Wigmore Hall Diary February 2016

February 2016 Avi Avital & Mahan Esfahani INSIDE: Behzod Abduraimov | Piotr Anderszewski Nicola Benedetti | Doric String Quartet Ensemble intercontemporain | Christian Gerhaher Steven Isserlis | Gidon Kremer Tasmin Little | Gil Shaham Takรกcs Quartet | Daniil Trifonov 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.

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

Cover: Avi Avital and Mahan Esfahani © Simon Jay Price

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Bill Wyatt

Alec Frank-Gemmill horn Alasdair Beatson piano

Giorgia Bertazzi

Monday 1 February 1.00 pm

Sir James MacMillan Motet V from Since it was the day of Preparation Beethoven Horn Sonata in F Op. 17 John Casken Serpents of Wisdom (world première) Schumann Adagio and Allegro in Ab Op. 70 Alec Frank-Gemmill’s total mastery of his instrument has brought him signal success whether as concerto soloist, chamber musician or performing on the natural horn.

His lunchtime recital programme sets two totemic pieces Alec Frank-Gemmill Alasdair Beatson from the classical horn repertoire alongside Sir James MacMillan’s Motet V and the world première of Serpents of Wisdom, a work written for him by John Casken. £13 concs £11

Part of the Chamber Zone scheme: Free tickets for 8 –25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by John Lyon’s Charity.

To book, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Alec Frank-Gemmill is a member of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Monday 1 February 7.30 pm

Wigmore Hall Associate Artists

Takács Quartet Haydn String Quartet in C Op. 74 No. 1 Shostakovich String Quartet No. 3 in F Op. 73 Haydn String Quartet in G minor Op. 74 No. 3 ‘Rider’ Wigmore Hall’s Associate Artists unleash the white-hot spirit of invention present in works by two of the greatest string quartet composers. Haydn’s Op. 74 quartets, written for the 1793 London concert season, are shot through with appealing melodies and intricate thematic developments, while Shostakovich’s Third String Quartet offers a searing lament for the victims of war and tyranny. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Keith Saunders

Chamber Music Season/Takács Quartet Associate Artists

Takács Quartet

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YCAT Lunchtime Concert Series 2015/16

Kaupo Kikkas

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Tuesday 2 February 1.00 pm

Ji Liu piano Chopin Polonaise in A Op. 40 No. 1 ‘Militaire’; 4 Waltzes; Piano Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor Op. 35 ‘Funeral March’; Polonaise in A b Op. 53 Born in 1990, Ji Liu studied in Shanghai, Madrid and London. Last year, his debut CD ‘Piano Reflections’ was released by Classic FM and reached No.1 in the classical charts. Future engagements include appearances as soloist with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko, and the première of a new concerto by Ludovico Einaudi. £13 concs £11 Young Classical Artists Trust (Reg. Charity No. 326490)

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

Ji Liu

Tuesday 2 February 7.30 pm Cicconi Massi

Robert Romik

Henning Kraggerud violin Kathryn Stott piano Grieg Violin Sonata No. 1 in F Op. 8; Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Op. 13; Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor Op. 45 Grieg’s high reputation as a genial miniaturist can easily obscure the striking force and individuality of his chamber music. Henning Kraggerud, one of Norway’s most distinguished soloists, and renowned pianist Kathryn Stott chart the evolution of the composer’s original style from his early Op. 8 to what Grieg called the ‘wider horizons’ of his Third Violin Sonata of 1886–87.

Henning Kraggerud

Kathryn Stott

£36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season

Takács Quartet Aleksandar Madžar piano

Keith Saunders

Wigmore Hall Associate Artists

Benjamin Ealovega

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Wednesday 3 February 7.30 pm

Beethoven String Quartet in D Op. 18 No. 3 Timo Andres Strong Language for string quartet* (UK première) Elgar Piano Quintet in A minor Op. 84 *Co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Shriver Hall Takács Quartet

Aleksandar Madžar

Raised in rural Connecticut and now resident in Brooklyn, Timo Andres was praised by Alex Ross in The New Yorker for his debut album’s ‘unhurried grandeur’.

