ST MAGNUS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 17—24 JUNE 2022
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WELCOME 2022 sees a return to a bigger programme of live events across Orkney bringing the long midsummer days back to life with a wide variety of performers. I’m delighted to present a rich selection of events ranging from solo piano to opera, literary conversations to recorder quartets and choirs to percussion alongside the welcome return of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to the islands. Storytelling plays a big part this year. Gaspard’s Foxtrot tells the tale of a young fox and his urban life, The Ghost Train brings to the operatic stage Arnold Ridley’s famous play in a UK premiere, Lotte Betts Dean performs The Medium, Maxwell Davies’ virtuosic dramatic scena and the Orkney Writers’ Group creates Gallows Ha’ a performance centring around the Orkney Witch trials.
We’re excited to welcome everyone back to our stages and you will find more detail about events on our website. We’ll also be offering some live streaming of events, and recorded films and podcast during the Festival, so keep checking our website. www.stmagnusfestival.com
Tenebrae, one of the finest choirs in the UK, joins the Festival Chorus for a performance of Brahms Requiem and gives their own concert of music from royal courts and St Magnus Cathedral will tingle with the concerts of percussion, piano and voice by George Crumb and Gyorgy Ligeti.
Charlotte Rendall Festival Manager
Virtuoso pianists Mihai Ritivoiu from Romania and Clare Hammond give separate recitals featuring music old and new and the Argenta Trio from France and Belgium bring music ranging from Schubert to Vasks. A literary series of conversations and talks takes us through poetry, to Scottish Witch Trials to the life of a GP in Covid to the Geology of the Northern Isles to the magic and power of abandoned spaces.
Our musical performances also tell stories and bring some of the finest talent to the Festival and range across an intriguing selection of instruments: accordion with the young, awardwinning Scot Ryan Corbett; harp with Oliver Wass, recorders with the Palisander Quartet and violin, saxophone and piano from the Belgian Kugoni Trio.
Alasdair Nicolson Festival Director
At the heart of the storytelling theme is a promenade installation series of concerts Fabulous Fables – an Orkney Tapestry which combines music, art, text and architecture with an immersive event in St Magnus Cathedral.
Alasdair Nicolson Festival Director
Shona Pew Production Assistant
Kristi Pilkington-Tait FOH/Box Office Manager
FRIDAY 17
GASPARD’S FOXTROT
THE MEDIUM
10.00 and 12.00 / Pickaquoy Centre Tickets £20 (£18) 60mins
22.00 / Orkney Theatre Tickets £20 (£18) 50mins
Royal Scottish National Orchestra Kellen Gray............................................................Conductor Lucy Drever............................................................... Narrator
Lotte Betts Dean.........................................Soprano
Gaspard the fox leads an interesting life. Zeb Soanes engaging story is told with a film backdrop and music specially created by Jonathan Dove. Limited tickets for these schools performances.
DREAMS AND VISIONS 19.30 / Pickaquoy Centre Tickets £22 (£20) 2hrs Royal Scottish National Orchestra Tabita Berglund................................................Conductor Erika Madi Jones...................................................Soprano Wagner................................................ Wesendonck Lieder Sibelius........................................................ Symphony No. 5 Tabita Berglund..................................................Conductor Erika Madi Jones....................................................Soprano
A rare performance of this virtuosic dramatic scena by Peter Maxwell Davies premiered in Orkney in 1981. A medium, a woman suffering from madness, brings terrible memories to light in this disturbing work.
SATURDAY 18
THERE’S A WITCH IN THE WORD MACHINE LITERARY HOUR
10.00 and 12.00 Stromness Academy Theatre Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins Jenni Fagan..............................................................Poet
FINDING SEAGLASS LITERARY HOUR
18.00 / Orkney Theatre Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins Hannah Lavery......................................................Poet Scotland’s newly appointed Makar brings her poetic work to life in this reading.
One of Scotland’s foremost writers presents her poetic work.
