30 – 31 JANUARY 2020
ALMA & GUSTAV MAHLER WITH KAREN CARGILL –––––
2019/2020 CONCERT PROGRAMME SCO.ORG.UK
Our Edinburgh concert is proudly sponsored by
SEASON 2019/20
A WARM WELCOME
––––– Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to tonight’s concert with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. It might seem an odd place to start, but over the last few Seasons you may have seen the SCO play symphonies numbers 3,5,6 and 7 by Jean Sibelius. For Sibelius, the symphony was an exercise in finding ‘profound logic’ so when playing Sibelius' music, the man is rarely present and an overwhelmingly natural formal beauty overwhelms player and listener. Gustav Mahler was Yang to Sibelius’ Yin. They famously met in 1907 where Mahler stated that "the symphony is like the world, it must encompass everything" and it is clear to me that the world Mahler talks of isn’t so much the physical world, but the inner emotional world that all humankind possesses. Mahler not only had access to the furthest reaches of the galaxy of the human soul, but was able to write it down in music. To write down not only conscious thought, but subconscious thought in music, is the work of a genius. The words ‘Chamber Orchestra’ and ‘Mahler’ don’t often go together, but I am delighted that we are playing the Fourth Symphony which is by far the most intimate and childlike of his symphonies. To play this music is always a beautiful and overwhelming experience, but one is never quite sure what memories or thoughts are haunting Mahler. While playing in this hypervivid and subjective sound-world, nothing is ever ‘merely…’ something. What a nightmare someone who feels things that way must be to be around though! In the same year as the Fourth Symphony was premiered, Mahler wrote a love letter to his wife-to-be Alma, simultaneously talking of his pure delight in the coming wedding, but also laying down the order that she give up her fledgling compositional career. Thankfully there are no such impediments to tonight’s concert and her compositions are now heard in their own right. The songs of Alma Mahler and the view from heaven in the last movement of the Fourth Symphony will aptly be sung by the celestial Karen Cargill. On behalf of the Orchestra, I want to thank Turcan Connell for their support and continuing investment in the SCO and especially for sponsoring our Edinburgh concert. Gordon Bragg Second Violin
THANK YOU
FUNDING PARTNERS ––––– Thank you to everyone who financially supports the work of the SCO, from the Scottish Government to local authorities, our Benefactor, Business Partners and Patrons to many charitable trusts and foundations. The generosity of our funders allows us to create truly world-class music, events and projects both here and abroad.
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SEASON 2019/20
ALMA & GUSTAV MAHLER WITH KAREN CARGILL Our Edinburgh concert is proudly sponsored by
––––– MOZART Overture, Idomeneo ALMA MAHLER ARR COLIN & DAVID MATTHEWS Songs
#SCO
interval of 20 minutes
GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No 4 ––––– *KENSHO WATANABE – Conductor
KAREN CARGILL – Mezzo-Soprano ––––– Thursday 30 January 2020, 7.30pm Edinburgh Usher Hall Friday 31 January 2020, 7.30pm Glasgow City Halls
*CHANGE OF CONDUCTOR We are very sorry to announce that Mark Wigglesworth is indisposed and has had to withdraw from conducting this week’s concerts. We are very grateful to Kensho Watanabe who has agreed to step in at very short notice to replace him.
–––––
4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB +44 (0)131 557 6800 • info@sco.org.uk sco.org.uk The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC015039. Company registration No. SC075079.
OUR MUSICIANS
YOUR ORCHESTRA FIRST VIOLIN Benjamin Marquise Gilmore Ruth Crouch Tijmen Huisingh Kana Kawashima Siún Milne Fiona Alexander Amira BedrushMcDonald Wen Wang Amy Cardigan Carole Howat Jane Lemoine SECOND VIOLIN Marcus Barcham Stevens Gordon Bragg Rachel Spencer Rachel Smith Niamh Lyons Catherine James Emma Bragg Kristin Deeken Robert McFall
VIOLA Rebecca Jones Jessica Beeston Steve King Asher Zaccardelli Kathryn Jourdan Martin Wiggins Francesca Hunt CELLO Philip Higham Su-a Lee Donald Gillan Eric de Wit Niamh Molloy Christoff Fourie Robert Anderson BASS Nikita Naumov Adrian Bornet Margarida Castro Ben Burnley Daniel Griffin
FLUTE Stella Ingrosso Siobhan Grealy Emma Roche Lee Holland PICCOLO Emma Roche Lee Holland OBOE Robin Williams Rachel HarwoodWhite Tom Davey
BASSOON Annette Falk Alison Green Heather Brown HORN Philip Munds Harry Johnstone Andy Saunders Jamie Shield TRUMPET Peter Franks Shaun Harrold Robert Baxter
COR ANGLAIS Rachel HarwoodWhite
TIMPANI Kate Openshaw
CLARINET Maximiliano Martín Calum Robertson William Stafford
PERCUSSION Colin Hyson Stuart Semple Rhian Macleod Thomas Lowe
E FLAT CLARINET Calum Robertson
HARP Eleanor Hudson
BASS CLARINET William Stafford The Orchestra list was correct at the time of going to print.
