Wigmore Hall Concert Diary December 2015

December 2015

Elīna Garancˇa INSIDE: L’Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar & Núria Rial Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Christian Blackshaw The Cardinall’s Musick Andreas Haefliger Brad Mehldau Waltraud Meier Patricia Petibon Quatuor Ebène & Mitsuko Uchida Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI and many more

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

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 £3.00 administration fee for each transaction, which includes the return of your tickets by post if time permits.

Online: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk 7 days a week; 24 hours a day.

There is a non-refundable £2.00 administration charge.

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

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

Facilities for Disabled People full details available from 020 7935 2141 or access@wigmore-hall.org.uk

Wigmore Hall has been awarded the Bronze Charter Mark from Attitude is Everything

TICKETS Unless otherwise stated, tickets are divided into five 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 highest price Stalls AA, T – V 4th highest price Stalls W – X Lowest price

A–D BALCONY

W–X T– V Q–S

N–P

STA LLS C– M A–B CC BB A AA A

CC BB

PL ATFO RM

A AA A

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

Benjamin Ealovega

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

2

Wigmore Hall • John Gilhooly OBE Director The Wigmore Hall Trust • Registered Charity No.1024838

Cover: El īna Garancˇa © Karina Schwartz/Deutsche Grammophon

Benjamin Baker violin Daniel Lebhardt piano

Kaupo Kikkas

YCAT Lunchtime Concert Series 2015/16

Kaupo Kikkas

1

Tuesday 1 December 1.00 pm

Britten Suite for violin and piano Op. 6 Schubert/ Ernst Erlkönig Elgar Violin Sonata in E minor Op. 82 Last year, Benjamin Baker made his debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted

by Nicholas Collon. His first CD for Champs Hill Records was released in 2015 and selected as the Classic FM Drive Featured Album. Benjamin is joined by YCAT and YCA (USA) pianist, Daniel Lebhardt. £13 concs £11 Young Classical Artists Trust (Reg. Charity No. 326490) Benjamin Baker

Daniel Lebhardt

YCAT is grateful for support for this series from the Paul Woodhouse Fund, the Anthony Nesbitt Fund and the legacy of Richard Oake.

Tuesday 1 December 7.30 pm

Rosenblatt Recitals 2015/16

Dorottya Láng mezzo-soprano Helmut Deutsch piano Wolf Gutmann und Gutweib; Anakreons Grab; Der Schäfer; Blumengruß; Königlich Gebet; Die Bekehrte Liszt Der du von dem Himmel bist; Freudvoll und leidvoll; Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh Thomas Elle est là, près de lui! from Mignon Berlioz D’amour l’ardente flame from La Damnation de Faust Schubert Rastlose Liebe; Meeres Stille; Gretchen am Spinnrade; Heidenröslein; Wandrers Nachtlied II; An Schwager Kronos; An die Entfernte Gounod Faites-lui mes aveux from Faust Hungarian mezzo-soprano Dorottya Láng has won worldwide acclaim and numerous accolades including first prize at the Emmerich Smola Musik Debut Competition in 2013. She joins the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera for the 2015/16 season, as well as making her London recital debut.

Dorottya Láng

‘She quickly showed herself to be a singer of great musical poise. With rich and even tone rising to a pure top, she caught the classical restraint and elegance of Schubert’s lines.’

Daily Telegraph £30 £26 £22 £18 £16

Tickets also on sale for Rosenblatt Recitals on 28 October (Sumi Hwang) 11 November (Quinn Kelsey)

Helmut Deutsch

3

Wednesday 2 December 12.15 pm

2

Pre-Concert Talk An introduction to the lunchtime concert with Edward Nesbit, winner of OPUS2015.

Free to concert ticket holders (separate ticket required)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Benjamin Ealovega

Jacqueline Shave violin Richard Watkins horn Huw Watkins piano

Eric Richmond

Britten Sinfonia

Harry Rankin

Wednesday 2 December 1.00 pm

Huw Watkins Trio for horn, violin and piano Edward Nesbit Lifesize Gods* (London première) Brahms Albumblatt; Horn Trio in Eb Op. 40 *Co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia with the Jacqueline Shave Richard Watkins Huw Watkins support of donors to the Musically Gifted campaign, and by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation

When Brahms wrote his Horn Trio, the combination of horn, violin and piano was considered an innovation.

His evergreen score has since inspired several works for the same forces, two of which feature in this programme.

