December Concert Diary 2010

Wigmore Hall Concert Diary DECEMBER 2010

Sandrine Piau Inside: Belcea Quartet Imogen Cooper • Wolfgang Holzmair Elisabeth Leonskaja Sabine Meyer • Mark Padmore Christoph Prégardien Christophe Rousset Les Talens Lyriques And many more

Box Office 020 7935 2141 Online Booking www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Benjamin Ealovega

HOW TO BOOK Wigmore Hall Box Office, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP In Person 7 days a week: 10 am – 8.30 pm. Days without an evening concert 10 am – 5 pm.

No advance booking in the half hour prior to a concert.

By Telephone 020 7935 2141 7 days a week: 10 am – 7 pm. Days without an evening concert 10 am – 5 pm.

There is a non-refundable £2.00 administration fee for each transaction, which includes the return of your tickets if time permits.

Online www.wigmore-hall.org.uk 7 days a week; 24 hours a day. There is a £1 administration charge online. You can now select your own seat and make subscription bookings online.

TICKETS Unless otherwise stated, tickets are divided into four prices ranges: Stalls C – M: Highest price Stalls A – B, N – P: 2nd highest price Balcony A – D: 2nd highest price Stalls BB, CC, Q – S: 3rd price Stalls AA, T – X: Lowest price

Subscription Discounts of up to 10% are available for a number of Wigmore Series concerts. Please ask the Box Office for details.

Standby Tickets for students, senior citizens and the unemployed are available from one hour before the performance (subject to availability) with best available seats sold at the lowest price. NB standby tickets are not available for Lunchtime and Coffee Concerts.

Group Discounts of 10% are available for groups of 12 or more, subject to availability.

Westminster ResCard holders may obtain a 10% discount on up to two tickets per event for tickets of £3 or over.

A–D

Latecomers will only be admitted during a suitable pause in the performance.

BALCONY

T–X

Facilities for Disabled People For full details please call 020 7258 8210

Q–S

This brochure is available in alternative formats. Please contact the Box Office if this would be of assistance to you. Telephone: 020 7935 2141, Fax: 020 7935 3344, or Email: boxoffice@wigmore-hall.org.uk.

N–P S TA LL S C– M A –B CC BB AA

CC BB

P L AT F O R M

AA

The right is reserved to substitute artists and vary programmes if necessary.

Wigmore Hall

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John Gilhooly Director

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The Wigmore Hall Trust, Reg. Charity N0. 1024838

Cover: Sandrine Piau © Antoine Le Grand / Naïve

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Box Office: 020 7935 2141

WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Song Recital Series

Songs by Schubert and Schumann

Rosa-Frank.com

Christoph Prégardien tenor Andreas Staier fortepiano

£18 £25 £30 £35

Schubert Lieder to texts by Ernst Schulze Schumann Sechs Gedichte Op. 90 & Requiem; Liederkreis Op. 39 Renowned German lyric tenor Christoph Prégardien performs songs by two of the greatest Lieder composers, partnered by Andreas Staier, whose fortepiano brings refreshingly new colours to these much-loved keyboard parts. ‘[Prégardien] stops you in your tracks right away, and won’t let you get back to your life until well after silence returns’ The Toronto Star

Andreas Staier

Christoph Prégardien

THURSDAY 2 DECEMBER 11.00 AM Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Chamber Domaine Key Stage 3 Schools’ Concert Join musicians from ensemble Chamber Domaine for a performance of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Students will interactively work with professional musicians and explore how musical styles bring to life characters in the story. Linked to KS3 Music areas of study: telling a story, soundtracks and characterisation.

www.benjaminHarte.co.uk

£2.50 per ticket

Supported by John Lyon’s Charity and The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust

THURSDAY 2 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Chamber Music Season

Beethoven String Quartet in F Hess 34 (arr of Piano Sonata Op. 14 No. 1); String Quartet in E b Op. 74 ‘Harp’; String Quartet in C # minor Op. 131

Boris Streubel

Artemis Quartet

£12 £16 £22 £26

The current instalment of the Artemis Quartet’s Beethoven cycle begins with Beethoven’s arrangement of his spirited early Piano Sonata, Op. 14 No. 1. The middle-period ‘Harp’ Quartet is nicknamed after the delicate pizzicato passage in its first movement, while the large-scale Op. 131 is, for many, Beethoven’s greatest achievement in the form.

Beethoven Cycle The Artemis Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle continues on 20 & 22 January 2011

Artemis Quartet

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

FRIDAY 3 DECEMBER 7.00 PM NB starting time Chamber Music Season

£12 £16 £22 £26

Bernard Gregor-Smith with special guests

Dante Quartet Krysia Osostowicz violin Giles Francis violin Judith Busbridge viola

Eclectica!

