Friday Night Club Fri 15 May 2020: 7.30pm BEETHOVEN Symphony No9 Choral Peter Oundjian Conductor Marita Sølberg Soprano Renata Pokupić Mezzo-soprano Ben Johnson Tenor Stephan Loges Bass-baritone RSNO Chorus Gregory Batsleer Chorus Director, RSNO Chorus Royal Scottish National Orchestra Recorded on Sat 28 May 2016, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
This performance was recorded for the RSNO Archive. Supported by the Iain and Pamela Sinclair Legacy.
RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
Symphony No9 Choral contemporaries quivering in his wake. Not even the onslaught of deafness could silence his creative spirit. Crucial to an understanding of Beethoven’s working methods is a written conversation with his friend and confidant Louis Schlösser, dating from 1822, the year he began work on the Ninth Symphony. ‘You ask me where I obtain my ideas,’ Beethoven pondered. ‘I cannot answer this with any certainty: they come unbidden, spontaneously or unspontaneously. I may grasp them with my hands in the open air, while walking in the woods, in the stillness of night, in the early morning. Stimulated by those moods that poets turn into words, I turn my ideas into tones that resound, roar and rage until at last they stand before me in the form of notes.’
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
FIRST PERFORMED 7 May 1824, Theater am Kärntnertor, Vienna DURATION 65 minutes Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso Molto vivace – Trio: Presto Adagio molto e cantabile – Andante moderato Finale: Presto – Allegro assai Beethoven was, quite simply, the single most influential figure in the history of Western music. Starting out with Mozart and Haydn as spiritual mentors, he wrestled off the shackles of late 18th-century Classicism, forging new and uncompromising musical landscapes with a visionary intensity that left most of his
In terms of his ideas, Beethoven was invariably drawn towards musical themes that had truly symphonic potential, rather than simply melodies ripe for lyrical development. ‘Whenever I hear music in my inner ear,’ he confessed, ‘it is always the full orchestra that I hear. When writing vocal music, I invariably have to ask myself: “Can it be sung?”’ In the case of Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy – a celebration of man’s brotherhood, which crowns the Ninth Symphony – Beethoven’s aim to produce music fully worthy of the text’s universal message had in fact occupied him since 1793, when he attempted his first setting. Beethoven never forgave Napoleon for his betrayal of the ordinary man by declaring himself Emperor, and following the rampant Corsican’s death in 1821 it seemed the perfect time to remind his listeners of the French Revolution’s original maxim of ‘liberty, fraternity and equality’.
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The epic Ninth Symphony received its 1824 premiere under the composer’s baton – or ostensibly, at least. By then Beethoven was totally deaf and quite incapable of carrying out the task effectively, especially in a new symphony of such complexity and on such a grand scale. Unbeknown to him, the performance was actually conducted by another man standing outside his line of vision. When the audience thundered their applause at the end, Beethoven appeared to be unsure that the piece had actually finished and had to be turned around to receive the wild acclamation. The Ninth is Beethoven’s crowning achievement as a symphonist. The mighty first movement is an all-encompassing musical drama that evolves out of primeval throbbings intoning what are the tonal system’s essential harmonic building blocks (tonic and dominant, for those in the know) into a cosmic musical journey of awesome power. The fiery second movement scherzo brings us back to earth with a jolting rhythmic obsessiveness that hurtles the music along with a sense of unstoppable forward momentum. By complete contrast, the third movement is an oasis of tranquillity that suggests the infinite opening up before us. This is a world in which anything seems possible – even a glimpse of Heaven, the ideal towards which the finale aspires. The impact of the fourth movement’s unprecedented inclusion of a large choir and four vocal soloists on the audience at the Symphony’s premiere was instantaneous – the riot police even had to be called in order to calm listeners down. Subsequent composers fell repeatedly under this movement’s spell.