Huw Watkins’s trio alternates driving rhythmic passages with slower contemplative music, presented here alongside the London première of a new Horn Trio written by Edward Nesbit, winner of OPUS2015, Britten Sinfonia and Wigmore Hall’s competition for unpublished composers. £13 concs £11

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series Wednesday 2 December 7.30 pm

ATOS Trio Beethoven Piano Trio in G Op. 1 No. 2; Piano Trio in D Op. 70 No. 1 ‘Ghost’; Piano Trio in Bb Op. 11; Piano Trio in Eb Op. 70 No. 2 Beethoven, already in demand in Vienna’s musical circles, reinforced his position in the imperial city with the publication of his three Op. 1 Piano Trios in 1795. He regularly returned to the piano trio medium over the next fifteen years, outlining a chilling vision of the supernatural in his ‘Ghost’ Trio and emulating the warmth and charm of folk music in its companion piece, the Piano Trio in E flat. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Frank Jerke

Chamber Music Season/ATOS Trio: Beethoven Piano Trios

ATOS Trio

4

Andreas Haefliger piano

Marco Borggreve

3

Thursday 3 December 7.30 pm

Please note change of programme Mozart Adagio in B minor K540 Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor Op. 90 Bartók Szabadban (Out of Doors Suite) BB89 Brahms Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor Op. 5 Andreas Haefliger’s Perspectives project, in which he explores the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven alongside works by other composers ranging from Mozart to Ligeti, has formed the focus of his solo recital appearances and recordings in recent years. He comes to Wigmore Hall to present one instalment of his series. Beethoven’s expressive and lyrical E minor Piano Sonata Op. 90 is presented in company with the pulsating energy of Bartók’s five Szabadban pieces, Brahms’s monumental F minor Piano Sonata Op. 5, and a miniature masterwork by Mozart.

Andreas Haefliger

£36 £30 £25 £20 £15

London Pianoforte Series/Contemporary Music Series

Simon Weir

Relaxed Concert with Members of Aurora Orchestra Musicians from the renowned Aurora Orchestra present a diverse programme of music in a relaxed and informal environment. This concert is open to everyone, and is especially welcoming to people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders or learning disabilities. £5

Pictured right: 3D model of Aurora Orchestra

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Kaupo Kikkas

Iestyn Davies countertenor Allan Clayton tenor James Baillieu piano

Jack Liebeck

Friday 4 December 7.30 pm Benjamin Ealovega

4

Friday 4 December 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

Purcell/Tippett Music for a while Purcell/Britten Sweeter than Roses Purcell/Adès Full Fathom Five Britten Canticle I: My beloved is mine Op. 40 Thomas Adès The Lover in Winter Britten Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac Op. 51 Iestyn Davies Allan Clayton Nico Muhly New work for countertenor, tenor and piano* (world première) Barber Rain has fallen; Sleep now; I hear an army Nico Muhly Four Traditional Songs Britten Sally in our Alley; The Plough Boy; I wonder as I wander; Oliver Cromwell Purcell/Britten Lost is my quiet; Sound the trumpet

James Baillieu

*Co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation, by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and anonymous donors

American composer Nico Muhly’s feeling for the sounds and clarity of pre-Classical music has proved a strong influence on his acclaimed work. His new score crowns an ear-catching programme shrewdly devised by James Baillieu to spotlight the highest levels of invention and sophistication of English and American song. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Song Recital Series /Contemporary Music Series/Introducing James Baillieu/Focus on Nico Muhly

5

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Dominic Muldowney conductor Roderick Williams baritone Dominic Muldowney Six Cabaret Songs*: Adlestrop; At Last the Secret is Out; Foxtrot (from a play); Funeral Blues; Uffington; Underneath the abject willow Dominic Muldowney Two Shakespeare Settings: Winter; Fear No More Dominic Muldowney New song setting** (world première tour) Howard Skempton The Rime of the Ancient Mariner *** (world première tour)

Dominic Muldowney Benjamin Ealovega

5

Saturday 5 December 7.30 pm

* BCMG Sound Investment commission 2011 **BCMG commission ***Commissioned by Maurice and Sheila Millward

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, acclaimed worldwide for the brilliance of its playing and innovative work in the concert hall and in the wider community, emerged from within the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1987.

The ensemble returns to Wigmore Hall to perform works by two outstanding British composers. Howard Skempton created his recent setting of Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for Roderick Williams and BCMG, forming another part of the composer’s long-term relationship with the ensemble. The group’s enduring commitment to the art of Dominic Muldowney, former music director of the Royal National Theatre, is reflected in a selection of songs setting poetry by, among others, Auden, Shakespeare and Housman.

Clive Barda

Roderick Williams

£30 £25 £20 £15 £10

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series/Song Recital Series

6

Sunday 6 December 11.30 am

Aquinas Piano Trio Saint-Saëns Piano Trio No. 1 in F Op. 18 Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor Op. 66

Gramophone noted how the Aquinas Piano Trio was ‘spot-on in interpretative instinct’ in its recent recording of Saint-Saëns’s Piano Trios. The acclaimed British ensemble opens this recital with the composer’s Piano Trio No. 1 of 1863, his first big success, and continues with Mendelssohn’s magnificent Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor Op. 66. £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Supported by John and Amy Ford

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

6

Aquinas Piano Trio

Sunday 6 December 7.30 pm

Quatuor Ebène Mitsuko Uchida piano Haydn String Quartet in C Op. 20 No. 2 Ravel String Quartet in F Schumann Piano Quintet in Eb Op. 44 Exquisite contrasts of colour and lyrical invention hallmark the two works in this programme’s first half, richly projected by the warmth of Haydn’s Op. 20 No. 2 and impassioned spirit of Ravel’s String Quartet in F. Mitsuko Uchida, who has taken a close interest in Quatuor Ebène since the group’s early years, joins the thrilling French quartet in Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat, a work of near-symphonic scale and intensity.