Lizzie Ball violin Pete Oxley guitar Nicolas Meier guitar and

Raphael Wallfisch cello Ben Gregor-Smith cello Yolande Wrigley piano Ronnie Birks violin Robin Ireland viola Bernard Gregor-Smith 65th Birthday Concert Bernard Gregor-Smith

Venables The Moon Sails Out (world première) Debussy Cello Sonata in D minor Schubert String Quintet in C D956 Corea Spain (arr. Pete Oxley) Mitchell River (arr. Pete Oxley) Piazzolla La Misma Pena (arr. Lizzie Ball) Monti Czardas (arr. Nicolas Meier) Mendelssohn Octet in E b Op. 20 A celebration of the cellist’s remarkable career, which spans over 40 years of chamber-music performance at the highest level, with groups such as The Lindsays (of which he was a founder member), the Dante Quartet and, in recent years, with the jazz-based group Eclectica!.

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust supports free tickets for 8 –25 year olds at selected concerts. To book for this concert as part of Wigmore Hall’s young people’s programme, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

SATURDAY 4 DECEMBER 11.00 AM Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Cavatina Family Concert for age 5 plus The dynamic young Carducci String Quartet presents this inspiring, interactive concert of string quartet music, including a trip to South America with Astor Piazzolla’s Four for Tango. Come prepared to join in!

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

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Andy Holdsworth

Carducci String Quartet

£7 Adults £5 Children

Carducci String Quartet

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust, renowned for bringing chamber music to young people and young people to chamber music, is delighted to present this concert in association with Wigmore Hall.

Box Office: 020 7935 2141

conductor, harpsichord

Eric Larrayadieu

£18 £25 £30 £35

Eric Larrayadieu

Les Talens Lyriques Sandrine Piau soprano Christophe Rousset

Antoine Le Grand/ Naïve

SATURDAY 4 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Early Music and Baroque Series

Harmonia Sacra Sandrine Piau Christophe Rousset Purcell Now that the sun hath veiled its light (An Evening Hymn); The earth trembled; Thou wakeful shepherd (A Morning Hymn); In the black, dismal dungeon of despair; Let the night perish; With sick and famish’d eyes; How long, great God; How have I stray’d, my God; Great God and just; We sing to him whose wisdom form’d the ear; My song shall be alway of the loving kindness of the Lord; Lord, what is man?; Tell me, some pitying angel (The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation); The Night is come; My op’ning eyes are purg’d

Under the direction of Christophe Rousset, leading European early-music ensemble Les Talens Lyriques and soprano Sandrine Piau explore Purcell’s contributions to the two volumes of sacred songs, Harmonia sacra (1688 & 1693), which draw on the style of the French ‘petit motet’ and church cantata, and include the well-known ‘Evening Hymn’ and the dramatic ‘Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation’.

SUNDAY 5 DECEMBER 11.30 AM Coffee Concert

Members of Les Talens Lyriques

£12 concessions £10 inc. programme & coffee/sherry/juice

Adrian Brendel cello Tim Horton piano Bach Sonata No. 1 in G BWV1027 Britten Cello Sonata in C Op. 65 Chopin Cello Sonata in G minor Op. 65 A trio of works performed by the duo partnership of Adrian Brendel, son of pianist Alfred, fast becoming one of the UK’s leading cellists, and pianist Tim Horton.

Adrian Brendel

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

SUNDAY 5 DECEMBER 3.00 PM

£8 £9 £11 £13

Jaques Samuel Pianos ‘Junior Department Festival’ Winners’ Concert Students from the four London Music Institutions (GSMD, RAM, RCM, TCM) have been selected to perform in this recital. Up to 20 outstanding students will delight the audience with works from many different composers.

Sponsored by Fazioli Jaques Samuel Pianos ‘Junior Department Festival’ 2009 Winners

SUNDAY 5 DECEMBER 7.30 PM

£12 £16 £22 £24

Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay violin Min-Jung Kym piano Bartók Violin Sonata (1903) Debussy Violin Sonata in G minor Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’ To mark the anniversary of Bartók’s birth, this recital presents an opportunity to hear the rarely-performed sonata that he composed in 1903, during the period when he was influenced by Richard Strauss.

Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay is the concert master with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He is partnered by pianist Min-Jung Kym, who is establishing Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay a growing reputation for her versatility as a solo, duo and chamber musician. Kym returns to Wigmore Hall following an acclaimed duo recital here in May 2008. The programme finishes with two firm favourites from the violin and piano repertoire.