Mendelssohn’s Second Symphony (named the Hymn of Praise) was the first in a string of choral symphonies composed in veneration of Beethoven’s Ninth that stretches out beyond Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony as far as Tippett’s Third Symphony of 1972, which quotes Beethoven’s Ninth as its finale explodes upon the scene. Wagner viewed the Ninth’s finale as the ultimate fusion of symphonic and poetic expression – with the notable exception of his own operas, of course. The Ninth’s finale is effectively a symphony within a symphony, opening with a searing dissonance that ushers in recollections of the previous three movements, before returning to set up the solo baritone’s dramatic entry. ‘Oh Freunde, nicht diese Töne’ calls for the past to be swept aside while hastening in the new in the form of the bracing ‘Ode to Joy’ theme. This is immediately submitted to a series of subtle variations before a dramatic change of mood to a carefree march in the then fashionable ‘Turkish’ style. A thrusting double fugue then builds up a head of steam, climaxing in the choral explosion of sound (‘Freude, schöner Götterfunken’) that has become the Symphony’s trademark. Beethoven then slows the tempo as he calls upon everyone to embrace in contemplation (‘Seid umschlungen, Millionen!’). All cares are then thrust aside, and the Symphony culminates in an exhilarating outburst of orchestral exuberance guaranteed to send listeners’ spirits soaring aloft. © Julian Haylock
RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
Ode to Joy O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere.
Oh friends, not these tones! Rather let us intone more pleasing And more joyful ones.
Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! Deine Zauber binden wieder, was die Mode streng geteilt; alle Menschen werden Brüder, wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Joyful, beauteous spark divine, Daughter of Elysium, Drunk on fire, we enter, Heavenly one, your holy realm! Your magic binds once more What fashion bitterly divided; All men will be brothers Where your gentle wings rest.
Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen, eines Freundes Freund zu sein, wer ein holdes Weib errungen, mische seinen Jubel ein! Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund! Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle weinend sich aus diesem Bund.
He who has gained fortune, As a friend’s friend, He who has found a fair woman, Let him add his jubilation! Yes, even he who calls just one soul His on this earthly sphere! And he who never could, Steals tearfully from this company.
Freude trinken alle Wesen an den Brüsten der Natur; alle Guten, alle Bösen folgen ihrer Rosenspur. Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, einen Freund, geprüft im Tod; Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben, Und der Cherub steht vor Gott!
All creatures shall drink From nature’s breast; All the good, all the evil Follow her rosy trail. Kisses she bestows upon us, and wine, A friend proven in death; Sensuality was bestowed on the worm, And the cherub stands before God!
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan, laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
Gladly as His suns fly Across heaven’s glorious arena, Run your course, brothers, Joyfully, like a hero to victory.
Seid umschlungen Millionen. Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! Brüder! überm Sternenzelt muss ein lieber Vater wohnen Ihr stürzt nieder Millionen?
Be embraced, you millions. This kiss is for the whole world! Brothers! Above the firmament Must live a dear father Do you bow low, you millions?
Scotland’s National Orchestra
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt? Such’ ihn über’m Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muss er wohnen.
Do you sense the creator, oh world? Seek him above the firmament! Above the stars he must live.
Freude schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, wir betreten feuertrunken Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! Seid umschlungen Millionen! Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!
Joyful, beauteous spark divine, Daughter of Elysium, Drunk on fire, we enter, Heavenly one, your holy realm! Be embraced, you millions. This kiss is for the whole world!
Freude, Tochter aus Elysium! Deine Zauber binden wieder, was die Mode streng geteilt. Alle Menschen werden Brüder, wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Joyful, daughter of Elysium! Your magic binds once more What fashion bitterly divided; All men will be brothers Where your gentle wings rest.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen! Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! Brüder! über’m Sternenzelt muss ein lieber Vater wohnen. Seid umschlungen! Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! Freude schöner Götterfunken! Tochter aus Elysium! Freude, schöner Götterfunken! Götterfunken!