Returns only

Supported by the Season Patrons who have made a major contribution to the 2015/16 Wigmore Series CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

Free tickets for 8 – 25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust with ongoing support from John Lyon’s Charity.

To book this concert as part of Wigmore Hall’s young people’s programme, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Decca /Justin Pumfrey

Julien Mignot

Chamber Music Season

Quatuor Ebène

Adrian Brendel cello Aleksandar Madžar piano

Keith Saunders

Monday 7 December 1.00 pm Jack Liebeck

7

Mitsuko Uchida

Debussy Cello Sonata in D minor Sir Harrison Birtwistle Variations for cello and piano Chopin Cello Sonata in G minor Op. 65 Known as one of the most thoughtful and versatile cellists of his generation, Adrian Brendel draws inspiration from a rich field of music. His deep experience of contemporary music and passion for jazz and world music inform his approach to works from his instrument’s classical mainstream. He is joined by Serbian pianist Aleksandar Madžar, another musician of striking imagination and individuality.

Adrian Brendel

Aleksandar Madžar

£13 concs £11

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

7

Monday 7 December 7.30 pm

The Monday Platform

Philip Attard saxophone Christine Zerafa piano Luka Okros solo piano Milhaud Scaramouche Op. 165b (arr. for saxophone and piano) Schmitt Légende Op. 66 Takashi Yoshimatsu Fuzzy Bird Sonata Rachmaninov Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor Op. 28 Bach/Siloti Prelude in B minor BWV855a Rachmaninov Moments musicaux in E minor Op. 16 No. 4 Maltese saxophonist Philip Attard and Georgian pianist Luka Okros have both studied on the Master’s course at the Royal College of Music. They were chosen by audition for the Young Artists Platform scheme in early 2015 and perform as part of The Monday Platform series for the first time. £20 £18 £14 £12 £10 Promoted by the Friends of Young Artists Platform

Supported by The Tillett Trust and the Milton Grundy Foundation

Philip Attard

Christine Zerafa

Luka Okros

Tuesday 8 December 7.30 pm

8

Christian Poltéra cello Kathryn Stott piano Dvorˇák Sonatina in G Op. 100 (arr. for cello and piano by Christian Poltéra) Barber Cello Sonata Op. 6 Brahms Scherzo in C minor (arr. for cello and piano by Christian Poltéra) Brahms Sonata in D minor Op. 108 Brahms admired and championed the music of Dvorˇák, introducing the young Czech artist’s music to his publisher and to influential German critics. Christian Poltéra’s programme includes arrangements of the Sonatina Dvorˇák created for his two children at the end of his stay in New York in 1893, and the Scherzo Brahms wrote as part of a composite work with Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich. £30 £25 £20 £15 £10

Nikolaj Lund

Nikolaj Lund

Chamber Music Season

Christian Poltéra

8

Kathryn Stott

Jonathan Biss piano

Benjamin Ealovega

9

Wednesday 9 December 7.30 pm

Mozart Piano Sonata in C minor K457 Schoenberg 6 Little Piano Pieces Op. 19 Mozart Piano Sonata in F K533/494 Schumann Kreisleriana Op. 16 Jonathan Biss presents two great works from the final decade of Mozart’s life, travelling through the emotionally turbulent world of the composer’s Piano Sonata in C minor and exploring the harmonic daring and contrapuntal invention of the late Piano Sonata in F. The American pianist also offers his latest thoughts on Schumann’s Kreisleriana, a work central to his repertoire, and includes Schoenberg’s iconoclastic Six Little Piano Pieces Op. 19. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

London Pianoforte Series Thursday 10 December 7.30 pm Eric Richmond

I Fagiolini Anna Markland piano Matthew Long tenor Roderick Williams baritone Poulenc Sept Chansons Fauré Poème d’un jour Op. 21 Françaix Ode à la gastronomie (London première) Milhaud Deux poèmes Op. 39 Ravel Adagio from Piano Concerto in G major (arr. Roderick Williams for piano and voices) Roderick Williams Is 5

I Fagiolini, founded by Robert Hollingworth almost thirty years ago, remains at the forefront of exploration and adventure in the performance of music for vocal ensemble.

