BBC National Orchestra of Wales Season Brochure

2012-13

Cardiff Concert Season NOW 2013 season CF 210x260mm E.indd 1

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Contents Introducing Thomas Søndergård

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St David’s Hall Listings

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BBC Hoddinott Hall Listings

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Packages and Booking Information

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2012-13 at a glance

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1 Thomas Søndergård

Jac van Steen

Tadaaki otaka

François-Xavier roth

bbc national orchestra of Wales

bbc national chorus of Wales

Patron HrH The Prince of Wales kG kT Pc Gcb Principal Conductor Thomas Søndergård Principal Guest Conductor Jac van Steen Conductor Laureate Tadaaki otaka cbe Associate Guest Conductor François-Xavier roth Resident Composer Mark bowden

Artistic Director adrian Partington

All information in this brochure is correct at the time of going to press. However, as a consequence of the exigencies of broadcasting, or for other good cause, BBC National Orchestra of Wales reserves the right to make changes where necessary and without prior notice. In the event of such an occurrence we would apologise for any inconvenience caused and would advise you that your statutory rights as a consumer remain unaffected.

Design by BBC Cymru Wales Graphics Photography © Shutterstock, Bjarke Johansen, Geraint Tellem and Betina Skovbro Concert descriptions by Peter Reynolds Welsh translation by Cymen BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff CF10 5AL

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Welcome to St David’s Hall!

I feel so honoured to be welcoming you to my first season with BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

When I conducted the orchestra for the first time in 2009, I felt truly supported in my artistic endeavours by each and every individual player and this has been key to our deepening relationship, one that has developed in the programmes on which we have collaborated to date.

The wonderful reception from both players and the Cardiff audience gives us the perfect foundations for what I hope will be a long, happy and fruitful relationship. Together, I hope we can prepare the music with the care and respect it demands, in order to create memorable performances that will enable us to celebrate and share our love for the music with our audiences.

In my opening week in Cardiff this season, it is thrilling for me to collaborate with internationally acclaimed soprano Inger Dam-Jensen, who was, of course, crowned Cardiff Singer of the World in 1993. Indeed the theme of ‘song’ is a strong one running through many of our programmes this season - and what could be more appropriate to Wales, the “Land of Song”?! As part of this theme, we offer Verdi’s Requiem and Te Deum

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As we begin our journey together, I very much hope that you will join us and look forward to getting to know you, through making music with this fabulous orchestra.

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Pob dymuniad da!

Thomas Søndergård, Principal conductor

Look out for concerts featuring fi fth symphonies, marked with this icon.

0800 052 1812

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(in the 200th anniversary of his birth) and Handel’s Messiah, under the baton of Associate Guest Conductor FrançoisXavier Roth. We will also be joined by some very fine soloists, among them Rosemary Joshua, Susan Gritton and Ailish Tynan. We also have a theme of ‘Fifths’ with performances of Sibelius, Shostakovich, Nielsen and Mahler’s fifth symphonies this season. I will conduct each of these except for Shostakovich’s mighty Fifth, for which we welcome back our esteemed Conductor Laureate, Tadaaki Otaka. In fact, I am greatly looking forward to welcoming all of our guest soloists and conductors in the coming year.

bbc.co.uk/now

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Introducing Thomas Søndergård Back in December 2009, a Danish conductor stepped in at very short notice to replace an indisposed conductor for a BBC National Orchestra of Wales concert at St David’s Hall. His name was Thomas Søndergård, a name that David Murray, Director of the orchestra, had been alerted to from reports arriving from colleagues in Scandinavia, Germany and Scotland, where he had recently conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

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An important new relationship was born that night. “You could immediately hear from the way the orchestra were playing that there was something special there”, recalled Tim Thorne, Senior Producer for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Thomas Søndergård felt the same way.

On the day that his appointment as Principal Conductor was announced last July, he told the Orchestra: “I will never forget the first time that I came into the hall and rehearsed that performance of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony”.

band going through the town and knew that I had to be part of that”. And it was as a percussionist that he initially entered the music profession, getting to know the orchestra from the inside.

Since then he has conducted throughout Europe, becoming Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor to the Norwegian Radio Orchestra as well as conducting opera at the Danish State Opera and Royal Swedish Opera.

During next autumn he also will become Principal Guest Conductor to the Royal National Scottish Orchestra whilst in the same season, our outgoing Principal Conductor, Thierry Fischer will pass on the baton of Principal Conductor to Thomas Søndergård. It will be an exciting new period of music-making and development for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales but, despite all the hard work and planning required, Thomas Søndergård is absolutely clear about what lies at the centre of his work as a musician: “We must never lose our passion and love for music”.

Born in Holstebro, Denmark, Thomas Søndergård’s passion for music was born when he was seven: “I saw a marching

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“You could immediately hear from the way the orchestra were playing that there was something special there�

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Season Taster Concert Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 21.09.2012, 7.30pm Sibelius Finlandia Mahler Ich Ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald Ging heut Morgen über’s Feld Ablösung im Sommer Scheiden und Meiden Britten Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes Brahms Song of Destiny Rachmaninov Vocalise Verdi Te Deum

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Conductor Grant Llewellyn Soprano Ailish Tynan BBC National Chorus of Wales

Ailish Tynan sings Brahms and Mahler Ailish Tynan’s blend of Irish wit and vivacious charm, allied to her fresh light but powerful soprano voice, has had critics reaching for superlatives during the last decade.