Be embraced, you millions. This kiss is for the whole world! Brothers! Above the firmament Must live a dear father. Be embraced! This kiss is for the whole world! Joyful, spark of divinity! Daughter of Elysium! Joyful, spark of divinity! Spark of divinity!
Friedrich Schiller/Ludwig van Beethoven
Translation © Katherine Wren, RSNO Viola
RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
Stealing the show Gregory Batsleer, Chorus Director of the RSNO Chorus, explains why Beethoven’s Choral Symphony is such a joy for singers
Every choir loves singing Beethoven’s Choral Symphony – but every choir has its own gripes about the piece too. It’s well known that it’s written quite high in the voice, and it’s incredibly demanding. But when you get to a performance, all of that is blown away. As a singer in the Chorus, you get to listen to some of the most glorious music ever written – and then you steal the show at the end with the Symphony’s amazing hymn of joy! With his Ninth Symphony, I think Beethoven is single-handedly dragging the Classical era into the Romantic era, and he’s pushing the capabilities of musicians hugely. He did indeed write things that are very high for the voices, in very quick tempos, and with lots of different words – he’s probably pushing a choir harder than it had ever been pushed previously. In my opinon he was trying to evolve what was possible, in the same way that a lot of contemporary composers today are trying to extend what we can sing and play.
We spent time in rehearsal getting our German pronunciation absolutely right, and also highlighting what the words of the ‘Ode to Joy’ text mean, and what the message is that we want to communicate. It’s a bit like what a director does with a company of actors. I think the way the Chorus communicates with the audience is in really understanding what the words mean, and letting the music speak through the words, so that the music adds another layer of meaning – in fact Beethoven’s interpretation – onto the words. We sang the ‘Ode to Joy’ from memory, which is for a lot of reasons. I think audiences can have more connection with the Chorus if they’re singing without music, and it makes an enormous impact when the Chorus joins the Orchestra – it’s truly as if Beethoven couldn’t go any further with his music for orchestra and has to add a choir. For further information on the RSNO Chorus, or if you are interested in joining the Chorus, please visit rsno.org.uk/chorus
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RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
Marita Sølberg SOPRANO
Norwegian soprano Marita Sølberg was born in Levanger and studied at the Tronderlag Music Conservatory, National College of Operatic Art and Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and went on to win the 2001 Queen Sonja International Music Competition and the Tom Wilhelmsens Foundation Prize. She regularly appears with all the major Norwegian orchestras and at numerous festivals. She was a member of Stuttgart Opera from 2006 to 2008 and made her Royal Opera debut in the 2016:17 Season as Antonia Les contes d’Hoffmann. With Norwegian National Opera her repertoire includes Countess Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, Giulietta I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Antonia, Nedda Pagliacci, Mimì La bohème (for which she won the Norwegian Music Critics’ Prize), Female Chorus The Rape of Lucretia, Sandman/Dew Fairy Hänsel und Gretel and Solveig in Jüri Reinvere’s Peer Gynt. Engagements elsewhere include Zerlina Don
Giovanni for Bergen National Opera, Angel in Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise in Trondheim, Pamina Die Zauberflöte for LA Opera, Countess Almaviva for La Fenice, Venice, and Mimì for Vienna State Opera. Marita has performed in concert with orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, in repertoire including Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Mahler’s Symphony No4 and Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs.
Scotland’s National Orchestra
Renata Pokupić MEZZO-SOPRANO
Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić was born in Virovitica and studied at the Music Academy of Zagreb. Shortly after graduating she won two first prizes at the Antonin Dvořák International Voice Competition and reached the finals of the Salzburg International Mozart Competition. Renata made her operatic debut in 2003 at Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet as Anna Les Troyens under John Eliot Gardiner, which was recorded for DVD by the BBC. She sings regularly with Gardiner in concert with his English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. She made her Royal Opera debut in 2010 as Irene Tamerlano and has since sung Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro and Siébel Faust. Her other operatic engagements include the title role in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo with Grange Park Opera, Sesto La clemenza di Tito with Chicago Opera Theater, Dorabella Così fan tutte with Washington National Opera and the title role
in Cendrillon in Lille. Conductors with whom Renata frequently collaborates include Fabio Biondi, Emmanuelle Haïm, Paul McCreesh, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Kazushi Ono. Renata regularly appears in recital with pianist Roger Vignoles, including at London’s Wigmore Hall and the Frick Collection, New York. She is devoted to promoting the works of Croatian composers, including Božidar Kunc and Václav Tomášek.
RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
Ben Johnson TENOR
Tenor Ben Johnson represented England in BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2013 and won the Audience Prize. A former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and 2008 winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award, he was formerly an English National Opera Harewood Artist and a Wigmore Hall Emerging Talent. He is the Founder and Chief Conductor of the Southrepps Sinfonia as well as joint Artistic Director of the Southrepps Classical Music Festival, and is a professor of singing at the Royal College of Music in London. Operatic highlights include Eisenstein Die Fledermaus and Don Ottavio Don Giovanni for Opera Holland Park, and Alfredo La traviata, Tamino Die Zauberflöte and Nemorino L’elisir d’amore for English National Opera. Ben has also performed Don Ottavio and Novice Billy Budd for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English National Opera and Opéra National de Bordeaux, Lysander A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Bergen National Opera, Oronte
Alcina with The English Concert, Bénédict Béatrice et Bénédict for Chelsea Opera Group, Carlo Giovanna d’Arco for Buxton Festival Opera and Martin The Tender Land at Opéra de Lyon. Recently he performed Nebuchadnezzar The Burning Fiery Furnace with Scottish Opera, Tamino with Welsh National Opera and Don Basilio Le nozze di Figaro with Grange Festival. Much in demand on the concert platform, in recent years Ben has sung Jaquino in Fidelio with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski, Mozart’s Requiem with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with The Orchestra of Scottish Opera and Bliss’ The Beatitudes with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Ben is also a dedicated recitalist, performing regularly with pianists Graham Johnson, James Baillieu, Roger Vignoles and Tom Primrose.
Scotland’s National Orchestra
Stephan Loges BASS-BARITONE
Bass-baritone Stephan Loges was born in Dresden. He was the winner of the 1999 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. He has given recitals throughout the world, including regular appearances at Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Klavierfestival Ruhr, La Monnaie Brussels, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Musée d’Orsay Paris, the Vocal Arts Series in Washington and on BBC Radio 3 with pianists Graham Johnson, Eugene Asti, Roger Vignoles, Iain Burnside, Simon Lepper, Joseph Middleton and Sholto Kynoch. Since his BBC Proms debut singing Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Trevor Pinnock in 2002, Stephan has performed the work with many period-instrument and modern orchestras, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment directed by Mark Padmore, and recorded it with both the Gabrieli Consort under Paul McCreesh and the Monteverdi
Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Other concert highlights include Bernstein’s Songfest with the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig; Britten’s War Requiem with the Melbourne and Sapporo symphony orchestras; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Haydn’s Creation with the Iceland Symphony and Salzburg Mozarteum orchestras; Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten with the Staatskapelle Dresden; Telemann’s Brockes Passion with Ensemble Pygmalion; Bach’s St John Passion with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; and Bach’s Easter Oratorio with the Gabrieli Consort. Stephan has also made operatic appearances in Brussels, Vienna, across France, with English Touring Opera, and as Bruno in James MacMillan’s Parthenogenesis at the Royal Opera House.
RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
Peter Oundjian CONDUCTOR
Born in Toronto and raised in Surrey, Peter grew up performing frequently as a violinist and choral singer. During his teenage years he frequently played concertos, recitals and chamber music throughout England. He attended the Royal College of Music in London, where he was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal in 1975. The same year, at the encouragement of Pinchas Zukerman, Peter entered the Juilliard School in New York. In 1980 he won First Prize in the Viña del Mar International Violin Competition. In 1981 he joined the Tokyo String Quartet as its first violinist. Over the next 14 years, the group performed worldwide and recorded over 35 albums. In 1995 Peter was forced to step away from the violin, having developed focal dystonia in his left hand. Peter Oundjian was Music Director of the RSNO from 2012 to 2018. He was also the Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2018 and is now its Conductor Emeritus. Previously he was the Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2010, Artistic Director of the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York from 1997 to 2007 and Music Director of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta from 1998 to 2002. In 2016 he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Yale Philharmonia and began his tenure as Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder in 2019. With the RSNO Peter toured China, the USA and Europe, and his final appearance as the Orchestra’s Music Director was a memorable performance of Britten’s War Requiem at the 2018 BBC Proms. He was nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award for the RSNO’s 2018 album John Adams: Naïve and Sentimental Music & Absolute Jest.
At the age of 39, Peter turned his focus to his former passion for conducting, which he had also studied at Juilliard. He was excited to bring music to life through the sensitivities he had absorbed as a chamber musician. Peter has appeared at some of the great annual gatherings of music and music-lovers: the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Prague Spring Festival and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Mozart Festival, for which he was Artistic Director from 2003 to 2005. He has also made numerous appearances with the LA Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Pittsburgh, St Louis, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras. Education has been as much of a joy and passion for Peter as any other musical pursuit. At the age of 25 he became a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music, and has mentored young violinists, conductors and chamber groups there ever since.
Scotland’s National Orchestra
Gregory Batsleer
CHORUS DIRECTOR, RSNO CHORUS Gregory Batsleer has held the position of Chorus Director with the RSNO since 2015. Since 2009 he has also held the position of Chorus Director with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and in 2016 was appointed Choral Director of the Huddersfield Choral Society. In 2017 he co-founded Festival Voices, a professional vocal ensemble specialising in cross-discipline collaboration and performance. As a guest conductor, highlights include performances with the RSNO, Hallé, Academy of Ancient Music, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Aurora Orchestra and Orchestra of Opera North. Gregory is deeply committed to his work as a collaborator and curator. Recent projects include work with artists such as Elbow, James, Tim Burgess, Damon Albarn and Clean Bandit. In 2015 he was musical consultant on Nick Drake’s play All the Angels: Handel and the First Messiah at London’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. He has a close working relationship with composer Joe Duddell, and has premiered works by composers including James Burton, David Lang, Colin Metters, Uri Caine and Ben Parry. Gregory recently co-curated sell-out cross-art performances at London’s Southbank Centre, Latitude festival and Wilderness festival, all featuring Festival Voices. Gregory’s work as a choral conductor was recognised with The Arts Foundation’s first-ever Fellowship in Choral Conducting in 2015.
RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
RSNO Chorus
The RSNO Chorus performs in around six different programmes in up to 20 concerts across Scotland with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra each year. The RSNO Chorus has also had great success in recording with the Orchestra. Its recordings, among others, of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, conducted by Neeme Järvi, and Holst’s The Planets, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones, have both attracted high critical acclaim. In addition to its commitment to the Orchestra, the RSNO Chorus performs independently and has been invited to perform with orchestras in many parts of the world, establishing an international status and touring to Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Israel, Germany, Belfast, Australia, Trondheim and, most recently, Amsterdam
and Prague. In 2018 it performed Britten’s War Requiem with the RSNO at the BBC Proms. The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today it is one of the most successful choruses in the UK. In recent years it has performed practically every work in the standard choral repertoire along with contemporary works by renowned composers, including John Adams, Danny Elfman, Magnus Lindberg, James MacMillan and Howard Shore. The RSNO Chorus is directed by Gregory Batsleer, one of the UK’s most dynamic and indemand choral conductors and chorus masters. In 2015 Gregory received The Arts Foundation Fellowship in Choral Conducting.