This programme celebrates the group’s love of French music, and includes a rare performance of Jean Françaix’s humorous but beautiful ‘Ode to gastronomy’ for twelve voices. In addition, to mark the 50th birthday of Roderick I Fagiolini Williams, whose solo singing career arose from his years with I Fagiolini, this programme includes his moving arrangement of the Adagio from Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and ‘Is 5’, an original work setting the poetry of e. e. cummings, composed for I Fagiolini in 1995. £30 £25 £20 £15 £10

Benjamin Ealovega

Song Recital Series/Contemporary Music Series Ria Mishaal

10

Jonathan Biss

Anna Markland

Matthew Long

Roderick Williams

9

Friday 11 December and Saturday 12 December 10.00 am – 10.45 am; 11.00 am – 11.45 am 12.45 pm – 1.30 pm; 1.45 pm – 2.30 pm

11

A Winter Dream INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE For ages 1– 5 years

Aurora Orchestra musicians guide little feet on an immersive journey through wintery worlds. Featuring works by Debussy, this multi-sensory interactive performance enables families to step inside this magical music and come face-to-face with the characters it creates. Enter into our enchanted winter to listen and explore together.

Returns only

In partnership with Aurora Orchestra

www.benjaminharte.co.uk

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Elīna Garancˇa mezzo-soprano Malcolm Martineau piano

Paul Schirnhofer

Wigmore Hall Debut

Russell Duncan

Friday 11 December 7.30 pm

Songs by Brahms, Duparc and Rachmaninov Lyric mezzo-soprano Elīna Garancˇa made her professional debut soon after she commenced singing studies in her native Latvia, and stormed to international prominence in 2003 at the Salzburg Festival. In demand at the world’s leading opera houses, she has also flourished as a song recitalist and forged a strong artistic partnership with Malcolm Martineau. Their Wigmore Hall programme spans a vast range of emotions, moods and expressive contrasts, opening doors into the inner worlds of three exceptional song composers.

Elīna Garancˇa

£50 £40 £30 £25 £15

Song Recital Series

10

Malcolm Martineau

Saturday 12 December 10.00 am – 10.45 am; 11.00 am – 11.45 am 12.45 pm – 1.30 pm; 1.45 pm – 2.30 pm

12

A Winter Dream INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE For ages 1– 5 years

See Friday 11 December opposite for full details

Returns only

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

Nash Ensemble John Mark Ainsley tenor

K. Leighton

Saturday 12 December 7.30 pm

Mozart String Quintet in Bb K174 Respighi Deità silvane (arr. D Matthews for tenor and ensemble) Rossini Songs from Les soirées musicales Mendelssohn String Quintet No. 2 in B b Op. 87 Mozart’s earliest string quintet and Mendelssohn’s late Second Quintet, with its impassioned slow movement, frame this fascinating programme.

John Mark Ainsley joins the Nash for the concert’s Nash Ensemble John Mark Ainsley Italian element, Respighi’s magical portraits of the ‘woodland deities’ of antiquity, and songs written during Rossini’s long retirement as an opera composer. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Free tickets for 8 –25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by John Lyon’s Charity.

To book this concert as part of Wigmore Hall’s young people’s programme, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Chamber Music Season /Song Recital Series /Nash Ensemble: Mozart, Mendelssohn and the Italians Sunday 13 December 11.30 am

13

Hugo Wolf Quartett Haydn String Quartet in G Op. 33 No. 5 Schubert String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’ Founded in Vienna in 1993, the Hugo Wolf Quartett combines curiosity with compassion in its dynamic approach to making music. The ensemble’s latest Wigmore Hall concert opens with Haydn’s Op. 33 No. 5, popularly known as the ‘How-do-you-do?’ for its genial introduction, and touches the anxious heart of Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’. £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Nancy Horowitz

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Hugo Wolf Quartett

11

Sunday 13 December 7.30 pm David Ignaszewski

Hespèrion XXI Jordi Savall director, treble viol MUSICAL EUROPE: 1550 –1650 ITALIAN DANCES OF THE VENETIAN RENAISSANCE Anonymous Pavana del Re; Galliarda la Traditora; El Todescho; Saltarello ELIZABETHAN CONSORT MUSIC John Dowland Lacrimae Pavan; The King of Denmark, His galliard Orlando Gibbons In Nomine a 4 William Brade Ein Schottisch Tanz SPANISH DANCES AND VARIATIONS Luys del Milà Pavana & Gallarda Antonio de Cabezón Diferencias sobre la Dama le demanda Diego Ortiz Romanesca & Passamezzo moderno Anonymous (improvisation) Canarios David Ignaszewski

MUSIC FOR KING LOUIS XIII Anonymous (Philidor) Pavane de la petitte Guerre & Gaillarde; Sarabanda a l’italien; Courante de la Reine d’Angleterre; Bourrée d’Avignonez

Jordi Savall

GERMAN MUSIC Samuel Scheidt Paduan V; Courant Dolorosa IX; Galliard Battaglia XXI EUROPEAN BAROQUE MUSIC Joan Cabanilles Corrente Italiana Henry Purcell Fantasia XII Guillaume Dumanoir Libertas Antonio Valente Gallarda Napolitana