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What the Critics Say “ ...Ravishing? I thought I had gone to heaven.

What a voice. What an artist.

What a natural entertainer.”

The Herald, Scotland

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page 8 Sibelius’s Finlandia: A great celebration of the Finnish nation Come back on 12 October and experience the Nordic grandeur of Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony.

Mahler’s Songs: Evocations of gentle folk nature folk poetry Come back on 28 June for Mahler’s Symphony No 5: a great emotional roller coaster from darkness to light.

Britten’s Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes: Sketches of the Suffolk coast in all its craggy grandeur

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Come back on 25 January for Britten’s Spring Symphony – a celebration of springtide.

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Brahms’s Song of Destiny: A great choral hymn to the pain and beauty of fate

Verdi’s Te Deum: Experience the grandeur of Verdi’s last completed work Come back on 1 March to hear Verdi’s Requiem.

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Come back on 2 November for the Olympian majesty of Brahms’s Violin Concerto with Viviane Hagner.

Rachmaninov’s Vocalise: A simple yet meltingly beautiful invocation to melody Come back on 12 April to hear Llyˆr Williams plays Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto.

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Northern Moods Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 12.10.2012, 7.30pm Magnus Lindberg Expo r. Strauss Muttertandelei Meindem Kinde Cäcilie Grieg To brune øjne Jeg elsker dig En Svane Våren r. Strauss Till Eulenspiegel Sibelius Symphony No 5

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Conductor Thomas Søndergård Soprano Inger Dam-Jensen When Thomas Søndergård was appointed last year, he told reporters, “I can’t wait to discover the Sibelius all over again with my new orchestra”.

Now, in his first concert, he tackles the brooding grandeur of Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony and R. Strauss’s dazzling orchestral showpiece Till Eulenspiegel.

And experience the dynamic colour of Finland’s Magnus Lindberg: “a composer I know that I’ll be doing a lot of in the future”.

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Inger Dam-Jensen sings Grieg and Strauss Winner of Cardiff Singer of the World in 1993, Inger Dam-Jensen is a soprano now in her prime, with a particular affinity with the music of Grieg and Strauss.

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What the Critics Say “Here is a soprano who has everything – great looks, a sparkling voice that never loses its quality, glittering allure and intensity.”

The Financial Times

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Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 02.11.2012, 7.30pm Wagner Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 1 Brahms Violin Concerto Zemlinsky Lyric Symphony Conductor Jac van Steen Soprano Elizabeth Atherton Baritone Roman Trekel Violin Viviane Hagner

9 The music of Wagner and works like Brahms’s majestic and lyrical Violin Concerto influenced the rich late romantic splendour of Zemlinsky’s music.

His masterpiece is the Lyric Symphony, which explores the yearning and fulfilment of love. Now Jac van Steen conducts it for the first time in Cardiff.

If you already love the music of Mahler and Strauss, the Lyric Symphony will be a revelation to you.

Viviane Hagner plays Brahms’s Violin Concerto Munich-born Viviane Hagner has played with the world’s greatest orchestras and is particularly noted for her authoritative performances of contemporary works.

What the Critics Say “Listening to Viviane Hagner play the violin is an enchanting experience... she is both a thoughtful and brilliant violinist. In her playing, she knows how to combine reflection and luminosity in the most striking way.”

Berliner Morgenpost

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Zemlinsky In the years leading up to the First World War, Vienna was a boiling cauldron of radical developments in painting, architecture, literature and, of course, music. Brahms was only recently dead, Mahler was director of the Vienna State Opera, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele were pushing back the boundaries of painting, and Arnold Schoenberg and his followers were doing the same in music.

At the centre of all this was the promising young composer Alexander Zemlinsky.

As a student he attracted the attention of Brahms, and his pupils included both Schoenberg (who later became his brother in law) and Alma Schindler, with whom he fell in love, before she married Mahler. Yet Zemlinsky was largely eclipsed by his more glamorous contemporaries: his compositions were much admired during his lifetime, but fell into neglect after his death, until their gradual revival on CD over the last thirty years.

Recent generations have discovered in Zemlinsky a sumptuous late-romantic voice that is neither Mahler nor Richard Strauss, but which inhabits an equally rich parallel world. Zemlinsky completed many operas and was acclaimed as one of the leading conductors of his age.

But his best-known work is the Lyric

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Symphony, first performed in 1924: a setting for soprano and baritone of the mystical poems of the Bengali poet Tagore, exploring love, through yearning, fulfilment and its disintegration – something that its composer had known only too well. The result runs the whole gamut of emotion, from the first stirrings of passion to the agony of farewell.