Min-Jung Kym

Supported by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins LLP and The Hungarian Cultural Centre

MONDAY 6 DECEMBER 1.00 PM BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert Marco Borggreve

Schumann Liederkreis Op. 24 Lachner Im Mai; Die Meerfrau; Das Fischermädchen; Ein Traumbild; Die einsame Träne Schumann Dein Angesicht; Lehn deine Wang; Es leuchtet meine Liebe; Mein Wagen rollet langsam

Marco Borggreve

Mark Padmore tenor Kristian Bezuidenhout piano

£12 concessions £10

In the bicentenary year of Schumann’s birth, a second chance this season (also 29 October) to hear the composer’s celebrated Liederkreis Op. 24, this time complemented by four Heine Lieder originally written for Dichterliebe Op. 48 and Heine settings from Franz Paul Lachner’s first Sängerfahrt (‘A Bard’s Journey’).

Schumann Bicentenary Series

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Mark Padmore

Kristian Bezuidenhout

Box Office: 020 7935 2141

MONDAY 6 DECEMBER 7.30 PM The Monday Platform

£8 £10 £13 £15

Harpham String Quartet Meng Yang Pan piano Zemlinsky String Quartet No. 4 (Suite) Op. 25 Debussy Images, Series 2 Liszt Rigoletto: paraphrase de concert (after Verdi) S.434 Ravel String Quartet in F Rachmaninov Piano Sonata No. 2 in B b minor Op. 36 The first of this season’s PLG Young Artists Wigmore Hall concerts presents highly skilled musicians from the PLG Young Artists New Year Series who have achieved major successes with their wide-ranging performances.

Harpham String Quartet

Meng Yang Pan

Harpham String Quartet: ‘assurance and success’ Evening Standard; ‘sensitive and assured’ Classical Source Meng Yang Pan: ‘flabbergasting resolve and panache’ The Times; ‘fastidiousness of touch … in total control … exceptional performance’ Classical Source Park Lane Group Young Artists (Reg. Charity No. 252205)

TUESDAY 7 DECEMBER 1.00 PM YCAT Lunchtime Series 19

Haydn String Quartet in D Op. 20 No. 4 Mozart String Quartet in E b K428

Sussie Ahlburg

Navarra String Quartet

£8 concessions £6

Formed in 2002 at the Royal Northern College of Music under the guidance of the late Dr Christopher Rowland in 2008, the Navarra Quartet won the Outstanding Young Artist Award at the MIDEM Classique Awards in Cannes. This season the Quartet makes its debut at the Berlin Konzerthaus and releases its first CD for Challenge Records.

‘The players realize the music’s essential intensity – with their vivid sense of dramatic expression in an intensely detailed performance’ BBC Music Magazine The YCAT Wigmore Lunchtime Series is supported by the Paul Woodhouse Fund and the Anthony Nesbitt Fund

Navarra String Quartet

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

TUESDAY 7 DECEMBER 6.00 PM Wigmore Hall Learning Event

£3

Artists In Conversation Mark-Anthony Turnage in conversation with the writer and broadcaster Christopher Cook TUESDAY 7 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Chamber Music Season

£12 £16 £22 £26 Philip Gatward

Belcea Quartet Haydn String Quartet in G Op. 76 No. 1 Turnage Twisted Blues with Twisted Ballad (world première)* Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A minor Already established as one of the foremost international ensembles, the Belcea Quartet includes the world première of a new work by Mark-Anthony Turnage, celebrating the composer’s 50th birthday, which they then take to audiences in Amsterdam, Cologne and Vienna.

‘Their sound is mellow and warm … and their unanimity is astounding’ Evening Standard *Commissioned by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, President of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation. Co-commissioned with Köln Musik, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Wiener Konzerthaus.

WEDNESDAY 8 DECEMBER 7.30 PM London Pianoforte Series

Schubert Piano Sonata in G D894 Schumann Études symphoniques Op. 13

£15 £20 £25 £30 Jean Mayerat

Elisabeth Leonskaja piano

Mark-Anthony Turnage

‘Elisabeth Leonskaja … is one of the last links to a grand school of Russian pianism where technique meant the marshalling of piano possibilities into a positively orchestral array of expressive means … a splendour and focus fervent in feeling, masterly in discipline, a serious line in beauty’ artsdesk.com Schumann Bicentenary Series

Elisabeth Leonskaja

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Box Office: 020 7935 2141

THURSDAY 9 DECEMBER 7.30 PM London Pianoforte Series

£15 £20 £25 £30

Nelly Akopian-Tamarina piano Schumann Arabeske in C Op. 18; Kreisleriana Op. 16; Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6 The distinguished Russian pianist Nelly Akopian-Tamarina makes her own contribution to the Schumann bicentenary. Winner of the Gold Medal at the International Schumann Competition in Zwickau in 1963, she subsequently received the Robert Schumann Prize in 1974, succeeding Richter, Nikolayeva and Gilels. Her recording of Schumann’s Fantasie is included in the recently released Brilliant Classics CD set, ‘Legendary Russian Pianists’. Her recording for Melodiya of the Schumann Concerto with the Moscow Philharmonic is now a Collectors’ item.