Hespèrion XXI

For all the difficulties of travel four centuries ago, fresh ideas flowed freely between major European centres of trade and commerce. Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI have probably done more than any other ensemble to show the correspondences and cross-fertilisation that occurred when musicians absorbed new fashions from abroad and exported their knowledge to other lands. Their programme shows how simple dance forms were transformed into works of irresistible elegance for the ears of Renaissance Europe’s powerbrokers and leaders. £50 £40 £30 £25 £15

Early Music and Baroque Series

harpsichord, organ

Greg Klukowski

Rachel Podger violin Marcin S´wia¸tkiewicz

Jonas Sacks

14

Monday 14 December 1.00 pm

David Miller lute Biber Mystery Sonatas: No. 1 ‘The Annunciation’; No. 2 ‘The Visitation’; No. 3 ‘The Nativity’; No. 9 ‘Jesus Carries the Cross’; No. 10 ‘The Crucifixion’; No. 11 ‘The Resurrection’; Passacaglia German composers of the seventeenth Marcin S´ wia¸tkiewicz Rachel Podger David Miller century cultivated extraordinary works for violin, hallmarked by their virtuosity and invention. Heinrich Biber’s so-called Mystery Sonatas, completed in the mid-1670s, rank among the genre’s finest achievements. Rachel Podger presents a selection of pieces from the set, exploring their spiritual relationship to the ancient Rosary devotion and revealing their transcendent beauty.

All seats £15

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

12

In the mere eight years since La Nuova Musica’s foundation, the ensemble has surged to prominence, hailed by BBC Radio 3 as ‘one of the most exciting consorts in the Early Music field’, and acclaimed by reviewers worldwide for the expressive freedom, deep intelligence and coruscating beauty of its performances. Arguably one of the most popular operas of the seventeenth century, La Nuova Musica and its stellar cast of singers bring to life Cesti’s Orontea in the intimate setting of Wigmore Hall.

Benjamin Ealovega

Marco Borggreve

Jonathan McGovern

Mary Bevan

Michal Czerniawski

Anat Edri

Timothy Dickinson

Christopher Turner

Callum Thorpe

Victoria Cadisch

Anna Stéphany

Sam Furness Graeme Robertson

Cesti Orontea

David Bates

Maximilian Van London

La Nuova Musica David Bates director Anna Stéphany mezzo-soprano (Orontea) Jonathan McGovern baritone (Alidoro) Mary Bevan soprano (Silandra) Michal Czerniawski countertenor (Corindo) Anat Edri soprano (Giacinta) Sam Furness tenor (Aristea) Timothy Dickinson bass (Creonte) Christopher Turner tenor (Tibrino) Callum Thorpe bass-baritone (Gelone)

Benjamin Ealovega

Monday 14 December 7.30 pm

This concert will be approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes in duration, including an interval £50 £40 £30 £25 £15

Early Music and Baroque Series

Waltraud Meier mezzo-soprano Joseph Breinl piano

Melanie Paul

Tuesday 15 December 7.30 pm Nomi Baumgartl

15

La Nuova Musica

Mahler Kindertotenlieder Wagner Wesendonck Lieder Mahler From Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Rheinlegendchen; Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen; Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt Mahler Five Rückert Lieder One of the world’s finest Wagnerians, a singer of remarkable expressive power and radiant vocal richness, Waltraud Meier explores the heightened Waltraud Meier Joseph Breinl emotional states of songs by Mahler and Wagner.

She moves from the grief-stricken energy of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder to Wagner’s intensely Romantic Wesendonck Lieder in her programme’s first half. Her recital concludes with Mahler’s ‘Five Rückert Lieder’, first published in 1910, a year before the composer’s death, in company with songs from his ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ settings. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Supported by the members of The Rubinstein Circle

Song Recital Series

13

Wigmore Hall Debut

Patricia Petibon soprano Susan Manoff piano

Bernard Martinez

16

Wednesday 16 December 7.30 pm

LA BELLE EXCENTRIQUE Hahn A Chloris; Pholoé; Quand je fus pris au pavillon Fauré Spleen Rosenthal Rêverie; Pêcheur de lune Fauré Les berceaux Rosenthal Fido, Fido & L’éléphant du jardin des plantes from Chansons du Monsieur Bleu Poulenc Hôtel; Voyage à Paris; Hier; Les gars qui vont à la fête; Les chemins de l’amour Collet A vida dos arreiros Obradors El vito Falla Asturiana Patricia Petibon Turina Cantares Canteloube Pastouro, sé tu m’aymo; La delaïssádo Satie Sur un vaisseau (for solo piano); La statue de bronze; Daphénéo Bernstein La Bonne Cuisine Gershwin Prelude (for solo piano) Lara Granada

Susan Manoff

The sounds and artistic concerns of Belle Époque Paris echo throughout Patricia Petibon’s glorious programme, complete with chansons by Poulenc and Fauré. The French coloratura soprano, in company with her regular duo partner Susan Manoff, also explores the exquisitely eccentric musical inventions of Erik Satie and songs from the long-lived Manuel Rosenthal’s Chansons du Monsieur Bleu. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Free tickets for 8 –25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by John Lyon’s Charity.