Zemlinsky’s story is a sad one in many ways. Cruelly described by a contemporary as “the ugliest man I have ever seen”, he drew on autobiographical elements in composing his opera, Der Zwerg (The Dwarf) based on Oscar Wilde’s story. In 1938 he was forced to flee Vienna and start a new career in the United States at the age of almost seventy. But he was an unknown figure, suffered a series of strokes and stopped composing. When he died, in 1942 in New York, his name meant little to the American public; and in Europe, younger musicians found his music old-fashioned and inflated.

But, seventy years after his death, a new generation has taken his music to their hearts with more and more performances and recordings with each successive year.

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Peter reynolds

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Messiah Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 14.12.2012, 7.30pm Handel Messiah Conductor François-Xavier Roth Soprano Susan Gritton Mezzo Delphine Galou Tenor Topi Lehtipuu Bass Neal Davies BBC National Chorus of Wales

11 A Christmas performance of Handel’s setting of the most special of all stories.

Messiah is the most popular oratorio ever written, packed with well-known music and, like a huge baroque fresco, is crowded with characters, events, heavenly angels and ceremonial trumpets. François-Xavier Roth conducts the most warmly atmospheric of Christmas works with a line-up of distinguished soloists.

What the Critics Say “The BBC National Chorus of Wales trod fearlessly up in the celestial heights.”

The Guardian

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Britten’s Spring Symphony Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 25.01.2013, 7.30pm Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5 (Emperor) Britten Spring Symphony Conductor David Atherton Piano Paul Lewis Soprano Elizabeth Atherton Alto Jennifer Johnston Tenor Andrew Kennedy BBC National Chorus of Wales Cardiff Polyphonic Choir

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Benjamin Britten, whose centenary falls in 2013, had a deep love of his native Suffolk. Inspired by a glorious spring day in the 1940s, Britten’s Spring Symphony, for chorus, soloists and orchestra, celebrates the arrival of spring culminating in a joyous evocation of May. Hear it alongside the nobility and grandeur of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, played by Paul Lewis, composed as Napoleon’s guns thundered across Vienna.

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Paul Lewis plays Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto Paul Lewis has identified himself closely with the great Viennese classics and, in particular Beethoven, giving performances that have been noted for their revelatory insights and profound depth.

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What the Critics Say “Lewis seems incapable of playing anything in a bland or nerveless fashion ...he is the musician as master storyteller, and he keeps our eager attention.”

Washington Post

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Benjamin Britten: Orchestral Concert Works As we prepare to celebrate Britten’s centenary in 2013, Stephen Johnson explores some of the works that make Benjamin Britten such a cornerstone of Britain’s classical music landscape. The Orchestra will be performing these works during the 2012-13 season.

Success usually comes with a cost. The outstanding success of Benjamin Britten’s operatic, choral and solo vocal works has built up a compensating prejudice: that the works Britten wrote without voices are less effective – perhaps even less authentic. The truth, says this point of view, is that Britten really needed a text, and the sound of voices – particularly voices he knew – to get his imagination working at full stretch.

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Impressive as the Spring Symphony is, put it beside the Violin Concerto (1939) and one is forced to ask: in what way is the latter less effective or authentically Britten? This too tells a larger ‘story’, a

‘...it is instrumental song, triumphantly conceived for the violin.’

‘...sense of a symphonic current like the gradually accelerating burgeoning of Spring itself...’

more purely musical one this time, but no less gripping or moving for that. Broadly speaking, the Violin Concerto follows a favourite Britten emotional scheme: innocence to experience. The opening seems carefree, but it’s soon threatened by darker elements – spectacularly in the demonic central scherzo – leading (by an eerily effective stroke) straight into a variation-finale which seems to confront us with the stark reality of loss.

The solo violin may be said to ‘stand in’ for the human voice here, but if it is song, it is instrumental song, triumphantly conceived for the violin.

and so musically?) Yet the unity Britten brings to these assorted verses, the sense of a symphonic current like the gradually accelerating burgeoning of Spring itself, is entirely his own.

Two unfinished concertos, both lovingly restored by the composer Colin Matthews, show how deep Britten’s aptitude for this kind of instrumental drama was. That he never completed the

Granted, the magnificent choralorchestral Spring Symphony (1948-9) does show, in its sequence of twelve richly varied movements, just how vital and creative Britten’s approach to word setting could be, responding to the sounds of the words as much as their meanings. (Who else could set the line ‘The grey wolf howls’ both so pictorially

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Clarinet Concerto (1942-3) is a real loss, not just for clarinettists, but Matthews’s reconstruction gives more than a taste of the delightful work it might have been. The Double Concerto (1932), completed in sketch score when Britten was nineteen, shows him reaching out towards this form before opera was more than a vague possibility, with

‘...offer tantalising prospects of what might have been – and in the case of the Violin Concerto, true greatness.’ fascinating results – especially in the magically ambiguous ending. We can hardly complain that the mature Britten devoted more of his energies to opera than to orchestral music when what he created in that form is of such towering importance. Still, works like these early concertos – and the surprisingly fresh and breezy late Overture The Building of the House (1967) - offer tantalising prospects of what might have been – and in the case of the Violin Concerto, true greatness.