Grant Rogers Musical Artists’ Management

Nelly Akopian-Tamarina

FRIDAY 10 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Song Recital Series

£12 £16 £22 £26

Sir Thomas Allen baritone Malcolm Martineau piano Sarah-Jane Brandon soprano Cecelia Hall mezzo-soprano James Geer tenor Philip Smith baritone Daniel Wnukowski piano Samling Showcase

Sarah-Jane Brandon

Cecelia Hall

James Geer

Philip Smith

Daniel Wnukowski

The programme will include Ravel Don Quichotte, Debussy Chansons de Bilitis, Liszt Comment, disaient-ils, Oh! quand je dors and Enfant, si j’étais roi and songs from Schubert Schwanengesang D957, with opera arias and ensembles by Handel, Mozart and Strauss.

Showcasing the voices of the future, five outstanding young artists perform alongside Sir Thomas Allen and Malcolm Martineau. These young artists have all completed Samling’s prestigious international Masterclass Programme, which connects its Scholars to the world’s greatest artists to develop excellence in technique, professionalism and performance.

There are a number of tickets which include a three-course dinner, wine and coffee with the artists after the concert in the Bechstein Room.

These are priced £125 and are available only from Samling on 01434 602885.

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

SATURDAY 11 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Chamber Music Season Hanya Chlala/ ArenaPAL

Nash Ensemble

Clive Barda

Chamber Ensemble in Residence

£12 £16 £22 £26

Marianne Thorsen violin Paul Watkins cello Ian Brown piano

Matthew Rose bass Rachmaninov Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor Op. posth Musorgsky Songs and Dances of Death Beethoven Piano Trio in B b Op. 97 ‘Archduke’

Matthew Rose

Nash Ensemble

Musorgsky’s gripping song-cycle describing death in different guises, sung by Matthew Rose, is flanked by two piano trios: the earlier of Rachmaninov’s two Trios élégiaques, from his student years; and Beethoven’s last full-length trio, a magnificent work that he dedicated to his pupil the Archduke Rudolph.

Beethoven and the Russians £12 concessions £10 inc. programme & coffee/sherry/juice George Garnier

SUNDAY 12 DECEMBER 11.30 AM Coffee Concert

Doric String Quartet Schubert String Quartet in A minor D804 ‘Rosamunde’ Schumann String Quartet in A Op. 41 No. 3 Schubert’s dark-toned ‘Rosamunde’ Quartet – borrowing a theme from his earlier incidental music to the play Rosamunde, Queen of Cyprus – prefaces the best-known of Schumann’s three string quartets in this recital given by the young Doric String Quartet, which has already made an acclaimed entry to the Wigmore Hall Live CD series.

Supported by Oliver Prenn

Schumann Bicentenary Series

Doric String Quartet

SUNDAY 12 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Early Music and Baroque Series

From Leipzig to London, via Lübeck!

Hayley Madden

The Brook Street Band

£12 £16 £22 £24

Bach Trio Sonata in G BWV530 ; Trio Sonata in C minor BWV526 Telemann Trio Sonata in E b Handel Trio Sonata Buxtehude Trio Sonata in G BuxWV271 Pachelbel Partie VI in Bb from Musicalische Ergötzung Though he became an English citizen in 1727, Handel never quite shook off his German origins, and this programme explores these connections through exhilarating and sensual music. It was Telemann who sparked Handel’s passion for opera, and both Bach and Handel refused to marry Buxtehude’s daughter!

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The Brook Street Band

Box Office: 020 7935 2141

MONDAY 13 DECEMBER 1.00 PM BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Recently turned 40, the Tokyo String Quartet is joined by one of the world’s foremost solo clarinettists. Their performance features Mozart’s mature Clarinet Quintet, inspired by the artistry of clarinettist Anton Stadler, and one of the great fruits of Schubert’s adolescence, composed aged 16 while still a student of Mozart’s earlier rival, Salieri.

Christian Ducasse

Schubert String Quartet in E b D87 Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A K581

Thomas Rabsch

Tokyo String Quartet Sabine Meyer clarinet

£12 concessions £10

Sabine Meyer

Tokyo String Quartet

MONDAY 13 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Song Recital Series

£18 £25 £30 £35 Sussie Ahlburg

Susan Bullock soprano Malcolm Martineau piano Programme to include songs by Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov, Brahms, Duparc and English Songs Susan Bullock – who last year won a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for her performances in the gruelling role of Strauss’s Elektra for the Royal Opera – returns to Wigmore Hall for the first time in five years, for a programme representing the varied traditions within the song repertoire.