ARE YOU A HEARING AID USER?
Please use the Induction Loop systems provided by the venues if available. Hearing aids can cause feedback (a whistling effect) which may be heard by the musicians and other members of the audience.
MOBILE PHONES AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Please ensure your mobile phone and any electronic devices are switched off during the concert. The use of cameras and recording equipment is forbidden.
TONIGHT'S REPERTOIRE
WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR –––––
MOZART (1756-1791) Overture, Idomeneo (1780) ALMA MAHLER (1879-1964) Songs from Sieben Lieder ( 1910) Orchestrated by Colin and David Matthews (1996) Die Stille Stadt Gefunden (Laue Sommernacht) Licht in der Nacht Waldseligkeit In meines Vaters Garten (Französisches Wiegenlied) Bei dir ist es traut
GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony No 4 (1900-01) I. Bedächtig, nicht eilen II. In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast III. Ruhevoll IV. Sehr behaglich
––––– Written at the age of 24, Idomeneo, Ré di Creta, was Mozart's first great operatic masterpiece, commissioned by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria and a resounding success on its premiere in 1781 at Munich's Cuvillies Theatre. It is based on the story of a hapless King of Crete who, returning from the Trojan Wars, is saved from drowning by the god Neptune when he promises to sacrifice the first living thing he meets on land. It then tells of Idomeneo's horror when that first living thing turns out to be his son. Based on a libretto by Antoine Danchet for André Campra's 1712 opera Idoménée, it was translated by Giambattista Varesco, with textual and dramatic revisions by Mozart to create an opera which both held true to the somewhat tired traditions of opera seria and expanded them dramatically and musically. Mozart had long-awaited such a commission from Munich, where the Mannheim Orchestra which he had so admired some years previously, was then based. With impressive vocal and orchestral forces at his service, including a full wind section, he composed an orchestral work of complexity, colour and harmonic ingenuity with expressive arias and an emphasis on ensemble pieces for emotional heft. The overture in D Major was finished just before the dress rehearsal. A stately yet emotive summing up of the moral and emotional threads in the opera, it leads seamlessly into the first act. Alma Mahler was, by any account – not least her own – a formidable woman. Immortalised in the witty 1965 Tom
Lehrer ballad 'Alma' as a muse who checks off marriages and affairs with 'all the top creative men of Central Europe', the 'prettiest girl in Vienna' had also entered her twenties furiously writing her own music. Well-read, intellectual, yet virulently anti-Semitic (like many of her Viennese peers), Alma was raised in an artistic, musical family that had, until the sudden death of her father, the landscape painter Emil Schindler, been a rolling cultural salon of creation, open to Vienna's artists and musicians. A set-up which Alma herself tried to recreate throughout her life.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The songs in this programme, orchestrated in 1996 by Colin and David Matthews (Seven Songs for Middle Voice – from which six will be sung tonight), were composed before Alma married her first husband Gustav Mahler, who had insisted that she give up her own composing to support his. The 22 year old Alma agreed, but soon found herself cowed by the banal daily
style, like that of any young composer, showed its outside influences from Zemlinsky to Brahms. Alma's distinctive voice is very much apparent, with a propensity for lustrous harmony and narrative progression which ranges from the unpredictable to the slightly clichĂŠd. Vocal lines frequently make unusual leaps, and there is an unsettling
reality of supporting her husband's artistic genius. Her subsequent affair with Walter Gropius (later her second husband) focused Gustav's attention, both on his marriage and his role in suppressing his wife's creativity. At his frantic encouragement, she returned briefly to her art, and Gustav procured the publication of five early songs in 1910. Alongside two further sets published in 1915 and 1924 and subsequent discoveries, Alma Mahler's 17 surviving songs, many fine-tuned around the turn of the century whilst a student (and lover) of Alexander Zemlinsky, are the scant, fascinating remains of the 70-odd lieder and piano works, which made up the young composer's output.
tonal restlessness to some of her accompaniments, such as the constantly shifting Die stille Stadt. Distinctive, too, are the sudden melodramatic rapturous passion of another Richard Dehmel setting, Waldseligkeit, the warmth of In meines Vaters Garten and the enveloping evocation of the darkness of night in Rainer Maria Rilke's Bei dir ist es traut.