Stephen Johnson

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Britten Performances 2012-13 St David’s Hall FrIdAy 25.01.2013, 7.30pm Spring Symphony

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BBC Hoddinott Hall TueSdAy 08.01.2013, 7pm Violin Concerto performed by vilde Frang

TueSdAy 19.02.2013, 7pm Movements for a Clarinet Concerto performed by robert Plane

THurSdAy 28.03.2013, 7pm Double Concerto performed by lawrence Power (viola) and anthony Marwood (violin)

WedneSdAy 08.05.2013, 7pm The building of the house AMDG Ballad of Heroes

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Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 08.02.2013, 7.30pm Beethoven Coriolan Overture Prokofiev Violin Concerto No 2 Shostakovich Symphony No 5 Conductor Tadaaki Otaka Violin Sayaka Shoji

Tadaaki Otaka returns in music by Beethoven and Shostakovich, embodying a heroic sense of human struggle in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony is a social outcast’s defiant reply to the state and its 1937 premiere restored his reputation. Experience it alongside the lyrical bitter-sweet nostalgia of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto, played here by rising star Sayaka Shoji.

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Sayaka Shoji plays Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto The first Japanese violinist ever to win the much-coveted Paganini Competition, Sayaka Shoji is now firmly established as one of today’s rising stars.

What the Critics Say “Sayaka Shoji played with such intensity that the audience were on the edge of loosing their breath. The grandest moments took place in the softest passages. How full of energy the quietest moments can be!”

Die Tageszeitung

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St David’s Day Gala Concert Tickets £10-27.50

FrIdAy 01.03.2013, 7.30pm verdi Requiem Conductor owain arwel Hughes Soprano rebecca evans Mezzo ceri Williams Tenor John Pierce Bass alastair Miles bbc national chorus of Wales national youth choir of Wales

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Verdi’s Requiem is one of the greatest choral masterpieces of all time.

Charged with electric passion, terrifying force, tenderness and tranquillity, it comes straight from Verdi’s soul. BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales celebrate St David’s Day with a performance given by a star-studded cast of soloists under the direction of Owain Arwel Hughes.

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Llyˆr Williams plays Rachmaninov Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 12.04.2013, 7.30pm Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 3 Nielsen Symphony No 5 Conductor Thomas Søndergård Piano Llyˆr Williams

The heart-felt lyricism of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto contains some of his most personal feelings into which he poured an inexhaustible stream of melody. Collaborating for the first time with Welsh pianist Llyˆr Williams, Thomas Søndergård conducts it alongside the powerful drama of Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony: a cosmic struggle from which arises music of superhuman regenerative energy and power.

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Llyˆr Williams plays Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto With the critical acclaim of last year’s cycle of Beethoven’s Sonatas behind him, Welshborn Llyˆr Williams has emerged as one of the leading pianists of his generation.

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What the Critics Say “...one of the truly great musicians of our time. ...Those with ears to hear will have followed Williams’s playing as it has grown ever more secure and expansive”.

The Times

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Family Night Tickets £10-27 £15 .50

Friday 10.05.2013, 7pm Join Grant Llewellyn and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for a fun night for people of all ages Conductor Grant Llewellyn

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Music featured will include a selection of the Orchestra’s favourite popular classics as well as a few surprises along the way!

There will also be opportunities to try out musical instruments and meet musicians from the Orchestra.

Family Tickets available: £12.50 for 1 adult and up to 2 children £18 for 2 adults and up to 4 children

This concert is not available as part of a concert package.

What the Critics Say “Judging by the capacity audience the BBC had hit the right note with this musical celebration ... Conductor Grant Llewellyn added to the joy of the evening through his rapport with the audience” South Wales Evening Post

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Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 24.05.2013, 7.30pm Webern Im Sommerwind Mozart Concert Arias tbc Mozart Exsultate, Jubilate R. Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra Conductor François-Xavier Roth Soprano Rosemary Joshua

Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) is one of Strauss’s most audacious masterpieces, opening with its iconic sunrise over a black world, moving through the tempestuous joys and passions of life and culminating in the serene fulfilment of its closing pages. François-Xavier Roth conducts this spectacular orchestral showpiece alongside Webern’s youthful traditional romantic tone poem and music by Mozart.

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Rosemary Joshua sings Mozart

What the Critics Say

Cardiff-born Rosemary Joshua has emerged as a soprano with a particularly affinity with the baroque and classical music. Her recent performances as Despina in Così fan tutte at Covent Garden were amongst the critical toasts of the season.

“Joshua’s fleet, flexible and silvery soprano matched her stunning looks...”

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Opera Magazine

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Mahler’s Fifth Symphony Tickets £10-27.50

Friday 28.06.2013, 7.30pm Huw Watkins Violin Concerto Mahler Symphony No 5 Conductor Thomas Søndergård Violin Alina Ibragimova

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Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is an all-embracing darkness to light experience, from its sombre opening though struggle, strife, stillness and hectic exhilaration to its tremendous apotheosis. At its still centre is the Adagietto featured in the film Death in Venice. In Huw Watkins’s dramatic Violin Concerto, premiered at the 2010 BBC Proms, Alina Ibragimova who gave the premiere joins forces once again with Thomas Søndergård.