Scotland’s National Orchestra
SOPRANO 1 Kathryn Alexander Katie Allan Alison Blair Morven Chisholm Mairi Therese Cleary Theresa Hoare Elizabeth Jack Sylvia Jenks Morag Kean Heather Keating Joan Lacy Margaret Mills Maree Murdoch Susan Sheldon Roberta Yule SOPRANO 2 Kate Adams Lynsey Brook Shena Brown Eilidh Clark Jennifer Donnelly Shona Elliot Christine Hendry Leila Inglis Beth Kean Frances Kennedy Hannah Lee Fiona McLeod Anne Murphy Wilma Murphy Fiona Murray Grace Murray Judith Pexton Fiona Ramage Alison Reid Catriona Scott Eve Scott Elizabeth Stevenson Catherine Taylor Hannah Weetman Morven White Kate Wilson
ALTO 1 Ann Allcoat Amy Bilsborough Anne Brunt Valerie Bryan Alison Bryce Thea Campbell Cathy Chapman Sandra Davie Jackie Fitzgibbon Julia Haddow Kate Hemfrey Jenny Laidlaw Carol Leddy Ailie MacDougall Anna Macleod Maureen McCroskie Linda McLauchlan Amanda McLeod Marita McMillan Katharine Oyler Elizabeth Pitts Louise Reid Catriona Roberston Fiona Taylor Mary Taylor June Thomas Ruth Townsend Susan Walker Kim Watt Kirsty Weaver Brenda Williamson ALTO 2 Moira Allingham Susan Caldwell Moira Campbell Ann Firth Marguerite Galloway Jan Livesley Margaret McEwan Hilde McKenna Jannette Morrison Catharine Perrin Judith Robertson Elizabeth Scobie Elspeth Smith Jane Stansfield
TENOR Stephen Brennan Sinclair Couper Malcolm Crowe Simon Freebairn- Smith Michael Gibson Gilroy Harrison Ewan Love Angus McCaig Gerry Mullen Kerr Noble James Pollock Graham Richardson Ian Stuart Alistair Thom Robert Turnbull Alistair Watt Donald Weetman BASS Ken Allen Gabriel Arbesu John Batchelor Melvyn Davies Tom Ferguson John Gillies Ian Gray Richard Hassall Ian MacKay Iain Maclean John MacLellan Andrew Matheson Jack McChesney Jim McRae Ian Mills Chris Morris Leo Nowak Stephen Penman Richard Shaw Graeme Simpson Alasdair Smith Mike Smith Brian Watt
GUEST SINGERS SOPRANO Aileen Dickie-Adams Emma Fenwick ALTO Ankna Arokiam Shona Banks Thelma Bevis Judith LeBreuilly Rosalind Mellon Elaine Nicol Kate Robinson Harriet Skipworth TENOR Jack Heavenor Alan Robertson David Surtees Robin Watson BASS Trevor Bevis Laurence Brewer Gordon Brown Neil Campbell Alasdair Smith Don Spaeth
Vocal Coach Polly Beck Rehearsal pianist Ed Cohen
RSNO Friday Night Club: Beethoven Symphony No9 Choral
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1977. The Orchestra’s artistic team is led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, who was appointed RSNO Music Director in October 2018, having previously held the position of Principal Guest Conductor. Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan succeeds Søndergård as Principal Guest Conductor. They are joined by Assistant Conductor Junping Qian. The RSNO performs across Scotland, including concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness. The Orchestra appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms, and has made recent tours to the USA, China and throughout Europe. The Orchestra is joined for choral performances by the RSNO Chorus, directed by Gregory Batsleer. The RSNO Chorus evolved from a choir formed in 1843 to sing the first full performance of Handel’s Messiah in Scotland. Today, the RSNO Chorus is one of the most distinguished large symphonic choruses in Britain, with a membership of around 160. The Chorus has performed nearly every work in the standard choral repertoire, along with contemporary works by composers including John Adams, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.