Frequently emotive and evocative, Alma's
the entire symphony in ten days in the
Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony premiered in Munich on 25 November 1901, a month before he and Alma were engaged. The composer, on vacation from his all-consuming day job as Director of the Hopofer (Vienna Court Opera – later the Staatsoper), had begun work some two years previously, sketching out
Alma Mahler
Gustav Mahler
summer of 1899 on the shores of Attersee. The following year he decamped to a quieter location in the woods above the Wörthersee, where he fleshed out the symphony that had had its genesis some eight years earlier in a poem depicting a child's vision of heaven.
suggested to friends – depicted visions of earth and heaven, was entirely misunderstood by his contemporaries on its unsuccessful premiere. They could not see in it the nature-inspired breadth, temporal vastness, and sheer sonic ingenuity of the three symphonies that had gone before. The composer had deliberately withheld any programmatic
Das Himmlische Leben, Mahler's renamed setting of a poem from the 1808 book of German folkloric poetry, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, forms the final movement of this symphony of “uniform blue skies” as Mahler put it. Originally held back from publication as the possible finale to his gargantuan Third, he excised it when that symphony became too large and used it as the goal of his Fourth. Marked to be sung 'entirely without parody' it is an ethereal yet jangling bell-and-harp – marked evocation of an innocent's view of the life hereafter, albeit with alarming orchestral bleats as the child sings of naïve lambs led to the slaughter by Herod, and deer willingly coming to the knife.
description, “so as to avoid giving rise to further absurd misunderstandings” from his latently anti-Semitic critics, who misconstrued the work as 'simple', from the 'fool's bells' and cosy domestic dances of the opening, to the off-key rustic violin of the scherzo. Mahler privately dubbed the scherzo, 'Freund Hein spielt auf' (Death strikes up), a folkloric depiction of Death playing the fiddle – a little like the Pied Piper – with the violin deliberately tuned up a whole tone to enhance the harsh sound. The Adagio is a complex layering of variations rising to the angelic finale and that joyous vision of heaven, where “there is just no music on earth that can compare to ours!”
The apparent 'peace' and sunlit tone of the Fourth which – Mahler had loosely
© Sarah Urwin Jones
LIBRETTO
ALMA MAHLER SONGS
Die stille Stadt
The silent town
Richard Dehmel
English Translation © Richard Stokes
Liegt eine Stadt im Tale,
A town lies in the valley,
ein blasser Tag vergeht.
a pale day is fading;
es wird nicht lange dauern mehr,
it will not be long
bis weder Mond noch Sterne
before neither moon nor stars
nur Nacht am Himmel steht.
but night alone will deck the skies.
Von allen Bergen drücken
From every mountain
nebel auf die Stadt,
mists weigh on the town;
es dringt kein Dach, nicht Hof noch Haus,
no roof, no courtyard, no house
kein Laut aus ihrem Rauch heraus,
no sound can penetrate the smoke,
kaum Türme noch und Brücken.
scarcely towers and bridges even.
Doch als dem Wandrer graute,
But as fear seized the traveller,
da ging ein Lichtlein auf im Grund
a gleam appeared in the valley;
und durch den Rauch und Nebel
and through the smoke and mist
begann ein leiser Lobgesang
came a faint song of praise from a child's
aus Kindermund.
lips. Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Please turn the page quietly...
LIBRETTO
Gefunden (Laue Sommernacht)
Found (Mild summer night)
Otto Julius Bierbaum
English Translation © Richard Stokes
Laue Sommernacht: am Himmel
Mild summer night: in the sky
Stand kein Stern, im weiten Walde
Not a star, in the deep forest
Suchten wir uns tief im Dunkel,
We sought each other in the dark
Und wir fanden uns.
And found one another.
Fanden uns im weiten Walde
Found one another in the deep wood
In der Nacht, der sternenlosen,
In the night, the starless night,
Hielten staunend uns im Arme
And amazed, we embraced
In der dunklen Nacht.
In the dark night.
War nicht unser ganzes Leben
Our entire life – was it not
So ein Tappen, so ein Suchen?
