Mozart and Haydn. Mozart – Arias from La clemenza di Tito Mozart – Symphony No. 38 Haydn – Scena di Berenice Haydn – Symphony No. 103 Drumroll Ádám Fischer – conductor Stéphanie d’Oustrac – mezzo-soprano
Brahms: A German Requiem Sunday 11 November 2018 Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre 7pm (tickets go on sale Tuesday 6 February) Marin Alsop returns to conduct Brahms’ ground-breaking Requiem on Remembrance Sunday. Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Brahms – A German Requiem Marin Alsop – conductor
Visit oae.co.uk for more details on all upcoming concerts. 030
More music from the 1800s?
Credit: Nadia F Romanini
Something completely different?
Der Rosenkavalier (1926) © Filmarchiv Austria
Schiff's Surprise Wednesday 4 July 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre 7pm Haydn’s Harmoniemesse premiered in 1802, just four years before the Beethoven music we performed tonight. Haydn – Piano Concerto No. 11 Haydn – Symphony No. 94 Surprise Haydn – Harmoniemesse Sir András Schiff – conductor and piano Choir of the Age of Enlightenment Charlotte Beament – soprano Helen Charlston – mezzo soprano Nick Pritchard – tenor Dingle Yandell – bass
Der Rosenkavalier Thursday 17 May 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre 7pm We perform the soundtrack to a cinema version of Strauss’ opera Der Rosenkavalier, with the film playing on a big screen. Richard Strauss – Selection of songs Richard Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier (salon score) Charlotte Beament – soprano
Book now southbankcentre.co.uk/oae 020 3879 9555, daily 9am–8pm Ticket Office, Royal Festival Hall, daily 10am–8pm
OAE news
The Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience The Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience gives gifted period instrument players the chance to work alongside and learn from our musicians. This year's particpants have just completed the intensive Academy, which took place from 24 to 27 of January, culminating in a free concert at Union Chapel. They'll continue to perform alongside the OAE in a number of key concerts and education projects for the rest of the year. Those interested in applying for next year's scheme will be able to from September 2018. oae.co.uk/about/oae-experience/
Fresh Night Shifts for 2018 We’re back for our third year of monthly Night Shift gigs. We’ll be rotating between the four venues where we had so much fun last year. That’s the Old Queen’s Head in Islington, the CLF Art Café at the Bussey Building in Peckham, The George Tavern in Whitechapel and the Camden Assembly. Then key yourselves up for some surprises in the summer, as we look to take The Night Shift further afield. The first date is in Islington tomorrow, and it's a cracker, featuring the return of a Night Shift favourite and Mozart's charming Clarinet Quintet. thenightshift.co.uk On tour! Next week Nicola joins us on tour for the first time in the USA, as we bring tonight's concert to four cities spread across the East and West Coasts. Then in March we perform Bach's St Matthew Passion in Germany, France, Holland and Poland, with an all star-line up of singers led by Mark Padmore. oae.co.uk/category/whats-on/
032
Photo: Elena Lekhova
Dancing with the Stars
2018
Students 12+ yrs
Faculty Sarah Lamb Yasmine Naghdi Federico Bonelli Begoña Cao Roberta Marquez Stephen Beagley Vanessa Fenton Susan Robinson Andrew Ward
4 Day Easter Ballet Course
30 March – 02 April
Venue: RAD Studios London
BOOK NOW Call 020 8480 7118 or book online Quote “GOOD” and get £10 off!
danceforward.co.uk
Theatre Angels Love Theatre? Want to be more involved? A Theatre Angel can enjoy the benefits such as….
What is a theatre Angel?
•
The lifeblood of Commercial Theatre are the investors. The ordinary people who invest the money through Producers to make the Shows Happen.
• • • • •
Complimentary tickets to opening night performances. Invitations to meet the cast and company at opening night parties. Access to VIP house seats across the West End. The opportunity to organise special theatre evenings for friends, colleagues, or clients. Industry insider status, recommendations, and information. Advance notice of further investment opportunities.
By doing so they join a select club of individuals who are an integral part of the producing process, and enjoy the insider benefits of glamorous press night parties, priority booking and of course if the production is successful, the financial rewards.
“Go on, be an angel” www.theatreangels.com
Roger Montgomery [above] – Co-Principal Horn and Simone Jandl [front cover] – Co-Principal Viola
Principal sponsor oae.co.uk orchestraoftheageofenlightenment theoae oae_photos