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Alina Ibragimova plays Huw Watkins’s Violin Concerto Within less than a decade Alina Ibragimova has gone from wunderkind to rising international superstar.

What the Critics Say “A poised, aristocratic performer, she has a breathtaking ability to think in terms of span as well as detail, so that every movement seemed at once immaculately controlled yet perfectly natural.”

The Guardian

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Huw Watkins’s Violin Concerto Described as “the natural heir to the English traditions of Howells, Rubbra, Bax and even Britten” (The Arts Desk), Huw Watkins’s Violin Concerto was first performed at the BBC Proms in 2010.

The work was composed for soloist Alina Ibragimova, who will perform the concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in June 2013 – the first performance of the work since its premiere.

‘I’m playing with expectations’, says Huw Watkins. ‘This is a concerto in three movements but it isn’t necessarily fastslow-fast or solo with accompaniment.

Although the violin is leading the orchestra and carries the musical

argument, the orchestra amplifies the musical ideas but also interrupts them.’

Watkins has previously written Partita for violinist Alina Ibragimova in 2006, and he’s greatly impressed by her technical skill. His Violin Concerto presents her with some serious technical challenges and he describes her first movement particularly as ‘obsessive and fiendish’.

The work is built on musical cells which are linked, extended and developed and, although the orchestra is not large, Watkins teases out some rich, dark textures through astute use of register and dynamics. robert Worby

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What the Critics Say “It is the second work he has written for this exceptional young violinist, and it is easy to understand why – few players give more of themselves to everything they perform, or colour every phrase more individually... The ravishingly coloured slow movement is flanked by an opening that alternates between hyperactivity and introspection, and a finale that winds up to a huge climax and discharges its energy in a lingering coda.”

“Watkins’s new Violin Concerto proves a very likeable addition to the repertoire... Watkins has created a diverting and likeable piece that engages rhythmically and touches the heart in the lyrical passages. Written for Alina Ibragimova, who played superbly, this work’s restful conclusion seemed inevitable.” classical Source

The Guardian

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Mark Bowden Resident Composer

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What was it like to have your cello concerto lyra performed by the orchestra? It was wonderful to work with the orchestra on lyra. The players were really responsive and enthusiastic, and helped me to make a few small but necessary changes to the score during the rehearsal period. They gave a really fantastic and passionate premiere performance; it was a really thrilling experience.

What made you start as a composer? I first discovered contemporary music through my experience as a young dancer, performing to works by composers such as Peter Maxwell Davies and Simon Holt. I loved performing music by living composers but gradually became more interested in writing music myself, although I still really enjoy playing when I get the chance!

What it is like to have a symphony orchestra at your disposal? Well it’s such a rare thing to have that I have to keep pinching myself and reminding myself that I’m incredibly lucky to have this opportunity. No matter how much you study orchestration, or study scores, or listen to recordings, you can’t ever really know how things are going to sound in real life, until you’re there working with the orchestra.

Who are your influences? Bach, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Nørgård are composers whose scores are never far away from my desk. I love Kaija Saariaho’s music and Björk is one of my favourite artists. The members of the Camberwell Composers’ Collective have been a big musical influence in my life as have been my teachers – Julian Anderson in particular. Outside music I’m also influenced by poetry, visual art and the latest developments in physics and space exploration.

What is the next piece that you’re going to be writing for the orchestra? It’s a percussion concerto for Evelyn Glennie that will also be the score for a new choreographic work. Evelyn got in touch to say she was interested in working with the Orchestra and I also really wanted to collaborate with National Dance Company Wales on a new piece. The result is that now we are working with Eleesha Drennan, a dancer and choreographer, to create a new work. Evelyn will be integrated into the staging; it’s going to be a really exciting collaboration!

There’s also a performance of Sudden Light this season, which you composed in 2004? I was still a student when BBC Symphony Orchestra gave the first performance, with Jac van Steen conducting. The piece takes as its starting points a poem by Dante Gabriel Rosetti of the same title, and a book by the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy exploring prime numbers and how they affect many aspects of life.

Looking back, can you see how you’ve developed over the years as a composer? As I’ve written more orchestral works, I think I’ve become more focused with my musical ideas, and developed my skills in orchestration. When I listen back to the first performance of Sudden Light, there are things I wish I had done differently. As a rule I try not to revisit works and make alterations but I probably will make some small changes before the next performance!