Such a tentative quest?
Da: In seine Finsternisse
There: into its darkness,
Liebe, fiel dein Licht.
O Love, fell your light. Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Licht in der Nacht
A nocturnal light
Otto Julius Bierbaum
English Translation © Richard Stokes
Ringsum dunkle Nacht
Dark night all around
Hüllt in Schwarz mich ein.
Envelops me in black.
Zage flimmert gelb
A hesitant yellow glow
Ferneher ein Schein.
Shimmers from afar.
Ist als wie ein Trost,
As though bringing solace,
Eine Stimme still,
Like a tranquil voice
Die dein Herz aufruft,
Summoning your heart,
Das verzagen will.
When in despair.
Kleines, gelbes Licht,
Little yellow light,
Bist mir wie der Stern
You are like the star to me
Überm Hause einst
That once shone above the house
Jesuchrists des Herrn.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Und da löscht es aus.
And now it is extinguished.
Und die Nacht wird schwer.
And the night grows heavy.
Schlafe, Herz, du hörst
Sleep, o heart, you shall not hear
Keine Stimme mehr.
A voice again. Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Waldseligkeit
Woodland rapture
Richard Dehmel
English Translation © Richard Stokes
Der Wald beginnt zu rauschen,
The wood begins to stir,
den Bäumen naht die Nacht,
night draws near the trees;
als ob sie selig lauschen,
as if blissfully listening,
berühren sie sich sacht.
they gently touch each other.
Und unter ihren Zweigen,
And beneath their branches
da bin ich ganz allein,
I am utterly alone,
da bin ich ganz mein eigen :
utterly my own;
ganz nur Dein!
utterly and only yours. Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Please turn the page quietly...
LIBRETTO
In meines Vaters Garten (Französisches Wiegenlied)
In my father's garden (French Lullaby)
Otto Erich Hartleben
English Translation © Richard Stokes
In meines Vaters Garten -
In my father’s garden –
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
in meines Vaters Garten
In my father’s garden
stand ein schattender Apfelbaum -
grew a shady apple tree –
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
stand ein schattender Apfelbaum.
grew a shady apple tree.
Drei blonde Königstöchter -
Three blond princesses –
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
drei wunderschöne Mädchen
three wonderfully beautiful girls
schliefen unter dem Apfelbaum -
slept beneath the apple tree –
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
schliefen unter dem Apfelbaum.
slept beneath the apple tree.
Die allerjüngste Feine -
The youngest of the three beauties –
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
die allerjüngste Feine
the youngest of the three beauties
blinzelte und erwachte kaum -
blinked and hardly awoke –
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
blinzelte und erwachte kaum.
blinked and hardly awoke.
Die zweite fuhr sich übers Haar -
The second ran her hand through her hair –
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
sah den roten Morgentraum -
Saw the red morning dream –
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
Sie sprach: 'Hört ihr die Trommel nicht -
She said: ‘Don’t you hear the drums?
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
hell durch den dämmernden Traum?'
Brightly through the dawn?'
Mein Liebster zieht in den Kampf -
My beloved is going to war
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
mein Liebster zieht in den Kampf hinaus,
My beloved is going to war,
küsst mir als Sieger des Kleides Saum -
Kisses as victor the hem of my dress
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
küsst mir des Kleides Saum!
Kisses the hem of my dress.
Die dritte sprach und sprach so leis -
The third spoke, and spoke so quietly –
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
die dritte sprach und sprach so leis:
The third spoke and spoke so quietly:
Ich küsse dem Liebsten des Kleides Saum -
I kiss the hem of my beloved’s coat –
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
ich küsse dem Liebsten des Kleides Saum. -
I kiss the hem of my beloved’s coat.
In meines Vaters Garten -
In my father’s garden –
blühe mein Herz, blüh auf -
blossom, O my heart, blossom –
in meines Vaters Garten
In my father’s garden
steht ein sonniger Apfelbaum -
grew a shady apple tree –
Süsser Traum -
Sweet dream –
steht ein sonniger Apfelbaum!
grew a shady apple tree. Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Bei dir ist es traut
I feel warm and close with you
Rainer Maria Rilke
English Translation © Richard Stokes
Bei dir ist es traut:
I feel warm and close with you:
Zage Uhren schlagen
clocks strike hesitantly,
wie aus weiten Tagen.
like they did in distant days.
Komm mir ein Liebes sagen -
Say something loving to me -
aber nur nicht laut.
but not aloud.