The young American composer wrote Strong Language for the Takács Quartet to show that ‘longer pieces can actually be made out of less stuff as a way of supporting the weight of their structures’. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Supported by the Chamber Music Circle

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

Part of the Chamber Zone scheme: 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, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series

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Thursday 4 February 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm

Introduction to Music MOZART As the Classical style reaches its culmination and Enlightenment values penetrate all aspects of cultural and political life, Mozart’s music exemplifies a period in which serenity, rationality, and a sense of proportion and symmetry take centre stage. Using the most simple and direct means, this extraordinary musician seems to capture the whole range of human emotion. This course led by Roy Stratford (on 4, 11, 18 & 25 February) explores the enormous diversity of his output and examines the sometimes subversive means that he used to express his musical ideas. As H C Robbins Landon wrote, ‘the Mozartian Legacy, in brief, is as good an excuse for mankind’s existence as we shall ever encounter and is perhaps, after all, a still small hope for our ultimate survival’.

Series ticket price £30 Portrait of Mozart by Barbara Kraft

Wigmore Hall Learning Event /The Mozart Odyssey

baritone

Schubert Sehnsucht (D123); Hoffnung (Schaff’ das Tagwerk meiner Hände) (D295); Wonne der Wehmut; An den Mond (D296); Geheimes (D719); Rastlose Liebe; Nachtgesang (D119); Schäfers Klagelied Wolfgang Rihm 6 Goethe Lieder: Willst du dir ein gut Leben zimmern; Worte sind der Seele Bild; Heut und ewig; Höchste Gunst; Parabase; Aus ‘Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahren’ Schubert Gesänge des Harfners Gerold Huber Der Wanderer (world première) Schubert Prometheus; Mahomets Gesang (fragment) (D549); Ganymed; An Schwager Kronos Wolfgang Rihm Harzreise im Winter (UK première)

Jim Rakete/Sony Classical

Christian Gerhaher Gerold Huber piano

Marion Koell/Avi Service for music

Thursday 4 February 7.30 pm

Christian Gerhaher

Gerold Huber

Wolfgang Rihm’s multifaceted music has been nourished by his abiding passion for Schubert. This programme explores the correspondences and contrasts present in settings of Goethe by both composers, including Wolfgang Rihm’s ‘Harzreise im Winter’ – written for and first performed by Christian Gerhaher and his regular duo partner Gerold Huber in 2014 – and the questing drama of Schubert’s ‘Prometheus’.

Returns only

Song Recital Series/Contemporary Music Series/Christian Gerhaher Singer in Residence

Christian Gerhaher Masterclass Christian Gerhaher’s art balances matters of metaphysics and poetic imagination with the pressing practicalities of performance. Wigmore Hall’s Singer in Residence shares his thoughts on the nature of fine Lieder singing with outstanding postgraduate students from UK conservatoires, as he works with duos on settings of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister. His masterclass sessions invariably offer insights to participants and audience members alike, lifting the veil on the alchemical process of understanding and interpreting the raw material of notes and words on a printed page. £8 concs £6

Hiromichi Yamamoto

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Friday 5 February 1.00 pm – 4.00 pm

Christian Gerhaher

Part of the Chamber Zone scheme: Free tickets for 8 –25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by John Lyon’s Charity. To book, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Christian Gerhaher Singer in Residence

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Gil Shaham violin Bach Sonata No. 1 in G minor BWV1001; Partita No. 1 in B minor BWV1002; Sonata No. 2 in A minor BWV1003; Partita No. 2 in D minor BWV1004; Sonata No. 3 in C BWV1005; Partita No. 3 in E BWV1006

Christian Steiner

Friday 5 February 7.00 pm NB starting time

Although rooted in the fertile soil of seventeenth-century German fiddle music, Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin stand proud as works of matchless genius. Gil Shaham sets out on an epic journey of musical discovery, creating the perfect conditions to experience the virtuosity, contrapuntal ingenuity and life-enhancing energy of Bach’s Sei Solo.

The American violinist’s revelatory readings of the works, recently committed to disc, rest on three decades of close study, thought and performance experience.

Gil Shaham

£40 £35 £30 £25 £15

This concert will be approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes in duration, including two intervals

Chamber Music Season

Nash Ensemble Richard Hosford clarinet

Keith Saunders

Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

K. Leighton

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Saturday 6 February 7.30 pm

Donizetti String Quartet No. 13 in A Verdi String Quartet in E minor Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A K581 Two Italian composers famed for their operas are represented in this programme by their string quartets – Donizetti by one of the many pieces he wrote in his youth for quartet meetings in his native Bergamo, and Verdi by the lone Quartet he composed in his 60th year, with its fugal finale looking ahead to Falstaff. The recital is completed by a Nash speciality, Mozart’s mellow Quintet for clarinet and strings.