Susan Bullock

TUESDAY 14 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Song Recital Series Sussie Ahlburg

wild + team

Wolfgang Holzmair baritone Imogen Cooper piano

£15 £20 £25 £30

Schumann Settings by Heine and Eichendorff Reimann Nachtstück Schumann Kernerlieder Op. 35 In a highlight of our Schumann bicentenary series, Wolfgang Holzmair is joined by one of the UK’s most sensitive and probing pianists for a recital placing Eichendorff settings by Aribert Reimann alongside those Wolfgang Holzmair Imogen Cooper of Schumann. Also featured are Schumann settings of his beloved Heine as well as of Kerner, the ‘mysterious heavenly power’ whose poems the composer appreciated even as a teenager.

Schumann Bicentenary Series

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

WEDNESDAY 15 DECEMBER 12.15 PM Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Free (ticket required)

Pre-Concert Talk Julian Philips introduces his new work, co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall.

WEDNESDAY 15 DECEMBER 1.00 PM Chamber Music Season

Britten Sinfonia Jacqueline Shave violin Miranda Dale violin Martin Outram viola Joy Farrall clarinet Sarah Burnett bassoon Stephen Bell horn Huw Watkins piano

David Illman

£12 concessions £10

Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor Op. 114 Julian Philips New work (London première)* Janác˘ek Concertino *co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall and Britten Sinfonia

This concert has been programmed by acclaimed composer Julian Philips – a regular host of Wigmore Study Group events – and features the London première of a new work by him that takes its influence from Janác˘ek’s Concertino.

WEDNESDAY 15 DECEMBER 6.00 PM Chamber Music Season

Julian Philips

£6 or free with evening concert ticket (ticket required)

Pre-Concert Event Razumovsky Academy Young Artists Recital The Razumovsky Academy is delighted to present some of the most gifted prize-winning young musicians of today.

‘This is just the beginning of what seems certain to be an illustrious future’ The Independent Promoted by the Razumovsky Academy Supported by the Razumovsky Trust (Reg. Charity No. 1111848) Pictured right: Sarah Chang and Oleg Kogan with young musicians after the Razumovsky Academy Sarah Chang Masterclass

WEDNESDAY 15 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Chamber Music Season

Schubert Fantasy in C D934 Beethoven Cello Sonata in D Op. 102 No. 2 Schubert Piano Quintet in A D667 ‘The Trout’ ‘This kind of insight and commitment would be remarkable for an ensemble who played together every day; that the Razumovskys manage it on such an ad-hoc basis – all having successful solo careers alongside their chamber-music playing – is a minor miracle’ The Guardian Pictured right: Oleg Kogan, director of the Razumovsky Ensemble and Academy

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Robert Cassen

Razumovsky Ensemble

£15 £20 £25 £30

Box Office: 020 7935 2141

THURSDAY 16 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Chamber Music Season

Bach Partita No. 3 in E for solo violin BWV1006 Bach Sonata No. 3 in C for solo violin BWV1005 Bach Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin BWV1004

Keith Pattison

Thomas Zehetmair violin

£15 £20 £25 £30

Austrian violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair begins his three-concert residency this season with his selection from the works which reveal the true mettle of any violinist – Bach’s solo violin Sonatas and Partitas – including the D minor Partita, with its famously challenging Chaconne.

Thomas Zehetmair

FRIDAY 17 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Song Recital Series

1840 –1850

Jim Rakete

Dorothea Röschmann soprano Malcolm Martineau piano

£18 £25 £30 £35

Schumann Gedichte aus F. Rückerts ‘Liebesfrühling’ (a selection); Das Käuzlein; Die Waise; Zigeunerliedchen II; Der Sandmann; Marienwürmchen; Des Sennen Abschied; Er ist’s; Er ist gekommen; Sie liebten sich beide; Liebst du um Schönheit; Die stille Lotosblume; Liebeszauber; Lorelei Liszt Kling leise, mein Lied; Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh; Der du von dem Himmel bist; Freudvoll und leidvoll; Du bist wie eine Blume; Morgens steh’ ich auf und frage; Vergiftet sind meine Lieder; Die Loreley Mendelssohn Bei der Wiege; Venetianisches Gondellied; Wanderlied; Frühlingslied; Altdeutsches Frühlingslied; Nachtlied

Dorothea Röschmann

German soprano Dorothea Röschmann joins Malcolm Martineau as our Decade by Decade Series – exploring a century of German song prior to Wigmore Hall’s opening in 1901 – reaches the 1840s. Röschmann also celebrates a decade since her British recital debut, here at Wigmore Hall.