Ein Tor geht irgendwo
A gate opens somewhere
draussen im Blütentreiben.
out in the burgeoning.
Der Abend horcht an den Scheiben.
Evening listens at the window-panes.
Lass uns leise bleiben:
Let us stay quiet,
Keiner weiss uns so.
no one knows us thus. Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
LIBRETTO
GUSTAV MAHLER SYMPHONY NO 4
Das himmlische Leben
The Heavenly Life
(aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
(from Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
Wir genießen die himmlischen Freuden,
We enjoy heavenly pleasures
D'rum tun wir das Irdische meiden.
and therefore avoid the earthly stuff.
Kein weltlich' Getümmel
No worldly tumult
Hört man nicht im Himmel!
is to be heard in heaven.
Lebt alles in sanftester Ruh'.
All live in greatest peace.
Wir führen ein englisches Leben,
We lead angelic lives,
Sind dennoch ganz lustig daneben;
yet have a merry time of it besides.
Wir tanzen und springen,
We dance and we spring,
Wir hüpfen und singen,
We skip and we sing.
Sankt Peter im Himmel sieht zu.
Saint Peter in heaven looks on.
Johannes das Lämmlein auslasset,
John lets the lambkin out,
Der Metzger Herodes d'rauf passet.
and Herod the Butcher lies in wait for it.
Wir führen ein geduldig's,
We lead a patient,
Unschuldig's, geduldig's,
an innocent, patient,
Ein liebliches Lämmlein zu Tod.
dear little lamb to its death.
Sankt Lucas den Ochsen tät schlachten
Saint Luke slaughters the ox
Ohn' einig's Bedenken und Achten.
without any thought or concern.
Der Wein kost' kein Heller
Wine doesn't cost a penny
Im himmlischen Keller;
in the heavenly cellars;
Die Englein, die backen das Brot.
The angels bake the bread.
Gut'Kräuter von allerhand Arten,
Good greens of every sort
Die wachsen im himmlischen Garten,
grow in the heavenly vegetable patch,
Gut'Spargel, Fisolen
good asparagus, string beans,
Und was wir nur wollen.
and whatever we want.
Ganze Schüsseln voll sind uns bereit!
Whole dishfuls are set for us!
Gut' Äpfel, gut' Birn' und gut' Trauben;
Good apples, good pears and good grapes,
Die Gärtner, die alles erlauben.
and gardeners who allow everything!
Willst Rehbock, willst Hasen,
If you want roebuck or hare,
Auf offener Straßen
on the public streets
Sie laufen herbei!
they come running right up.
Sollt' ein Fasttag etwa kommen,
Should a fast day come along,
Alle Fische gleich mit Freuden
all the fishes at once come swimming with
angeschwommen!
joy.
Dort läuft schon Sankt Peter
There goes Saint Peter running
Mit Netz und mit Köder
with his net and his bait
Zum himmlischen Weiher hinein.
to the heavenly pond.
Sankt Martha die Köchin muß sein.
Saint Martha must be the cook.
Kein' Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden,
There is just no music on earth
Die unsrer verglichen kann werden.
that can compare to ours.
Elftausend Jungfrauen
Even the eleven thousand virgins
Zu tanzen sich trauen.
venture to dance,
Sankt Ursula selbst dazu lacht.
and Saint Ursula herself has to laugh.
Kein' Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden,
There is just no music on earth
Die unsrer verglichen kann werden.
that can compare to ours.
Cäcilia mit ihren Verwandten
Cecilia and all her relations
Sind treffliche Hofmusikanten!
make excellent court musicians.
Die englischen Stimmen
The angelic voices
Ermuntern die Sinnen,
gladden our senses,
Daß alles für Freuden erwacht.
so that all awaken for joy.