Nash Ensemble

Richard Hosford

£36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season/Nash Ensemble: Mozart, Mendelssohn and the Italians

Quartetto di Cremona Mozart String Quartet in G K80 Beethoven String Quartet in A minor Op. 132

Elisa Caldana

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Sunday 7 February 11.30 am

Mozart was only fourteen when he began his String Quartet in G K80, among the many accomplishments of his first visit to Italy. Quartetto di Cremona moves from the work’s tuneful warmth to Beethoven’s darkly serious String Quartet in A minor Op. 132, completed in the wake of a serious illness and graced by the composer’s ‘Hymn of thanksgiving to God of an invalid on his convalescence’. £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert Quartetto di Cremona

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Wigmore Hall Debut

La Compagnia del Madrigale

Simone Bartoli

Sunday 7 February 7.30 pm

Rossana Bertini soprano Francesca Cassinari soprano Elena Carzaniga alto Giuseppe Maletto tenor Raffaele Giordani tenor Daniele Carnovich bass IO MORIRÒ D’AMORE Marenzio Io morirò d’amore Monteverdi Anima mia, perdona Gesualdo T’amo mia vita Marenzio Cruda Amarilli Monteverdi Ecco mormorar l’onde Marenzio Filli volgendo i lumi Gesualdo O dolorosa gioia La Compagnia del Madrigale Marenzio Dura legge d’amor Gesualdo O dolce mio tesoro Monteverdi Ecco Silvio colei Gesualdo Al mio gioir il ciel si fa sereno Monteverdi Dolcemente dormiva la mia Clori Marenzio Vivrò dunque lontano Gesualdo Chiaro risplender suole Monteverdi Cruda Amarilli Gesualdo Moro, lasso So much of the adventurous vocal writing of Marenzio, Monteverdi and Gesualdo challenged convention, breaking with past models by elevating emotional expression above the austere and ancient rules of contrapuntal composition.

La Compagnia del Madrigale, founded by a group of seasoned early music performers in 2008, brings visceral energy and embodied sensuality to its interpretations of Italian madrigals, reviving qualities that delighted a devoted following of open-minded connoisseurs four centuries ago. The ensemble makes its Wigmore Hall debut with a selection of works infused with vivid dissonances, heightened emotions and mellifluous melodies, including such impassioned pieces as Gesualdo’s ‘Moro, lasso’ and Monteverdi’s ‘Cruda Amarilli’. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Early Music and Baroque Series

Escher String Quartet Mendelssohn Andante sostenuto and Variations Op. 81 No. 1; Scherzo Op. 81 No. 2 Schubert String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’

Sophie Zhai

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Monday 8 February 1.00 pm

The Escher String Quartet has been deeply immersed in Mendelssohn’s chamber music of late, releasing the first recording in its complete cycle of his works for string quartet in June 2015. The New York-based ensemble opens this programme with the Andante sostenuto and Variations, and the Scherzo, written in the composer’s final year. £13 concs £11

WIGMORE HALL EMERGING TA L E N T Supported by Mayfield Valley Arts Trust

Escher String Quartet

Escher String Quartet is a member of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

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Monday 8 February 7.30 pm

Christiane Karg soprano Christian Gerhaher baritone Gerold Huber piano Schumann Lieder und Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister ; Die Soldatenbraut; Das verlassne Mägdelein; Tragödie I–III Schumann Myrthen Op. 25 Christian Gerhaher’s way with words and music arises from foundations built on technical mastery, and flourishes thanks to his oceanic imagination. He is joined by another consummate Lieder singer, Christiane Karg, in a programme that includes Schumann’s transcendent Myrthen and the composer’s late Op. 98a songs.