BALLADS AND FANTASIES 14.00 / Stromness Town Hall Tickets £20 (£18) (90 mins) Mihai Ritivoiu....................................................... Piano Schumann......................... Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 Fauré.......................................................Ballade, Op. 19 Peter Maxwell Davies.. Three Sanday Places Ravel............................................... Gaspard de la nuit
DARKNESS, THE LOVER, TRANSFIGURED NIGHT 19.30 / Pickaquoy Centre Tickets £22 (£20) 1hr 45mins Royal Scottish National Orchestra Strings Tabita Berglund.......................................Conductor Grieg.........................................................Holberg Suite Golijov................................................................ Tenebrae Sibelius............................................................Rakastava Schoenberg......................................Verklärte Nacht
SUNDAY 19
FESTIVAL SERVICE 11.15 / St Magnus Cathedral
HEX
LITERARY HOUR
18.00 / Orkney Theatre Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins
GHOSTS IN THE LANDSCAPE 14.00 / Stromness Town Hall Tickets £20 (£18) 90mins Argenta Trio Nicolas Dupont...................................................Violin Sébastien Walnier..............................................Cello Julien Gernay....................................................... Piano Beethoven........... Trio in D Op.70 No.1 (Ghost) Vasks.............................................................Plainscapes Schubert..........................Trio in Eflat Op. 100No. 2
Jenni Fagan..............................................................Poet Jenni Fagan in conversation about her new book Hex which takes inspiration from an historic character from the Scottish Witch trials.
BRAHMS REQUIEM 20.00 / St Magnus Cathedral Tickets £20 (£18) 80mins St Magnus Festival Chorus Tenebrae Nigel Short..................................................Conductor Erika Madi Jones.........................................Soprano Richard Morrison........................................ Baritone Brahms......................................A German Requiem
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MONDAY 20
RED RUTH
TENEBRAE
11.00 / Stromness Town Hall Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins
13.00 / St Magnus Cathedral Tickets £20 (£18) 60mins
Oliver Wass............................................................. Harp
Tenebrae Nigel Short..................................................Conductor
Prokofiev................................................... Prelude in C Bach.French Suite no 3 in B minor BWV 814 De Falla....Spanish Dance from La Vida Breve Ravel........................................................................Prelude Ravel................................À la manière de Chabrier Ravel..................................À la manière de Borodin Ravel..................................................................Jeux d’eau Mullov-Abbado............................................Red Ruth Britten...................................... Suite for Harp, Op.83 Wilhelm Posse....Carnival of Venice Variations
Bennet............................................ All creatures now Carlton..............................................Calm was the air Morley..........................Hard by a crystal fountain Cavendish...............................Come gentle swains Weelkes....................................................As Vesta was Byrd............O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth Farrant............Lord for thy tender mercy’s sake Tallis..................................................Absterge Domine Walton................................................Set me as a seal Elgar............................................... O Wild West wind Britten.......................................... Dances of Gloriana
ISLANDS OF ABANDONMENT LITERARY HOUR
18.00 / King Street Halls Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins Cal Flynn.................................................................Writer The award winning writer in conversation about her latest book looking at abandoned spaces across the globe: their magic, their stories and significance.
THE GHOST TRAIN UK PREMIERE
19.30 / Orkney Theatre Tickets £20 (£18) 100mins The Assembly Project Hazel Gould......................................................Director Alasdair Nicolson..................................Conductor Paul Crabtree.................................The Ghost Train UK premiere of this new opera. A group of passengers find themselves stuck in a remote station only to hear tales of the ghost train and its macabre power. A tale of mystery where everyone is not who they seem. After an original play by Arnold Ridley from the 1920s. By arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
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PRAYER, LULLABY, OBLIVION 22.00 / St Magnus Cathedral Tickets £20 (£18) 60mins Kugoni Trio Nicolas Dupont....................................................Violin Kurt Bertels...............................................Saxophone Bert Koch................................................................ Piano Kristina Arakelyan...........A song without words Jan Decadt.....................................................Habanera Charles Koechlin......Epitaphe de Jean Harlow Jeroen D’hoe.........................................................Prayer Astor Piazzolla................................................ Oblivion Benjamien Lycke............................... Après l’orage Nimrod Borenstein.........................................Lullaby Pieter Schuermans......................................A Tribute To Ferran Jan Hendrik Van Damme.....................Imaginaire
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TUESDAY 21
HALF TOLD TALES 11.00 / Stromness Town Hall Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins Argenta Trio Nicolas Dupont................................................... Violin Sébastien Walnier.............................................. Cello Julien Gernay........................................................Piano Debussy...............................................................Trio in G Nicolson.....................Piano Trio (Half Told Tales) Shostakovich.......... Piano Trio in C minor Op.8
STORIES IN STONE LITERARY HOUR
18.00 / Orkney Distillery Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins Alan McKirdy.......................................................Writer Alan McKirdy has written many books on the geology of Scotland and has recently published a new book about the famous Scottish Enlightenment geologist James Hutton. Here he talks about the stones, rocks and landscapes of the Northern Isles in a fascinating lecture about the land we stand upon.