CONDUCTOR
KENSHO WATANABE
––––– Emerging onto the international stage over the past two years, Kensho Watanabe is fast becoming one of the most exciting and versatile young conductors to come out of the United States. Most recently, Kensho was recognised as a recipient of a Career Assistance Award by the Solti Foundation U.S. He held the position of Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra from 2016 to 2019 and during this time made his critically acclaimed subscription debut with the Orchestra and pianist, Daniil Trifonov, taking over from his mentor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He went on to conduct four subscription concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2019, in addition to debuts at the Bravo! Vail Festival and numerous concerts at the Mann and Saratoga Performing Arts Centres. Watanabe has previously been an inaugural conducting fellow of the Curtis Institute of Music from 2013 to 2015, under the mentorship of Nézet-Séguin. Recent highlights have included his debuts with the Houston Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as his Japanese debut at the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival. Recent returns include the Orchestre Metropolitain in Montreal. Highlights of the 2019-20 season include his debuts with the London Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestras, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, San Antonio Symphony Orchestra as well as his Finnish debut with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia. Equally at home in both symphonic and operatic repertoire, Watanabe has led numerous operas with the Curtis Opera Theatre, most recently Puccini’s La Rondine in 2017 and La Bohème in 2015. Additionally, he served as assistant conductor to Nézet-Séguin on a new production of Strauss’s Elektra at Montreal Opera. This season Watanabe will conduct Strauss’ Die Fledermaus at the Ozawa Juku Festival. An accomplished violinist, Mr. Watanabe received his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and served as a substitute violinist in The Philadelphia Orchestra from 2012 to 2016. Keenly interested in the training and development of young musicians, he has served on the staff of the Greenwood Music Camp since 2007, currently serving as the Orchestra conductor. Mr. Watanabe is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with distinguished conducting pedagogue Otto-Werner Mueller. Additionally he holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Yale College, where he studied molecular, cellular and developmental biology.
MEZZO SOPRANO
KAREN CARGILL
––––– Scottish mezzo soprano Karen Cargill studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was the winner of the 2002 Kathleen Ferrier Award. Current season highlights include La Damnation de Faust for the DSO Berlin and Robin Ticciati; Elgar Sea Pictures with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Søndergård and Bach B minor Mass for Phildelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In opera, Karen appears as Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle) for Opera North and as Mère Marie (Les Dialogues des Carmelites) at the 2020 Glyndebourne Festival, returning to the Metroplitan Opera in 2021. Karen regularly sings with the Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Rotterdam and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Sympohony Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, working with conductors including Donald Runnicles, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniele Gatti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Daniel Harding, Robin Ticciati, Edward Gardner, the late Mariss Jansons and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Opera highlights have included appearances at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Metropolitan Opera, New York; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Montpellier Opera; Glyndebourne Festival and Edinburgh Festival, with roles including Waltraute (Gotterdämmerung); Erda (Das Rheingold and Siegfried) and Brangaene (Tristan and Isolde). Karen appears regularly at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival. Highlights with her regular recital partner, Simon Lepper, include appearances at Wigmore Hall London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Kennedy Centre Washington and Carnegie Hall, as well as regular recitals for BBC Radio 3. With Simon she recently recorded a critically acclaimed recital of lieder by Alma and Gustav Mahler for Linn Records, for whom she has also recorded Berlioz Les nuits d’été and La mort de Cléopâtre with Robin Ticciati and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In July 2018 Karen was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is also Patron of the National Girls’ Choir of Scotland.
Proudly sponsored by
Investment managers
7-9 FEBRUARY 2020
PERTH | EDINBURGH | GLASGOW Music by PAUL RISSMANN Written and Illustrated by JASON CHAPMAN Narrated by CHRIS JARVIS
Narrated by TV presenter CHRIS JARVI S BOOK NOW AT SCO.ORG.UK
EXPLORE BEETHOVEN | MUSICAL CREATIVITY AND DEAFNESS SATURDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2020, 10AM – 1.15PM ST CECILIA’S HALL AND MUSEUM, EDINBURGH Join us for a morning of talks and performances by a Scottish Chamber Orchestra string quartet as we explore Beethoven’s life as a deaf musician and composer. There is a loop system in the hall and all talks will be BSL-interpreted.
–––––– Full details, including ticket prices and how to book, can be found on our website: sco.org.uk Or you can email: joanna.burns@sco.org.uk or call Joanna on 0131 478 8342
LEGACIES
A LEGACY FOR GENERATIONS TO COME ––––– The SCO would like to thank everybody who has supported our work and we acknowledge with special gratitude those who were kind enough to leave us a final, and deeply thoughtful, gift. All legacies make a positive difference, no matter the size, and help us to fulfil our mission
Tom Bruce-Jones, Glasgow Helen Caldwell, Edinburgh Joyce Denovan, Glasgow Robert Durham, Dundee Herman Gawlik, Glasgow Ian Hogarth, Edinburgh Donald Hopkins, Glasgow
to make incredible music accessible to as many people as possible in the most creative and engaging way.