To book this concert as part of Wigmore Hall’s young people’s programme, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Song Recital Series

Brad Mehldau piano Bach Preludes and Fugues from The Well-tempered Clavier Brad Mehldau Three Pieces After Bach* (UK première); Improvisations on Bach

Michael Wilson

17

Thursday 17 December 7.30 pm

*Co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto, The National Concert Hall Dublin, and Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation

Even the most densely stocked thesaurus would run short of the superlatives needed to describe American composer, arranger and pianist Brad Mehldau’s creative contribution to the development of contemporary jazz. He returns to Wigmore Hall to perform a selection of his own material, including a première of a specially commissioned work.

This concert will be approximately 2 hours in duration, including an interval £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Wigmore Hall Jazz Series Friday 18 December 7.30 pm

Brad Mehldau piano A PROGRAMME OF IMPROVISED JAZZ

Michael Wilson

18

Brad Mehldau

For many years Brad Mehldau has been fascinated with the art of improvisation and how other composers and their soundworlds influence the ear of a jazz musician. Brad joins us for an evening of improvisation sure to be a sparkling highlight of this season’s Jazz Series at Wigmore Hall.

This concert will be approximately 90 minutes in duration, without an interval £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Wigmore Hall Jazz Series

14

Brad Mehldau

Belcea Quartet Till Fellner piano

Benjamin Ealovega

Belcea Quartet 20th Anniversary Series

Ronald Knapp

19

Saturday 19 December 7.30 pm

Beethoven String Quartet in Bb Op. 18 No. 6 Thomas Larcher New work for string quartet* (UK première) Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor Op. 34 *Commissioned by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation

Belcea Quartet

Till Fellner

The Belcea Quartet’s collaboration with Thomas Larcher, securely established three years ago with his Piano Quintet, continues with the UK première of his latest Wigmore Hall commission. Austrian pianist Till Fellner joins the Belceas for Brahms’s expansive Piano Quintet in F minor, a work of wholehearted lyricism and free-flowing thematic variation. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series

Haydn String Quartet in G Op. 64 No. 4 Schumann String Quartet in A minor Op. 41 No. 1

George Garnier

Doric String Quartet Schumann’s String Quartet in A minor Op. 41 No. 1 arose from his close study of Beethoven’s late string quartets and the contributions to the genre by Haydn and Mozart.

The Doric String Quartet sets the scene with Haydn’s astonishingly individual, wonderfully subversive response to Classical conventions of composition. £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Doric String Quartet

Sunday 20 December 7.30 pm

EXAUDI James Weeks director EIN KIND IST UNS GEBOREN

Matthew Andrews

20

Sunday 20 December 11.30 am

Schütz From Geistliche Chormusic (1648): Ein Kind ist uns geboren; Das Wort ward Fleisch; Ich bin ein rechter Weinstock; Selig sind die Toten; Ich weiss, dass mein Erlöser lebt; O lieber Herre Gott; Die mit Tränen säen; So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ; Es ist erschienen die heilsame Gnade Gottes; Unser keiner lebet ihm selber; Viel werden kommen; Herr, auf dich traue ich Christopher Fox Trostlieder (in Widerwärtigkeit des Kriegs)* (world première)

EXAUDI

*Co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation; additional commissioning partners to be announced

Following formative training in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli, Heinrich Schütz devoted his long creative life to his duties as Kapellmeister to the electors of Saxony in Dresden. EXAUDI explores treasures from the composer’s great anthology of sacred pieces, the Geistliche Chormusic, published in the closing months of the bloody Thirty Years War. Christopher Fox’s new work, written specially for this concert in his 60th birthday year, is a companion piece to Schütz’s great masterpiece, and sets texts from Martin Opitz’s ‘Poems of Comfort’ (1633), which Schütz would have known well. £30 £25 £20 £15 £10

Free tickets for 8 –25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by John Lyon’s Charity.