FABULOUS FABLES – AN ORKNEY TAPESTRY 19.30 & 21.30 / St Magnus Catherdral Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins Members of the Assembly Project Come to the Cathedral for an hour of music, spoken word and visual art in a promenade performance that allows the audience to wander, to relax, to sit and think or to tour the building.
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WEDNESDAY 22
SONGS WITHOUT WORDS
TAKE TO THE SKY
13.00 / St Magnus Cathedral Tickets £20 (£18) 60mins
15.00 / St Peter’s Kirk, South Ronaldsay Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins
Kugoni Trio Nicolas Dupont....................................................Violin Kurt Bertels................................................Saxophone Bert Koch..................................................................Piano
Ryan Corbett............................................... Accordion
Ward De Vleeschhouwer.........................Warakun Astor Piazzolla............................ Primavera Porteña & Verano Porteño Shostakovich.............................................. Five pieces Paul Gilson.................................................................... Trio Kristina Arakelyan...............Song without words Burlesque Piet Swerts............................................................... Retro Jan Van Landeghem.................................... Musette
Johann Sebastian Bach.................... Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 Domenico Scarlatti..................Sonata in F,K. 107 Alexander Nagaev...............Sonata No. 1, Op. 13 Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky...........................Romance in F minor, Op. 5 Jindrich Feld........................................... Konzertstuck D. Heath............................................... Take To the Sky Felix Mendelssohn.............. Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14
INTENSIVE CARE LITERARY HOUR
YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING!
18.00 / Orkney Theatre Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins
19.30 / St Magnus Cathedral Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins
Gavin Francis..... Writer and GP
Palisander Quartet Lydia Gosnell.................Recorder Caoimhe de Paor........Recorder Miriam Monaghan......Recorder Teresa Wrann.................Recorder
In his book, Gavin Francis details how coronavirus emerged, spread across the world and changed all of our lives forever. But it’s not, perhaps, the story you expect. Gavin Francis is a GP who works in both urban and rural communities, splitting his time between Edinburgh and the islands of Orkney. When the pandemic arrived in our society he saw how it affected every walk of life: the anxious teenager, the isolated care home resident, the struggling furloughed worker and homeless ex-prisoner, all united by their vulnerability in the face of a global disaster.
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Music by Bach, Dowland, Locke, Holborne and new works by Jacob Fitzgerald and Delyth Naya. The natural impulse to move our body to music has been documented as far back as our ancestors’ ancestors. Throughout history, humans have danced to celebrate, to heal, to bond, to entertain, to exercise and above all, for fun! In this programme, Palisander present bespoke sets of dances from history, using a huge array of recorders, from 15cm to 2m in size, and including music spanning more than 1000 years.