Mattie Hutchinson, Glasgow
Over the last few years, we have been immensely grateful to these friends of the SCO whose thoughtful foresight in leaving a gift in their Will has made such a valuable contribution in so many wonderful ways:
Steven McLean, Glasgow
Helen Kelbie, Aberdeen David Lee, Glasgow Evelyn McNab, Glasgow Ian Mitchell, Glasgow Judith Pickles, Edinburgh Alice Woodward, Aberdeenshire
THANK YOU
SCO PATRONS ––––– Join our family of Patrons by contacting Laura Hickey on 0131 478 8344 or laura.hickey@sco.org.uk DIAMOND
GOLD
Malcolm & Avril Gourlay
The Batsleer Family
Dr Caroline Hahn
Caroline & Colin Bryce
James & Felicity Ivory
Lord Matthew Clarke
Chris Jarvis
Lucinda Coulthard
Sir George & Lady Mathewson
Dr Clive Criper & Mrs Myint-Su
Vincent & Clair Ryan
David & Sheila Ferrier
William Samuel
Iain Gow
Alan & Sue Warner
Judith & David Halkerston Ian Hutton
PLATINUM
Gordon Kirk
Eric G Anderson
Roy & Svend McEwan-Brown
David Caldwell in memory of Ann
June Miller
Tom & Alison Cunningham
Alan Moat
Gail & Lindsay Gardiner
John & Liz Murphy
Carola & Martin Gordon
Alison & Stephen Rawles
John & Jane Griffiths
Mr & Mrs J Reid
J Douglas Home
George Rubienski
Audrey Hopkins
Irene Smith
Norman & Christine Lessels
Ian S Swanson
Chris & Gill Masters
John-Paul & Joanna Temperley
Duncan & Una McGhie
Catherine Wilson
Anne-Marie McQueen
Neil & Philippa Woodcock
James F Muirhead
G M Wright
Patrick & Susan Prenter
Bruce & Lynda Wyer
George Ritchie Martin & Mairi Ritchie Colin & Elaine Ross Jill & Brian Sandford Ian Stewart & Family Michael & Elizabeth Sudlow Robert & Elizabeth Turcan Tom & Natalie Usher Anny & Bobby White Ruth Woodburn
SILVER
Barry Laurie in memory of Richard Green
Fiona Addison
Mary Law
Roy Alexander
Graham & Elma Leisk
Joseph I Anderson
Geoff Lewis
Pamela Andrews & Alan Norton
Nancy Macneil of Barra
Dr Peter Armit
James McClure in memory of Robert Duncan
Joseph & Patricia Banks
Gavin McCrone
Timothy Barnes & Janet Sidaway
Iain McEwan
Peter & Kay Black
Brian Miller
Alan Borthwick
James & Helen Moir
Jane & Michael Boyle
Margaret Mortimer & Ken Jobling
Mary Brady
Andrew Murchison
John Brownlie
Hugh & Gillian Nimmo
Laura Buist
David & Tanya Parker
Robert Burns
Hilary & Bruce Patrick
Janet Cameron
Maggie Peatfield
Isabel J Clark
Ian & Sheila Percy
Sheila Colvin
Fiona Reith
Tony Cook
Alan Robertson
Lorn & Camilla Cowie
Andrew Robinson
Lord & Lady Cullen of Whitekirk
David Robinson
Jo & Christine Danbolt
Olivia Robinson
Caroline Denison-Pender
Hilary E Ross
Dr Wilma Dickson
Catherine Steel
Jean Donaldson
Jean Sutherland
John Donaldson
Ian Szymanski
Sylvia Dow
Marion Thomson
James Dunbar-Naismith
Douglas & Sandra Tweddle
Dr & Mrs Alan Falconer
Margaretha Walker
Sheila Ferguson
James Wastle
Chris & Claire Fletcher
C S Weir
Dr James W E Forrester
Alan Welsh
Dr William Fortescue
Bill Welsh
James Friend
Professor Frank Whaling & Mrs Margaret Walsh-Whaling
Archie & Ellen Gibson
Jeremy & Tessa Whitley
Andrew Hadden
Andrew Wilson
J Martin Haldane
Roderick Wylie
Ronnie & Ann Hanna
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Ruth Hannah Robin Harding Norman Hazelton Ron & Evelynne Hill Clephane Hume Stephen & Margaret Ingle Robert & Leila Inglis David & Pamela Jenkins Sir Raymond & Lady Johnstone Marty Kehoe Professor Christopher & Mrs Alison Kelnar David Kerr Allan Kirton Dr & Mrs Ian Laing Janey & Barrie Lambie
Thanks also to our Bronze Patrons and Patrons, and to all those who wish to remain anonymous.