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Contemporary Evenings Tickets £7.50-9.50

Friday 26.10.2012, 7pm Camberwell Composers Collective

Mark Bowden Sudden Light Anna Meredith Barchan Chris Mayo The Llano Curve Charlie Piper Kick up the fire Conductor Andrew Gourlay Singer Iarla Ó Lionáird Trombone Donal Bannister

Friday 23.11.2012, 7pm Mark David Boden Fuochi Distanti Mark Bowden New Ballet Score (BBC Radio 3 commission, world premiere) Andrew Lewis Eclipse Joseph Davies Night Resonance Recedes and works by Guto Puw and Arlene Sierra Conductor Grant Llewellyn Percussion Evelyn Glennie

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Concerts at BBC Hoddinott Hall Tickets

£8.50-11.50

Tuesday 11.09.2012, 2pm

Thursday 28.03.2013, 7pm B

Panufnik Katyn Epitaph Britten Double Concerto Hisatada Otaka Flute Concerto LutosŁawski Concerto for Orchestra

Chabrier España de Falla Nights in the gardens of Spain Conductor Michael Francis Piano Javier Perianes

Conductor Tadaaki Otaka Flute Adam Walker Viola Lawrence Power Violin Anthony Marwood

Tuesday 16.10.2012, 2pm Prokofiev Symphony – concerto Kalinnikov Symphony No 1 in G minor

Wednesday 08.05.2013, 7pm B

Conductor Thomas Søndergård

Britten The building of the house Poulenc Litanies la Vierge Noire Satie (orcH. Poulenc)

Friday 07.12.2012, 2pm Barber Die Natali Finzi Dies Natalis Leroy Anderson Christmas Festival Conductor Garry Walker

Tuesday 08.01.2013, 7pm B

Deux Préludes posthumes et une gnossienne Poulenc Sécheresses Poulenc (OrcH. Françaix) Overture Britten AMDG Britten Ballad of Heroes

John Pickard Tenebrae Britten Violin Concerto Bridge The Sea

Conductor Adrian Partington Tenor Ben Johnson (BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist) BBC National Chorus of Wales

Conductor Martyn Brabbins Violin Vilde Frang

Thursday 11.06.2013, 2pm

Tuesday 19.02.2013, 7pm

B

Britten / Matthews Movements for a clarinet concerto Elgar Variations on an original theme “Enigma” Conductor François-Xavier Roth Clarinet Robert Plane

24

Otto Ketting Symphony No 1 Prokofiev Symphony No 7 Conductor Jac van Steen Full programme details to be confirmed.

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Booking information Tickets for BBC Hoddinott Hall events are also available via the Wales Millennium Centre ticket office. To book or for further information and to plan your visit please visit wmc.org.uk or call 029 2063 6464

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wmc.org.uk

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Concert Packages Our concert packages are a great way to plan your season out in advance whilst saving money and gaining great extra benefits!

All 10 Concerts

Buy now, pay later – spread the cost of our concert package over four moths with our interest free payment scheme

• • • •

0% off full price tickets 2 FREE concert programme at each event A BBC National Orchestra of Wales Merchandise Voucher worth £12 FREE tickets to both contemporary music concerts at BBC Hoddinott Hall (26.10.2012 & 23.11.2012) • 50% off a further two BBC Hoddinott Hall concerts of your choice (see pages 23-24 for details)

Plus - your seats will be reserved for you for next season, so you can keep your favourite seats year on year.

5-9 concerts

25

Flexi-4

• 1 5% off full price tickets • FREE concert programme at each event • FREE ticket to one of the contemporary concerts at BBC Hoddinott Hall (26.10.2012 or 23.11.2012) • 50% off ticket prices for an additional BBC Hoddinott Hall concert of your choice (see pages 23-24 for details)

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• 1 0% off full price tickets • FREE concert programme at each event • The flexibility to choose your concerts in advance or right up to 10am on the day of the concert

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All price zones are available for each concert, but seating areas may vary.

Full Price

Flexi-4 (10%) 5-9 (15%) All 10 (20%)

A: £27.50

£24.75

£23.40

£22.00

B: £21.50

£19.35

£18.30

£17.20

C: £16.60

£14.94

£14.11

£13.28

D: £13.00

£11.70

£11.05

£10.40

E: £10.00

£9.00

£8.50

£8.00

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• We

AC

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Credit Vouchers – if you book and find you can’t attend, just call the Audience Line and we can credit your ticket’s value for use another time. For full details on discounts and credit see Booking Information.

• We

Booking dates Phone booking for concert packages is open now direct with the Orchestra only. Booking for groups of 10 or more people opens on 22.05.2012. General booking for individual concerts opens on Tuesday 29.05.2012.

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For

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Booking Information Discounts Discounts are available for disabled patrons, claimants, MAX card holders and over 65s. Patrons can only apply one discount per ticket. Please ask for details when booking.

Group Bookings Groups of 10 or more people receive 15% off full price tickets for concerts at St David’s Hall and BBC Hoddinott Hall.

Family Tickets Family tickets are available for £18 for two adults and up to four children and £12.50 for one adult and up to two children. The ticket price includes specially written programme notes. Children must be 16 years and under.

Students Tickets for students and those in full-time education cost £6 on presentation of a current membership card.

Wheelchair Users At St David’s Hall, wheelchair users plus one companion can book reserved spaces at the rear of the stalls for £10 per seat. Patrons with walking difficulties may find that seats in the stalls are most suitable for access, Please ask when booking about the facilities at other venues.