Returns only

Supported by the members of the Rubinstein Circle

Jim Rakete/Sony Classical

Gisela Schenker

Christiane Karg

Christian Gerhaher

Gerold Huber

Tuesday 9 February 7.30 pm

Piotr Anderszewski piano

K. Miura

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Marion Koell/Avi Service for music

Song Recital Series/Christian Gerhaher Singer in Residence

25TH ANNIVERSARY OF WIGMORE DEBUT Bartók Fourteen Bagatelles Op. 6 Bach Partita No. 6 in E minor BWV830; Partita No. 1 in Bb BWV825 The meditative intensity of Piotr Anderszewski’s pianism invites audiences to follow a journey deep into the spiritual heart of the works in his broad repertoire. The Polish-Hungarian artist, a favourite at Wigmore Hall ever since his debut twenty-five years ago, prefaces two of Bach’s technically demanding Partitas with Bartók’s pioneering Bagatelles of 1908, works deliberately stripped of artifice and display. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

London Pianoforte Series Wednesday 10 February 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

KEY STAGE 2 SCHOOLS CONCERT

Kaupo Kikkas

Marcus Farnsworth baritone James Baillieu piano

Benjamin Ealovega

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Piotr Anderszewski

Music leader Jessie Maryon Davies, baritone Marcus Farnsworth and pianist James Baillieu come together to bring a variety of classical songs to life, exploring the drama and character behind the music in this interactive concert for Key Stage 2 children and their teachers. £3.50

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

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Marcus Farnsworth

James Baillieu

Wednesday 10 February 7.30 pm Eric Richmond

Paul Mitchell

Tasmin Little violin Martin Roscoe piano Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor Op. 23; Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Op. 24 ‘Spring’; Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’ Two outstanding British artists launch their recital with works created in the early years of the nineteenth century, contrasting the darkly dramatic atmosphere of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 4 with the optimistic spirit of his serene ‘Spring’ Sonata. Tasmin Little and Martin Roscoe conclude with the ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, aptly described

by Donald Tovey as ‘one of the landmarks of musical history’.

Tasmin Little

Martin Roscoe

£36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season

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Thursday 11 February 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm

Introduction to Music MOZART See 4 February for full details Series ticket price £30

Wigmore Hall Learning Event /The Mozart Odyssey Thursday 11 February 7.30 pm Jonas Sacks

Royal Academy of Music Baroque Soloists Rachel Podger director, violin FIT FOR A KING’S TABLE Telemann Tafelmusik II Poets of the ancient world wrote of great feasts accompanied by music, connecting with a tradition rooted in distant prehistory. Telemann’s Tafelmusik belongs to a genre first named in the 1500s. The German composer published three sets of ‘table music’ in 1733, the second of which opens with a bold overture and suite for trumpet, oboe and strings, and includes a quartet, concerto, trio sonata and solo sonata.

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

Early Music and Baroque Series

Gidon Kremer violin Daniil Trifonov piano Giedre˙ Dirvanauskaite˙ cello Kreisler Preghiera (arrangement of themes from the 2nd mvt of Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2) Weinberg Sonata No. 5 for violin and piano Op. 53 Weinberg Sonata No. 3 for solo violin Op. 126 Rachmaninov Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D minor Op. 9

Dario Acosta

Friday 12 February 7.30 pm KASSKARA/ECM Records

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Rachel Podger

Gidon Kremer

Daniil Trifonov

Giedre˙ Dirvanauskaite˙

Daniil Trifonov partners Gidon Kremer in Mieczysław Weinberg’s rarely heard Fifth Violin Sonata, written shortly after the persecuted composer’s release from Moscow’s notorious Lubyanka prison in 1953 and dedicated to his close friend Dmitry Shostakovich. The duo is joined in the second half by Lithuanian cellist Giedre˙ Dirvanauskaite˙ to perform Trio élégiaque No. 2, Rachmaninov’s response to the death of his friend and mentor Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1893. £40 £35 £30 £25 £15

Chamber Music Season/Daniil Trifonov Residency

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Saturday 13 February

STUDY EVENT: GERMAN SONG ONSTAGE 1770 –1914 How and why did musicians start programming song recitals the way they do now? Join leading figures in the field of Lieder to explore the history of song performance, before a recital of Schumann’s Dichterliebe as it would have been performed by his wife Clara, interleaved with solo piano works.

Part of the Royal College of Music’s German Song Onstage weekend. visit www.rcm.ac.uk for further details.

10.00 am – 10.45 am

Talk Song expert Susan Youens discusses the great Lieder singers of Schubert’s day.

Clara and Robert Schumann

11.00 am – 12.30 pm

Workshop

Stephan Loges bass-baritone Graham Johnson piano

Malcolm Crowthers

1.00 pm – 2.00 pm

Alexander Barnes

Singer-pianist duos from the Royal College of Music work with Christoph Prégardien and Graham Johnson, exploring how programmes for song recitals are put together.