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THURSDAY 23
SIX STRINGS SIX STORIES
DOUBLE,DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE
11.00 / Stromness Town Hall Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins
15.00 / St Peter’s Kirk, Sandwick Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins
Jacopo Lazzeretti..............................................Guitar
Palisander Quartet Lydia Gosnell.................................................Recorder Caoimhe de Paor........................................Recorder Miriam Monaghan......................................Recorder Teresa Wrann.................................................Recorder
Repertoire to include music by Domeniconi, Bach, Guiliani and Maxwell Davies
SCALES,TOCCATAS, INTERMEZZI 13.00 / St Magnus Cathedral Tickets £20 (£18) 60mins In the round Clare Hammond..................................................Piano Brahms.............................Six Piano Pieces Op. 118 Unsuk Chin.............................Etudes Nos. 4 and 5 George Walker........... Variations on a Kentucky Folk Song Benjamin Attahir...............................................Sahirat Doreen Carwithen..................Sonatina for piano
Music by Tartini, Bach, Hildegard of Bingen and others. Throughout the ages, music and magic have been intrinsically linked. Featuring music by Tartini, JS Bach and Hildegard von Bingen, alongside renaissance consort music and contemporary works.
GALLOWS HA’
WINDS OF DESTINY
18.00 / Stromness Town Hall Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins
20.00 / St Magnus Cathedral Tickets £20 (£18) 70mins In the round
Orkney Voices This Johnsmas Foy brings to the fore the talents of the writing group Orkney Voices taking on the subject of Orkney Witch Trials and many issues related to them. At the heart of the performance is Vera Butler’s moving play Gallows Ha’ about Maggie o’ Quoys and Bessie o’ Gyre.
Lotte Betts Dean.......................................... Soprano James Keefe............................................................Piano O Duo.............................................................. Percussion + Students from Birmingham Conservatoire Gyorgy Ligeti..................................... Sippal, Doppal, nádihegedüvel George Crumb....................................The American Songbook IV..................................Winds of Destiny Played in the round in St Magnus Cathedral. The unusual line-up of voice, piano and percussion presents Hungarian nonsense rhymes alongside classics from the American Civil War such as Shenandoah and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.
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FRIDAY 24
STICKS AND MALLETS
GALLOWS HA’
18.00 / Orkney Theatre Free Event 60mins
19.30 / Stromness Town Hall Tickets £18 (£16) 60mins
O Duo Owen Gunnel Toby Kearney Students from Orkney Schools Students from Birmingham Conservatoire
Orkney Voices
An exciting hour of music put together in the Festival week with an rarely performed piece by Maxwell Davies.
This Johnsmas Foy brings to the fore the talents of the writing group Orkney Voices taking on the subject of Orkney Witch Trials and many issues related to them. At the heart of the performance is Vera Butler’s moving play Gallows Ha’ about Maggie o’ Quoys and Bessie o’ Gyre.
Information correct at time of going to print. The Festival reserves the right to make changes to events details.
TICKET BOOKING
BOOKING DATES
SEATING
- Priority booking for Magfest Members opens; Monday 4th April (online and phone)
Venue capacities are calculated based on current guidance and in line with any additional requirements our venues have in place. We may have to reduce venue numbers due to a change in guidance. Should this be the case full refunds will be issued for any affected ticket buyers. Our current refund policy remains in place for all other bookings.
- General Booking opens; Monday 11th April (online and phone)
HOW TO BOOK - Online From 10am Monday 11th April at: www.stmagnusfestival.com - By phone 0333 666 3366 - On the door For festival performances that are not sold out, tickets are available on the door at all venues. Cash or card payments accepted. For any general enquiries please email; boxoffice@stmagnusfestival.com
BOX OFFICE OPENING HOURS
All events will be managed in line with current guidance this may include social distancing or wearing masks. Appropriate updates for the time of the Festival will be on SMIF website (stmagnusfestival.com).
FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS Festival Supporters make a valuable contribution towards the success of the Festival and help to secure its future development. If you’d like to join the MagFest Members please see further details https://stmagnusfestival.com/support-us/ membershipsfestival-supporters
13th-24th June 10am – 4pm
BOOKINGS The Festival’s online booking system allows customers booking online to choose their seats and print tickets at home. If you have additional seating requirements, wish to purchase a concession ticket, have a query regarding access, or wish to make a booking for a wheelchair user, please contact the Festival office on 01856 871445 or email boxoffice@ stmagnusfestival.com. We will do our best to satisfy seating requests at all venues. design: musedesign.co.uk
REFUNDS We cannot offer refunds unless an event is cancelled. We only accept returns in exceptional circumstances and cannot offer a resell service.