‘Ms Röschmann’s seriousness is only a veil attractively covering and accentuating an underlying sensuality’ New York Times Supported by the Decade by Decade Song Syndicate

Decade by Decade – 100 Years of German Song 1810 –1910 SATURDAY 18 DECEMBER 2.00 PM Wigmore Hall Learning Event

The Light and Shade of Interpretation One of the 20th century’s great pianists, Alfred Brendel may have retired from concert-giving, but he returns to Wigmore Hall to give a series of three lectures for its anniversary season, presenting his latest thoughts in both words and music. This is the final lecture in the series.

Benjamin Ealovega/ Philips

Alfred Brendel Lecture 3

Returns Only

Alfred Brendel

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

SATURDAY 18 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Chamber Music Season

Kuss Quartet Mozart String Quartet in D K575 Tchaikovsky Chanson russe, Mélodie antique française, La poupée malade and Chanson populaire (Kamarinskaya) from Album pour enfants Op. 39 (arr. for string quartet) Stravinsky Three Pieces for string quartet; Concertino for string quartet Tchaikovsky String Quartet No. 1 in D Op. 11

Neda Navaee

£12 £16 £22 £26

The Berlin-based Kuss Quartet mixes Stravinsky’s early character pieces and arrangements from Tchaikovsky’s set of piano miniatures for children with the first of Mozart’s three ‘Prussian’ Quartets, whose cello parts were designed to please the cello-playing King Friedrich Wilhelm II who commissioned them.

SUNDAY 19 DECEMBER 11.30 AM Coffee Concert

Kuss Quartet

£12 concessions £10 inc. programme & coffee/sherry/juice Boris Streubel

Kuss Quartet Beethoven String Quartet in F Op. 135 Verdi String Quartet in E minor ‘Every note, every phrase, every new motif appeared dusted down, questioned and joyfully restored’ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Kuss Quartet

SUNDAY 19 DECEMBER 7.00 PM NB starting time Early Music and Baroque Series

Handel’s Messiah stands as one of the pinnacles of musical history and remains his most popular work. Following its acclaimed sell-out performance at Wigmore Hall in 2008, Early Opera Company returns, with soloists, players and chorus packing the Wigmore stage, to again bring to life Handel and Jennens’s meditation on the life of Jesus.

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Sussie Ahlburg

Vince Barone

Sarah Fox

Handel Messiah

Iestyn Davies

Thomas Walker

Derek Welton

Christian Curnyn

Melbourne Headshot Company

Early Opera Company Sarah Fox soprano Iestyn Davies countertenor Thomas Walker tenor Derek Welton baritone Christian Curnyn director

£18 £25 £30 £35

Box Office: 020 7935 2141

MONDAY 20 DECEMBER 1.00 PM BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Francesco Piemontesi piano Janác˘ek Piano Sonata I.X.1905 ‘From the Street’ Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Op. 101 Stravinsky/Agosti Danse infernale, Berceuse and Finale from The Firebird

Marco Borggreve

£12 concessions £10

Young Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi is one of the most recent recruits to BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists. Born in 1983, he studied in Hanover and was a prize-winner at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2007. He recently appeared in the Martha Argerich Project, Lugano, and made his Carnegie Hall debut.

Francesco Piemontesi is a member of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme Francesco Piemontesi

New Generations MONDAY 20 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Chamber Music Season

£12 £16 £22 £26

Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Debussy Sonata for flute, viola and harp Bax Elegiac Trio for flute, viola and harp Vaughan Williams Phantasy String Quintet Puccini Crisantemi Piazzolla Five Tango Sensations The trios by Debussy and Bax for the unusual combination of flute, viola and harp appeared within a year of each other during the First World War. In addition to Vaughan Williams’s little-known Phantasy Quintet (with two violas), the LPO soloists contrast Puccini’s touching Crisantemi with Piazzolla’s bandoneón-tinged Five Tango Sensations.

Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra

TUESDAY 21 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Song Recital Series

Patricia Petibon soprano Susan Manoff piano Works by Handel, Haydn, Poulenc, Hahn, Satie and Bacri Though a protégée of William Christie, French coloratura soprano Patricia Petibon is equally at home singing Baroque or Bernstein. Her quirky sense of curiosity and fantasy make for an unconventionally spontaneous, even eccentric, style of recital with a faint hint of the burlesque. Leave any preconceptions at home and enjoy a Christmas treat.

Felix Broede/ Deutsche Grammohhon

Wigmore Hall Recital Debut

£18 £25 £30 £35

Patricia Petibon

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

WEDNESDAY 22 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Early Music and Baroque Series

£12 £16 £22 £26

Rachel Podger violin Brecon Baroque Bach Violin Concerto in A minor BWV1041 Bach Harpsichord Concerto in D minor BWV1052 Bach Concerto for violin in G minor BWV1056 Telemann Concerto in F for 3 violins, strings and continuo TWV53:F1 Bach Concerto in E for violin and strings BWV1042 Leading Bach specialist Rachel Podger presents a programme of violin concertos by Bach and Telemann in the intimate style of the Café Zimmermann concerts directed

by Bach in Leipzig. This concert marks the release of Podger’s new CD of Bach concertos and the London debut of her own ensemble, Brecon Baroque.