Formed in 1978 by Jean Kidd, the acclaimed RSNO Junior Chorus, under its new director Patrick Barrett, also performs regularly alongside the Orchestra. Boasting a membership of over 400 members aged from 7 to 18, it has built up a considerable reputation singing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and appearing on radio and television. The RSNO has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its recordings, receiving two Diapason d’Or awards for Symphonic Music (Denève/ Roussel 2007; Denève/Debussy 2012) and eight GRAMMY Awards nominations. Over 200 releases are available, including the complete symphonies of Sibelius (Gibson), Prokofiev (Järvi), Glazunov (Serebrier), Nielsen and Martinů (Thomson) and Roussel (Denève) and the major orchestral works of Debussy (Denève). Thomas Søndergård’s debut recording with the RSNO, of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, was released on Linn Records in 2019. The RSNO’s pioneering learning and engagement programme, Music for Life, aims to engage the people of Scotland with music across key stages of life: Early Years, Nurseries and Schools, Teenagers and Students, Families, Accessing Lives, Working Lives and Retired and Later Life. The team is committed to placing the Orchestra at the centre of Scottish communities via community workshops and annual residencies across the length and breadth of the country.
Scotland’s National Orchestra
On Stage FIRST VIOLIN
VIOLA
FLUTE
TROMBONE
LEADER
PRINCIPAL
PRINCIPAL
ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL
Maya Iwabuchi William Chandler ASSOCIATE LEADER
Tamás Fejes
ASSISTANT LEADER
Lena Zeliszewska Patrick Curlett Jane Reid Alison McIntyre Caroline Parry Ursula Heidecker Allen Lorna Rough Susannah Lowdon Alan Manson Elizabeth Bamping Laura Ghiro SECOND VIOLIN
Xander van Vliet PRINCIPAL
Jacqueline Speirs Marion Wilson Harriet Wilson Christopher Ffoulkes Nigel Mason Michael Rigg Wanda Wojtasinska Penny Dickson Isabel Gourdie Paul Medd Sophie Lang
Tom Dunn Ian Budd Michael Lloyd Lisa Rourke David Martin Fiona West Claire Dunn Katherine Wren Maria Trittinger Francesca Hunt CELLO
Katherine Bryan Helen Brew Janet Richardson
Arlene MacFarlane Alastair Sinclair
OBOE
TIMPANI
GUEST PRINCIPAL
PRINCIPAL
PRINCIPAL PICCOLO
Will Oinn
Henry Clay Sarah-Jayne Porsmoguer
Aleksei Kiseliov
CLARINET
Betsy Taylor Kennedy Leitch Arthur Boutillier William Paterson Rachael Lee Sarah Digger Robert Anderson Feargus Egan Kevin Kirs
ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL
PRINCIPAL
DOUBLE BASS
Ana Cordova PRINCIPAL
Margarida Castro Michael Rae Paul Sutherland David Inglis John Clark Sally Davis José Miguel Manzanera Rubio
Lance Green
Josef Pacewicz Yann Ghiro BASSOON
David Hubbard PRINCIPAL
Rosina Alter Simon Davies
PRINCIPAL CONTRABASSOON
HORN
Christopher Gough ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL
Alison Murray Martin Murphy David McClenaghan Sue Baxendale TRUMPET
Roeland Henkens GUEST PRINCIPAL
Marcus Pope
PRINCIPAL BASS TROMBONE
Martin Gibson PERCUSSION
Simon Lowdon PRINCIPAL
Philip Hague Julian Wolstencroft
We hope that you are enjoying the RSNO’s Friday Night Club performances The RSNO is a registered charity, and, with many others, will be severely impacted by this crisis, which is touching the lives of each and every one of us. The support of our audiences and supporters continues to inspire and uplift us, now more than ever. We would like to take this opportunity to send our support and best wishes to you and your families during this challenging time. In common with many of our colleagues around the country, we have been forced to cancel concerts and events. Ticket sales count for a large part of our income and these cancellations will have a considerable financial impact. We are therefore asking you to consider supporting the RSNO at this very difficult time, by donating the cost of your tickets or by joining
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