To book this concert as part of Wigmore Hall’s young people’s programme, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Early Music and Baroque Series/Contemporary Music Series

15

Monday 21 December 7.30 pm

21

L’Arpeggiata; Christina Pluhar director, theorbo Núria Rial soprano LA DAMA D’ARAGO Traditional (Catalan) La dama d’Aragó; La Filadora; La Margarideta; Mareta, no’m faces plorar; La gata i en belitre; La presó de Lleida; La ploma de perdiu; La Mare de Déu; El Cant dels aucells; Eixa nit és nit de vetlla; El Mariner Improvisation Canario (instrumental) Anonymous Bella, de vós som amorós from Cançoner del Duc de Calabria (pub. 1556); Ciaccona (instrumental) Soler Fandango (instrumental) Traditional (Ladino) Durme, durme (Canción Sefardí) Traditional (Mallorcan) Jota Marineira (instrumental); Bolero de s’escandalari Edgy and exciting, impassioned and profoundly moving, every performance by Christina Pluhar’s L’Arpeggiata opens up for the listener the chance to connect with the visceral power of music being made as if for the first time. Traditional Catalan and Mallorcan songs and dances provide the departure point for this programme, one guaranteed to resonate long in heart and mind.

This concert will be approximately 90 minutes in duration, without an interval £50 £40 £30 £25 £15

Reiner Pfisterer

Early Music and Baroque Series

L’Arpeggiata and Núria Rial

Marco Borggreve

Marco Borggreve

Isabelle Faust violin Jean-Guihen Queyras cello Alexander Melnikov piano

Felix Broede

22

Tuesday 22 December 7.30 pm

Schumann Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor Op. 110 Salvatore Sciarrino Piano Trio No. 2 Schubert Piano Trio No. 1 in Bb D898 Three outstanding soloists and deep-thinking chamber musicians join forces to perform a Isabelle Faust Jean-Guihen Queyras Alexander Melnikov captivating collection of piano trios. Salvatore Sciarrino’s Second Piano Trio dates from the late 1980s and reflects the composer’s long-standing fascination with sound and silence, and the margins between them. Jean-Guihen Queyras and his close friends and colleagues conclude with Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1, famously praised by Schumann for its ‘lyrical and feminine’ grace. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Supported by The Hargreaves and Ball Trust Free tickets for 8 –25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by John Lyon’s Charity.

To book this concert as part of Wigmore Hall’s young people’s programme, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series/Jean-Guihen Queyras Artist in Residence

16

Wednesday 23 December 7.30 pm

23

Ensemble Correspondances Sébastien Daucé director, organ, harpsichord A LA VENUE DE NOËL French sacred music of the seventeenth century for the Christmas season Anon. (17th century) A la venue de Noël Charpentier A la venue de Noël from Noëls H531 Anon. (17th century) Or nous dites Marie Charpentier Or nous dites Marie from Noëls sur les instruments H534 Charpentier In nativitatem Domini canticum H416 Charpentier Pastorale sur la naissance de notre Seigneur Jésus Christ H483 Charpentier Litanies de la vierge H83 Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s music for Christmas encapsulates the tenderness and loving-kindness surrounding the birth of Jesus and the celebration of his arrival in the world. Sébastien Daucé and Ensemble Correspondances have earned a deserved reputation as perceptive and characterful interpreters of the French composer’s work, attracting rave reviews to a recent recording of his Litanies de la vierge. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Molina Visuals

Early Music and Baroque Series

Ensemble Correspondances

Box Office closed Sunday 27 December 11.30 am

Michael Barenboim violin Denis Kozhukhin piano

Marco Borggreve

27

No performances

Janine Escher

24

Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 December

Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Op. 78; Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Op. 100; Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor Op. 108 Brahms wrote his first violin sonata, a work of extraordinary lyrical beauty, in 1878 in the resort town of Pörtschach. He returned to the genre almost a decade later, embarking on two further works by the shore of Lake Thun in Switzerland.

Michael Barenboim and Denis Kozhukhin survey the three compositions, exploring the composer’s spellbinding economy of expression and gorgeous melodic invention.

Michael Barenboim

Denis Kozhukhin

This concert will be approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes in duration, without an interval £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

17

Sunday 27 December 7.30 pm Vincent Catala

Philippe Cassard piano DEBUSSY PERSPECTIVES I: DEBUSSY’S TRAVELS ASIE, ASIE! Debussy Pagodes from Estampes; Pour les quartes No. 3 from Études Book I MÉDITERRANÉE Debussy La puerta del vino from Préludes Book II; La sérénade interrompue from Préludes Book I; La soirée dans Grenade from Estampes; Les collines d’Anacapri from Préludes Book I PAYSAGES ET POÈTES FRANÇAIS Debussy Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir from Préludes Book I; Apparition; Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (transcribed by Philippe Cassard)

MYTHOLOGIES Debussy Danseuses de Delphes from Préludes Book I; Et la lune descend Philippe Cassard sur le temple qui fut from Images, Series II; La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune from Préludes Book II; Pour la danseuse aux crotales & Pour l’égyptienne from Six épigraphes antiques WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Debussy La danse de Puck from Préludes Book I; Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. from Préludes Book II; Golliwogg’s Cake-Walk from Children’s Corner; General Lavine – eccentric from Préludes Book II Philippe Cassard’s lucid pianism regularly attracts critical praise, thanks, above all, to its blend of refined musicianship, poetic tonal shadings and infinite subtlety. He trains his focus on the piano works of Claude Debussy over the next three seasons at Wigmore Hall. This recital marks the first date of the Debussy Perspectives three-concert series, with forthcoming dates on Saturday 29 October 2016 and Monday 20 November 2017. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