Schumann Dichterliebe Schumann Selections from Kreisleriana Op. 16 All Day Ticket: £20 Ticket for 1.00 pm concert only: £13

Wigmore Hall Learning Event Stephan Loges

Graham Johnson

Scharoun Ensemble Berlin

CAMI

Saturday 13 February 7.30 pm

Henze Quattro Fantasie Mark-Anthony Turnage This Silence Schubert Octet in F D803 Founded in 1983 by members of the Berlin Philharmonic, Scharoun Ensemble Berlin performs everything from baroque music to contemporary works. The core group, comprising clarinet, bassoon, horn, two violins, viola, cello and double bass, demonstrates its versatility with contemporary works by Hans Werner Henze and Mark-Anthony Turnage, and a performance of Schubert’s monumental Octet. . £30 £25 £20 £15 £10 Scharoun Ensemble Berlin

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series

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Jeremy Denk piano

Samantha West

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Sunday 14 February 11.30 am

Bach Goldberg Variations BWV988 Jeremy Denk’s thoughtful attitude to making music surfaces in everything from his essays and programme notes to interpretations that pulsate with energy, conviction and originality. His recording of the Goldberg Variations, released on the Nonesuch label in 2013, marked a major milestone in the pianist’s long personal relationship with Bach’s dazzling celebration of the creative spirit.

This concert will be approximately 75 minutes in duration, without an interval £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Jeremy Denk

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Christian Steiner

Daniil Trifonov piano Sergei Babayan piano

Dario Acosta

Sunday 14 February 7.30 pm

Programme to include: Schumann Andante and variations Op. 46 Rachmaninov Suite No. 1 Op. 5 ‘Fantaisie-Tableaux’; Suite No. 2 Op. 17 Daniil Trifonov’s prodigious natural gifts and far-sighted musical intuition have been nurtured over the years by lessons received from Sergei Babayan, the Armenian-American concert pianist and pedagogue. They share the Wigmore Hall stage in a programme of works for two pianos, Daniil Trifonov complete with Rachmaninov’s sonorous Second Suite and Schumann’s heart-melting Andante and variations Op. 46.

Sergei Babayan

£40 £35 £30 £25 £15

Supported by the Season Patrons who have made a major contribution to the 2015 /16 Wigmore Series

London Pianoforte Series/Daniil Trifonov Residency

Behzod Abduraimov piano Chopin The Four Ballades: No. 1 in G minor Op. 23; No. 2 in F Op. 38; No. 3 in A b Op. 47; No. 4 in F minor Op. 52 Brahms Variations on a Theme by Paganini (Book I) Op. 35

Cristian Fatu

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Monday 15 February 1.00 pm

Moments of the most intense intimacy overlap with jaw-dropping displays of virtuosity in Behzod Abduraimov’s performances. The young Uzbek pianist charts the epic emotional landscapes of Chopin’s Four Ballades, among the most technically demanding works in the keyboard repertoire. His lunchtime recital closes with another virtuosic challenge, Brahms’s fiendishly difficult Paganini Variations. £13 concs £11

WIGMORE HALL EMERGING TA L E N T Supported by Mayfield Valley Arts Trust

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Behzod Abduraimov

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Monday 15 February 7.30pm Aiga Ozo

The Monday Platform

Yoon-Kyung Cho cello Anna Szalucka piano Bach French Suite No. 3 in B minor BWV814 Ligeti Sonata for solo cello Lutosławski Grave (Metamorphoses for cello and piano) Debussy Cello Sonata Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F minor Op. 52 Szymanowski Mazurkas Op. 50 (a selection) Prokofiev Cello Sonata in C Op. 119 South Korean cellist Yoon-Kyung Cho and Polish pianist Anna Szalucka combine to offer a diverse programme of solo works and duets for cello and piano, featuring works

by Bach and Debussy to Ligeti, with a distinctive Polish flavour from Chopin, Lutosławski and Szymanowski.