Presented by The Countess of Munster Musical Trust Rachel Podger

THURSDAY 23 DECEMBER 7.00 PM NB starting time

£12 £18 £24 £28 Under 16s £12

Susanna Andersson soprano Mats Lidström cello Bengt Forsberg piano Choir from Swedish Church in London narrator to be announced

Christmas from Sweden – merriment in words and music with Swedish mulled wine and gingerbread Mats Lidström Arto Tulima

Bach Jesu joy of man’s desiring (arr. Myra Hess) Susanna Andersson Tegnér 4 Swedish Christmas Songs Olsson Christmas Time Op. 3 Trad. Swedish traditional songs Mats Lidström The Stamp King (world première) Bach Blithe bells (arr. Percy Grainger) Carols British and Swedish Christmas songs incl. Silent Night Mats Lidström Christmas Cookies Gounod Jewel Song from Faust and other songs Finale Chorus, soprano, narrator and instrumentalists A perfect way to celebrate the final days before Christmas with Swedish and British festive songs and carols for all the family. The programme is interspersed with two of JS Bach’s ageless works, Gounod’s famous Jewel Song from the opera Faust, the world première of a story by cellist Mats Lidström for narrator, piano and cello and a musical recipe for Christmas cookies! Swedish mulled wine and gingerbread will be served in the interval. Proceeds to be donated to charity.

Concert Management: Lisa Peacock Concert Management Limited PR and Marketing: From Sweden Productions Principal Sponsor: SEB

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Bengt Forsberg

Box Office: 020 7935 2141

FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER No performances Box office open 10.00 am to 12 noon

SATURDAY 25, SUNDAY 26, MONDAY 27 DECEMBER No performances Box office closed

TUESDAY 28 DECEMBER 7.30 PM London Pianoforte Series

£12 £16 £22 £24

Lucy Parham piano Joanna David narrator Martin Jarvis narrator Beloved Clara Schumann Des Abends from Fantasiestücke Op. 12 Mendelssohn Song without Words in A ‘Spring Song’ Schumann Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6 Nos. 2 & 4 Schumann Piano Sonata in G minor (first movement) Clara Schumann Nocturne from Soirées musicales Brahms Scherzo from Piano Sonata in F minor Schumann In der Nacht from Fantasiestücke Schumann Intermezzo from Faschingsschwank aus Wien Brahms Intermezzo in A minor Schumann Romance in F #; Träumerei from Kinderscenen Brahms Capriccio in B minor; Intermezzo in B minor Schumann/Liszt Widmung

Joanna David, Lucy Parham and Martin Jarvis

The story of the intense relationships between Schumann, his wife Clara and Brahms is brought to life in this programme of music and readings. Music by all three is performed by Lucy Parham, interspersed with extracts from their letters and diaries, read by celebrated actors Joanna David and Martin Jarvis.

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Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

WEDNESDAY 29 DECEMBER 7.30 PM Diarmaid Drain

Héloîse Geoghegan violin Michael Joyce piano

£10 £14 £17 £20

Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor Op. 23 Poulenc Violin Sonata Strauss Violin Sonata in E b Op. 18 Violinist Héloîse Geoghegan and pianist Michael Joyce will perform sonatas by Poulenc, Strauss and Beethoven at their Wigmore Hall debut recital. Graduates of the Hochschule für Musik, Leipzig and Yale University, they have performed together at major international venues including Maggio Musicale in Florence and Casa da Musica in Porto.

Héloîse Geoghegan and Michael Joyce

Upbeat Classical Management The artists would like to thank the Adelman Foundation for its generous support

THURSDAY 30 DECEMBER 7.30 PM London Pianoforte Series

Bertrand Chamayou piano Franck Prélude, choral et fugue Liszt Au bord d’une source; Orage; Vallée d’Obermann and Les cloches de Genève; Venezia e Napoli Young French pianist Bertrand Chamayou performs four evocative vignettes from Liszt’s Swiss travels, as well as the two songs and tarantella that make up Venezia e Napoli, a ‘supplement’ to the composer’s Italian sojourn. Franck’s grandly conceived Prélude, choral et fugue reflects his years of service as organist at St Clotilde in Paris.