Ticket Exchanges and Credit Scheme If you find you are unable to attend one of the concerts you have booked, you may exchange your tickets for tickets of the same value to another BBC National Orchestra of Wales concert, or alternatively, we can issue you with credit to use at a later date for concerts or merchandise. If you wish to exchange your tickets you should contact the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at least three days before the concert date. All exchanges are made at the discretion of the box office manager and are subject to availability. Please return the relevant programme voucher along with concert tickets you are exchanging.

Flexi-Four Packages These packages are designed for people who wish to be a subscriber, but who cannot commit to concert dates immediately. There is no guarantee of seat availability and for popular concerts patrons are advised to redeem their vouchers further in advance. Vouchers are only valid for the current concert season and only redeemable via the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line.

This brochure is also available in large print and on tape for people with impaired vision. For copies, please contact us on 0800 052 1812, or write to us at: BBC National Orchestra of Wales, FREEPOST SWC2803, CARDIFF CF5 2GZ, or email: now@bbc.co.uk e3263 SDH ICS BBC Ad 04/04/2012 17:01 Page 1

www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/ics

• Wednesday 3 October 2012/Mercher 3 Hydref 2012 | 7:30 ST PETERSBURG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Dmitriev/Sitkovetsky • Wednesday 17 October 2012/Mercher 17 Hydref 2012 | 7:30pm ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS

Bell • Wednesday 24 October 2012/Mercher 24 Hydref 2012 | 7:30pm STEVE REICH’S DRUMMING

The Colin Currie Group with Synergy Vocals • Thursday 8 November 2012/Iau 8 Tachwedd 2012 | 7:30pm PRAGUE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Forster/Tchetuev

2012/2013

• Friday 16 November 2012/Gwener 16 Tachwedd 2012 | 7:30pm ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS OF WELSH NATIONAL OPERA/ CERDDORFA A CHORWS OPERA CENEDLAETHOL CYMRU

Poppen/Watts/Flavin/Tortise/Davies/Phillippo/Wright • Wednesday 5 December 2012/Mercher 5 Rhagfyr 2012 | 7:30pm THE SIXTEEN

Christophers • Friday 18 January 2013/Gwener 18 Ionawr 2013 | 7:30pm ORCHESTRA OF WELSH NATIONAL OPERA/ CERDDORFA OPERA CENEDLAETHOL CYMRU

Koenigs/Adams/Breedt • Wednesday 13 February 2013/Mercher 13 Chwefror 2013 | 7:30pm PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA

• Friday 22 March 2013/Gwener 22 Mawrth 2013 | 7:30pm CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Nelsons/Lewis • Wednesday 17 April 2013/Mercher 17 Ebril 2013 | 7:30pm CZECH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Belohlávek/Špacek • Friday 26 April 2013/Gwener 26 Ebril 2013 | 7:30pm ORCHESTRA OF WELSH NATIONAL OPERA/ CERDDORFA OPERA CENEDLAETHOL CYMRU

Koenigs • Wednesday 8 May 2013/Mercher 8 Mai 2013 | 7:30pm PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA Davis/de la Salle

Gardner/Fray

Box Office / Swyddfa Docynnau

029 2087 8444

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Time Amser 2pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 3pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 2pm 7pm 7.30pm 7pm

7.30pm 7.30pm 3pm 2pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7pm 7.30pm 7.30pm

date dyddiad

TUE / MAW 11.09.2012

FRI / GWEN 21.09.2012

SAT / SAD 29.09.2012

SUN / SUL 30.09.2012

SAT / SAD 06.10.2012

FRI / GWEN 12.10.2012

TUE / MAW 16.10.2012

FRI / GWEN 26.10.2012

FRI / GWEN 02.11.2012

FRI / GWEN 23.11.2012

FRI / GWEN 30.11.2012

SAT / SAD 01.12.2012

SUN / SUL 02.12.2012

FRI / GWEN 07.12.2012

FRI / GWEN 14.12.2012

TUE / MAW 01.01.2013

TUE / MAW 08.01.2013

FRI / GWEN 25.01.2013

FRI / GWEN 08.02.2013

TUE / MAW 19.02.2013

FRI / GWEN 22.02.2013

FRI / GWEN 01.03.2013

SDH / NDS

BH / NB

BBC HH / NH y BBC

SDH / NDS

SDH / NDS

BBC HH / NH y BBC

BH / NB

SDH / NDS

BBC HH / NH y BBC

WAH / NWA

PJH / NPJ

AAC / CyCA

BBC HH / NH y BBC

SDH / NDS

BBC HH / NH y BBC

BBC HH / NH y BBC

SDH / NDS

BH / NB

TH

SAC / EGLL

SDH / NDS

BBC HH / NH y BBC

Venue Lleoliad

Verdi - Requiem

Shostakovich, Bartók & Tchaikovsky

Britten / Colin Matthews, Elgar

Beethoven, Prokofiev, Shostakovich

Beethoven, Britten

John Pickard, Britten, Bridge

New Year's Day Concert / Cyngerdd Blwyddyn Newydd

Handel - Messiah

Barber, Finzi, Leroy Anderson

Grace Williams, Tailleferre, Ravel, Vaughan Williams

Grace Williams, Tailleferre, Ravel, Vaughan Williams

Grace Williams, Tailleferre, Ravel, Vaughan Williams

Mark David Boden, Mark Bowden, Guto Puw, Andrew Lewis, Joseph Davies, Arlene Sierrra