Yoon-Kyung Cho

Anna Szalucka

£20 £18 £14 £12 £10

Presented by Musicians’ Company Concerts (Reg. Charity) and Maisie Lewis Young Artists’ Fund

Tuesday 16 February 11.00 am – 3.30 pm Wednesday 17 February 11.00 am – 3.30 pm

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Musical Portraits Band HALF-TERM COURSE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDERS Following the success of our long-running summer course, we invite young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders to be inspired by paintings at the National Portrait Gallery, and to create art and music with inspiring visual artists alongside Wigmore Hall Learning Associate Artists Ignite.

For more information, and to apply for a place, contact Turtle Key Arts on 020 8964 5060 or email ruth@turtlekeyarts.org.uk Free (application required)

In partnership with the National Portrait Gallery and Turtle Key Arts

Benjamin Ealovega

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Ignite

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Painting by George Romney

Mary Bevan soprano Ben Johnson tenor Robin Tritschler tenor Marcus Farnsworth baritone Graham Johnson piano

Painting by Wilhelm August Rieder

Tuesday 16 February 6.00 pm

BALLADS FROM OSSIAN Schubert Ossians Lied nach dem Falle Nathos; Shilric und Vinvela; Der Tod Oscars; Die Nacht (D534)

James Macpherson

Franz Schubert

Graham Johnson’s early evening survey of Schubert’s ballads, given in company with thrilling young singers, continues with four settings of supposedly ancient Gaelic verse by Ossian, the pseudonym of the Scottish poet James Macpherson. The composer brings Macpherson’s mythic world to life, matching Ossian’s romantic tales of bards, chieftains, love rivals and honour to music of great drama and eloquence.

This concert will be approximately 45 minutes in duration, without an interval All seats £5

Mary Bevan

Benjamin Ealovega

Garreth Wong

Chris Gloag

Victoria Cadisch

Song Recital Series/Schubert: The Complete Songs

Ben Johnson

Robin Tritschler

Marcus Farnsworth

SETTINGS OF GOETHE, MAYRHOFER AND SCHULZE Schubert Meeres Stille (D215a); Wandrers Nachtlied I; An den Mond (D259); Wonne der Wehmut; Jägers Abendlied; An Schwager Kronos; Geheimnis; Wie Ulfru fischt; Atys; Einsamkeit; An die Freunde; Freiwilliges Versinken; Der zürnenden Diana; Abendstern; Auflösung; Gondelfahrer (D808); Im Walde (D834); Der liebliche Stern; Auf der Brücke; Im Jänner 1817 (Tiefes Leid); Lebensmut; Im Frühling; Über Wildemann

Sim Canetty-Clarke

Ian Bostridge tenor Graham Johnson piano

Harry Rankin

Tuesday 16 February 7.30 pm

Ian Bostridge

Graham Johnson

It would be impossible to overstate the attraction of this concert or the appeal of hearing some of Schubert’s most sophisticated songs performed by two great artists. Ian Bostridge and Graham Johnson own the intellectual, spiritual and musical reserves required to give new life to these works and reveal their profound reflections on the human condition.

Supported by the Benefactor Friends of Wigmore Hall £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Song Recital Series/Schubert: The Complete Songs

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Wigmore Study Group PURCELL Immerse yourself in the world of the great English composer Henry Purcell.

In his lifetime, he was most admired for his vocal music, and in the preface to the collection of his songs, Orpheus Britannicus, Henry Playford described his ‘particular Genius to express the energy of English Words, whereby he mov’d the Passions of all his Auditors’. Instrumental works such as his Fantasias for viol consort have become cornerstones of the repertoire, showing Purcell’s fascination with formal counterpoint inspired by English and Italian composers of the Renaissance, and, in turn, we explore the influence Purcell had on the twentieth-century composers Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett.

The sessions (on 17, 19 & 23 February) are presented by Dame Emma Kirkby and Liam Byrne with composer Julian Philips and pianist Laura Roberts, alongside student performers from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Painting by John Closterman

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Wednesday 17 February 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Henry Purcell

Returns only

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Henry Purcell: A Retrospective

Steven Isserlis cello Bach Cello Suite No. 1 in G BWV1007 György Kurtág From Signs, Games and Messages: Hommage à John Cage; János Pilinszky: Gérard de Nerval Bach Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor BWV1011 György Kurtág From Signs, Games and Messages: Az Hit; Jelek 1 & 2 Bach Cello Suite No. 4 in Eb BWV1010