ABOUT US
––––– The internationally celebrated Scottish Chamber Orchestra is one of Scotland’s National Performing Companies. Formed in 1974 and core funded by the Scottish Government, the SCO aims to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to hear great music by touring the length and breadth of Scotland, appearing regularly at major national and international festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, BBC Proms, and by touring internationally, as proud ambassadors for Scottish cultural excellence. Making a significant contribution to Scottish life beyond the concert platform, the Orchestra works in schools, universities, colleges, hospitals, care homes, places of work and community centres through its extensive Creative Learning programme. The SCO has long-standing associations with many eminent guest conductors including Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen, Principal Guest Conductor Emmanuel Krivine, François Leleux, Pekka Kuusisto, Richard Egarr, Andrew Manze and John Storgårds. The Orchestra also enjoys close relationships with many leading composers and has commissioned almost 200 new works, including pieces by the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir James MacMillan, Martin Suckling, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Nico Muhly and Associate Composer Anna Clyne. An exciting new chapter for the SCO began this Season with the arrival of dynamic young conductor Maxim Emelyanychev as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor. This was a position previously held by Robin Ticciati from 2009-2018. Ticciati and the SCO made a series of outstanding recordings (Linn Records) of works by Haydn, Schumann, Berlioz, Strauss and Wagner. Their last recording – the complete Brahms Symphonies – has been internationally acclaimed. The SCO and Emelyanychev recently released their first album together (Linn Records) to critical acclaim. The repertoire – Schubert’s Symphony No 9 in C major ‘The Great’ – was the first symphony Emelyanychev performed with the Orchestra in March 2018. sco.org.uk
Patron HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay
BOARD
Life President Donald MacDonald CBE
Chairman Colin Buchan
Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev
Joanna Baker
––––– –––––
Principal Guest Conductor Emmanuel Krivine
Cllr Christina Cannon Glasgow City Council
Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen
Rachael Erskine
David Cumming Cllr Rosemary Liewald Fife Council
Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer
Cllr Donald Wilson City of Edinburgh Council Zoë van Zwanenberg
Associate Composer Anna Clyne
ORCHESTRA ADVISORS TO THE BOARD Adrian Bornet, Peter Franks, Donald Gillan and Su-a Lee
MANAGEMENT –––––
Chief Executive Gavin Reid Projects and Administrative Assistant Elsa Morin Concerts Director Judith Colman Concerts & Projects Manager Louisa Stanway Orchestra Manager Laura Kernohan Stage Manager Pete Deane Orchestra Librarian Amy Brown Chorus Manager Jenny Searle Marketing & Communications Director Gareth Beedie Data Services Manager Adam James Marketing and Press Officer Catherine Gillespie Marketing Officer Sophie Sim
Design & Publications Magnus Fraser Creative Learning Director Kirsteen Davidson Kelly Education Officer Atzi Muramatsu Community Engagement Officer Joanna Burns SCO and University of St Andrews Graduate Trainee Fiona Croal Head of Development Lucinda Coulthard Partnerships Manager David Nelson Development Officer Laura Hickey Trusts Officer Rebecca Smith Finance & Administration Director Ian White Finance Officers Mary Gibson Heather Baird
YOUR SAY
PICK OF THE WEEK STAN AND MABEL AND THE RACE FOR SPACE 7-9 FEBRUARY, PERTH | EDINBURGH | GLASGOW
BAROQUE DANCES WITH MAXIM EMELYANYCHEV At the City halls in Glasgow for a bit of Baroque & Roll! With the @SCOmusic.....and Freddie the fire bear of course!
Johnny Murty @JcsmMurty
Join music-loving dog and cat duo Stan and Mabel for a fun-packed session of music and storytelling for the whole family this February! @SCOmusic that has to be the concert of the season (so far) Maxim is having an incredible impact and the results are thrilling. Something extraordinary is happening in Edinburgh – an excellent orchestra is getting even better. Sign him up for life not just to 2025!
@philipwhitley, Philip Whitley
STAN AND MABEL FAMILY CONCERT & WORKSHOPS Such a magical two days working with @SCOmusic Donnie and Aisling in Robin House and Rachel House @supportCHAS We were lucky enough to work with some amazing young people and their families, and some proper incredible staff. Two of my favourite days ever.
@lucy_drever, Lucy Drever P1-5 are in for a treat with @SCOmusic Stan and Mabel #raceforspace @HorsecrossPerth
@ForgandennyPS, Forgandenny Primary School
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