FRIDAY 31 DECEMBER 7.00 PM NB starting time Early Music and Baroque Series

Laure Vasconi/ Naïve

Wigmore Hall Recital Debut

£15 £20 £25 £30

Bertrand Chamayou

£12 £16 £22 £24

Retrospect Ensemble Joanne Lunn soprano Robin Blaze countertenor Charles Daniels tenor Peter Harvey baritone Matthew Halls director Bach Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben BWV248 (Christmas Oratorio, part 4); Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen BWV248 (Christmas Oratorio, part 5); Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F BWV1046 Matthew Halls

A festive performance of Bach to herald the New Year. Two uplifting cantatas from Bach’s seasonal masterpiece performed by a stellar line-up of soloists and the instrumentalists of Retrospect Ensemble provide the backbone for a programme that also features the extraordinary instrumental virtuosity of the first Brandenburg Concerto.

Box office open until 7.00 pm

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CHAMBER ZONE: FREE TICKETS FOR 8 – 25 YEAR OLDS Supported by CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust and Britten Sinfonia (2 March) with ongoing support from John Lyon’s Charity and The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust.

We are delighted to offer young people aged 8 – 25 free tickets to the following selected concerts. Please call the box office on 020 7935 2141 and quote Chamber Zone to book.

This offer is also available to school groups; as well as free tickets for one of our specially selected concerts, schools also receive a workshop, free programmes and interval ice creams.

Friday 3 December 7.00 pm Bernard Gregor-Smith with special guests Venables, Debussy, Schubert, Corea, Mitchell, Piazzolla, Monti, Mendelssohn Sunday 16 January 7.30 pm Leonidas Kavakos violin Enrico Pace piano Prokofiev, Auerbach, Dvor˘ák, Schubert

Thursday 24 February 7.30 pm Doric String Quartet Haydn, Mendelssohn, Berg Wednesday 2 March 1.00 pm Britten Sinfonia Steven Osborne piano Simon Holt, Schubert ‘Trout’ Quintet Tuesday 8 March 7.30 pm Wihan Quartet Mendelssohn, Janác˘ek, Dvor˘ák

Tuesday 18 January 7.30 pm Julian Rachlin violin, viola Charles Owen piano Beethoven, Brahms, Fauré

Saturday 12 March 7.30 pm Pavel Haas Quartet Danjulo Ishizaka cello Schulhoff, Prokofiev, Schubert

Tuesday 1 February 7.30 pm Heath Quartet Haydn, Britten, Beethoven

Monday 14 March 1.00 pm Florestan Trio Haydn, Dvor˘ák

Sunday 13 February 7.30 pm Zehetmair Quartet Mozart, Shostakovich

Saturday 19 March 7.30 pm Pacifica Quartet Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Schubert

For full programme listings please see www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

Photo: www.benjaminharte.co.uk

The Israel Piano Trio Menahem Breuer • Roglit Ishay • Hillel Zori

Sunday 9th JANUARY 2011 - 7.30pm Beethoven • Paul Ben-Haim • Max Bruch • Brahms

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Wigmore Hall Live

Recent releases...

Alina Ibragimova violin Cédric Tiberghien piano Volume 2 of the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas A major Op. 30 No. 1; E major Op. 12 No. 3; A major Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’ ‘These performances are brimful of life; there’s a sense of joy and freedom, with fast passagework that’s exceptionally clear and even, and expressiveness that ranges from extreme delicacy to passionate intensity’

Angelika Kirchschlager mezzo-soprano

Roger Vignoles piano Songs by Wolf & Strauss

(Beethoven Violin Sonatas) Gramophone Magazine

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Pick up a leaflet in the foyer or ask at the Box Office Join online at www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/friends Call the Friendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Office on 020 7258 8230 Email friends@wigmore-hall.org.uk Photography: Ben Ealovega

HOW TO GET HERE Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP Box Office Tel: 020 7935 2141 Wigmore Hall is situated in the heart of London’s West End and is easily accessible by public transport or car.

Tubes Bond Street (Central & Jubilee lines) and Oxford Circus (Bakerloo, Central & Victoria lines) tube stations are both close by.

Buses OX F O R D CIRCUS

A large number of buses travel along Oxford Street, which is approximately five minutes walk from Wigmore Hall.

Car Parking

Nick Guttridge

BOND STREET

There is limited street parking after 6.30 pm (Mon – Sat) and all day Sunday in permitted areas. Alternatively there are public car parks in Cavendish Square, Harley Street and Marylebone Lane, all of which are less than a five minute walk from the hall.

Restaurant and Bars Wigmore Hall has its own restaurant and bars serving pre-concert and interval refreshments. The menu ranges from light snacks to a full three course à la carte meal.

Our bars offer a range of hot, cold and alcoholic beverages alongside a selection of snacks.

Please visit www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/restaurant or call 020 7258 8292 for further information.

WIGMORE HALL DIRECTOR: JOHN GILHOOLY THE WIGMORE HALL TRUST REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1024838