Wagner, Brahms, Zemlinsky

Mark Bowden, Anna Meredith, Chris Mayo, Charlie Piper

Prokofiev, Kalinnikov

Lindberg, R. Strauss, Grieg, Sibelius

Daniel Jones, Elgar, Vaughan Williams

Dvor˘ák, Daniel Jones, Mendelssohn

Matthias, Daniel Jones, Mendelssohn

Season Taster Concert / Cyngerdd Cipolwg ar y Tymor

de Falla, Chabrier

Programme rhaglen

Arwel Hughes

Roth

Roth

Otaka

Atherton

Brabbins

Evans

Roth

Walker

Arwel Hughes

Arwel Hughes

Arwel Hughes

Llewellyn

van Steen

Gourlay

Søndergård

Søndergård

Arwel Hughes

Gourlay

Gourlay

Llewellyn

Francis

17

16

12

11

9

8

5

Conductor Arweinydd Page Tud

2012-13 at a glance... ...cipolwg 2012-13

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7.30pm 7pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 3pm 7pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 2pm 7.30pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 2pm 7.30pm

FRI / GWEN 01.03.2013

MON / LLUN 04.03.2013

THURS / IAU 07.03.2013

FRI / GWEN 08.03.2013

THURS / IAU 14.03.2013

FRI / GWEN 15.03.2013

SAT / SAD 16.03.2013

SUN / SUL 17.03.2013

THURS / IAU 28.03.2013

FRI / GWEN 12.04.2013

FRI / GWEN 19.04.2013

TUE / MAW 23.04.2013

FRI / GWEN 03.05.2013

WED / MERCH 08.05.2013

FRI / GWEN 10.05.2013

SAT / SAD 11.05.2013

FRI / GWEN 24.05.2013

FRI / GWEN 31.05.2013

FRI / GWEN 07.06.2013

TUE / MAW 11.06.2013

FRI / GWEN 28.06.2013

SDH / NDS

BBC HH / NH y BBC

BH / NB

SDC / EGT

SDH / NDS

STPS / YSTP

SDH / NDS

BBC HH / NH y BBC

BH / NB

BBC HH / NH y BBC

BH / NB

SDH / NDS

BBC HH / NH y BBC

VC

WAH / NWA

PJH / NPJ

AAC / CyCA

BH / NB

THC

BBC HH / NH y BBC

SDH / NDS

BH / NB

Key Allwedd SdH / ndS - St david’s Hall, Cardiff / neuadd dewi Sant, Caerdydd BBC HH / nH y BBC - BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff / neuadd Hoddinott y BBC, Caerdydd BH / nB - Brangwyn Hall, Swansea / neuadd Brangwyn, Abertawe SdC / eGT - St davids Cathedral / eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi STPS / ySTP - Sir Thomas Picton School, Haverfordwest / neuadd ysgol Sir Thomas Picton, Hwlffordd

7.30pm

FRI / GWEN 22.02.2013

Søndergård

van Steen

Konig

Søndergård

Roth

Llewellyn

Llewellyn

Partington

Søndergård

Gamba

Minczuk

Søndergård

Otaka

Søndergård

Søndergård

Søndergård

Søndergård

van Steen

van Steen

van Steen

Arwel Hughes

Roth

21

20

19

18

17

AAC / CyCA - Aberystwyth Arts Centre / Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth TH - Hafren, newtown / y dre newydd PJH / nPJ - Prichard-Jones Hall, Bangor / neuadd Prichard-Jones, Bangor WAH / nWA - William Aston Hall, Wrexham / neuadd William Aston, Wrecsam VC - Venue Cymru, Llandudno SAC / eGLL - St Asaph Cathedral / eglwys Gadeiriol Llanelwy THC - Town Hall, Cheltenham

Huw Watkins & Mahler

Otto Ketting & Prokofiev

Dvor˘ák, Beethoven & Brahms

Brahms, Haydn, Wagner, Jongen

Webern, Mozart & R. Strauss

Family Night / Noson i’r Teulu

Family Night / Noson i’r Teulu

Britten, Satie, Poulenc

Wagner, Korngold,, Schumann

TBC

Roussel, Poulenc, Musorgsky

Rachmaninov, Nielsen

Panufnik, Britten, Hisatada Otaka, Lutosławski

Horneman, Sibelius, Mozart, Glazunov, Stravinsky

Sibelius, Nielsen, Beethoven

Sibelius, Nielsen, Beethoven

Horneman, Sibelius, Mozart, Glazunov, Stravinsky

Schumann, Elgar

Schumann, Elgar

Welsh Composers

Verdi - Requiem

Shostakovich, Bartók & Tchaikovsky