London Pianoforte Series

Max Emanuel Cencic countertenor Armonia Atenea George Petrou director, harpsichord Theodoros Kitsos mandolin

Julian Laidig

28

Monday 28 December 7.30 pm

ROKOKO

Max Emanuel Cencic, acclaimed worldwide for his artistic distinction and programming enterprise, continues his partnership with George Petrou’s Armonia Atenea with a programme of operatic arias and other works by Johann Adolf Hasse, among the eighteenth century’s most successful composers.

Petrou also directs his award-winning period instrument ensemble in Haydn’s genial Keyboard Concerto in C of 1756, written during its young composer’s formative years in Vienna.

Max Emanuel Cencic

Pappas

Hasse Sinfonia a quattro in G minor Op. 5 No. 6 Hasse Saper ti basti o cara from Il trionfo di Clelia; Ch’io parto reo lo vedi from Tito Vespasiano Haydn Keyboard Concerto in C HXVIII:1 Hasse Se mai senti from Tito Vespasiano; Scherza il nocchier talora from Demetrio; Per pietà, bell’idol mio from Artaserse; Solca il mar e nel periglio from Tigrane Hasse Mandolin Concerto in G Op. 3 No. 11 Hasse Se volete eterni dei from Arminio; Si, di ferri mi cingete from Viriate

£50 £40 £30 £25 £15

Early Music and Baroque Series

18

George Petrou and Armonia Atenea

Christian Blackshaw piano

Herbie Knott

29

Tuesday 29 December 7.30 pm

Schubert 6 Moments Musicaux D780 Schumann Faschingsschwank aus Wien Op. 26 Schubert Piano Sonata in D D850 Schumann’s fizzing evocation of Vienna’s Carnival complements the melodic invention of works by Schubert, one of the Austrian imperial capital’s finest creative artists. Christian Blackshaw’s programme includes the Piano Sonata in D D850, written at Gastein in the Austrian Alps in 1825, hallmarked by the virtuosity and concision of its first movement and the symphonic scope of its scherzo. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

London Pianoforte Series

Modigliani Quartet Beatrice Rana piano

Neda Navaee

Wednesday 30 December 7.30 pm Sylvie Lancrenon

30

Christian Blackshaw

Schumann String Quartet in A Op. 41 No. 3; Piano Quartet in Eb Op. 47; Piano Quintet in Eb Op. 44 Formed by four close friends a dozen years ago, the Modigliani Quartet makes regular appearances at the world’s leading concert halls. The ensemble is joined for this recital by Beatrice Rana, the sensational young winner of the Audience Award and Second Prize at the 2013 Van Cliburn Modigliani Quartet Beatrice Rana Competition, for an all-Schumann programme capped by the composer’s Piano Quintet in E flat, a towering landmark of the nineteenth-century chamber repertoire. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15 CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

Free tickets for 8 – 25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust with ongoing support from John Lyon’s Charity.

Chamber Music Season

The Cardinall’s Musick Andrew Carwood director Britten A Hymn to the Virgin; The Sycamore Tree; A Shepherd’s Carol Howells A Spotless Rose; Sing Lullaby; Here is the little door Warlock Benedicamus Domino; As Dewe in Aprylle; Bethlehem Down; Cornish Christmas Carol Holst This have I done for my true love Finzi All this night Elgar Four Choral Songs Op. 53 Moeran Songs of Springtime Vaughan Williams Five English Folksongs

Dmitri Gutjahr

31

Thursday 31 December 7.00 pm NB starting time

The Cardinall’s Musick

Andrew Carwood’s passion for twentieth-century British sacred choral music took hold during his time as a choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, and has deepened over the intervening three decades. He leads The Cardinall’s Musick into the New Year with a programme of timeless Christmas compositions and a choice selection of part-songs, including Elgar’s ambitious Four Choral Songs, written over Christmas 1907, and Moeran’s Songs of Springtime. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Song Recital Series

19

How to get to Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP Box Office Tel: 020 7935 2141 John Gilhooly OBE Director The Wigmore Hall Trust, Registered Charity No. 1024838 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 A large number of buses travel along Oxford Street, which is approximately five minutes walk from Wigmore Hall.

Car Parking 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.

Wigmore Hall par ticipates in the Theatreland Parking Scheme which gives all Wigmore concert-goers 50% discount on their parking. Please contact the box office for further details or visit our website.

Restaurant and Bars Full information on pre-concert and interval refreshments can be found at www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/restaurant or by calling 020 7258 8292. Table reservations can be made by calling the Box Office on 020 7935 2141.

OXFORD CIRCUS

Benjamin Ealovega

BOND STREET