Jean-Baptiste Millot

Wednesday 17 February 7.30 pm

Sound and silence are never segregated in the works of JS Bach and György Kurtág, whose ninetieth birthday falls on 19 February. Signs, Games and Messages, a sequence Steven Isserlis of fragmentary pieces, drills down deep into music’s nature in search of essential truths, while Bach’s Cello Suites transcend the conventional boundaries of early eighteenthcentury dance music. Steven Isserlis brings together their two soundworlds in a pair of compelling concerts, the second of which takes place on Wednesday 24 February. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series /Steven Isserlis: Bach & Kurtág

Fairies and Forests FAMILY DAY For ages 5 plus Spend a day in the enchanted world of Purcell’s opera The Fairy Queen with workshop leader Freya Wynn-Jones. Come and explore some of Purcell’s original music, create your own magical stories and songs, and put it all together to make a mini opera to perform on the Wigmore Hall stage at the end of the day.

Children £10 Adults £15

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

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Benjamin Ealovega

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Thursday 18 February 10.30 am – 3.30 pm

Thursday 18 February 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm

Introduction to Music MOZART See 4 February for full details Series ticket price £30

Wigmore Hall Learning Event /The Mozart Odyssey

Vivaldi Trio Sonata in G minor RV85 Scarlatti Sonata in G Kk91 Kuwahara Improvised Poem for solo mandolin Vivaldi Concerto in A minor Op. 3 No. 8 from L’estro armonico RV522 (arr. Mahan Esfahani) Bach Sonata No. 6 in G BWV1019 Avi Avital Powell Recitative and Toccata Percossa for solo harpsichord Ben-Haim Sonata a tre for mandolin, guitar and harpsichord

Benjamin Ealovega

Bernhard Musil/DG

Avi Avital mandolin Mahan Esfahani harpsichord Sean Shibe guitar

Jean-Baptiste-Millot

Thursday 18 February 7.30 pm

Mahan Esfahani

Sean Shibe

Face value is not acceptable currency to any of this recital’s performers. Avi Avital and Mahan Esfahani inevitably penetrate the surface of everything they play to find the rarest qualities of emotion and feeling. The Iranian-American harpsichordist and Israeli mandolin player, who met through their mutual love of Bach’s music, are joined by Edinburgh-born guitarist Sean Shibe to conclude the programme with a work by Ben-Haim. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season / Early Music and Baroque Series

Wigmore Study Group PURCELL See 17 February for full details Returns only

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Henry Purcell: A Retrospective Friday 19 February 7.30 pm

Carolin Widmann violin Telemann Fantaisie No. 12 in A minor for solo violin TWV40:25 Zimmermann Sonata for solo violin Pascal Dusapin in vivo* (UK première) Bach Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin BWV1004

Marco Borggreve

19

Friday 19 February 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm

*Co-commissioned by WDR Witten, Wiener Konzerthaus with the support of Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, and by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation

Anyone unfamiliar with the music of Pascal Dusapin should prepare to experience the composer’s fascination with tonal beauty, textural contrasts Carolin Widmann and lyricism. Carolin Widmann presents the UK première of the French composer’s in vivo, which she performed for the first time at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik in April 2015. £30 £25 £20 £15 £10

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series

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Saturday 20 February 2.00 pm

Viv McLean piano Jessica Duchen narrator ALICIA’S GIFT: THE CONCERT OF THE NOVEL Author Jessica Duchen and pianist Viv McLean unite to tell the story of a child prodigy pianist trying to grow up, exploring her talent’s effect on her family and her family’s effect on her talent. Jessica’s readings from her novel Alicia’s Gift alternate with Viv’s performances of the relevant music to create a compelling joint narrative in words and music.

Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A b Op. 47 Viv McLean Debussy Jardins sous la pluie from Estampes Chopin Étude in C minor Op. 25 No. 12 Granados Quejas, o La maja y el ruiseñor from Goyescas Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue Ravel Sonatine (3rd mvt); Le jardin féerique from Ma mère l’oye

Jessica Duchen

This concert will be approximately one hour in duration, without an interval Children £8 Adults £10

London Pianoforte Series Saturday 20 February 3.30pm – 4.30 pm

Alicia’s Gift Panel Discussion Child prodigies are a perpetual source of fascination in the musical world, but controversy is never far away from them. What constitutes a true prodigy?

What are the pros and cons of starting a musical career this way? How should families and teachers best nurture such a talent? Music journalist and author of Alicia’s Gift Jessica Duchen is joined by cellist Guy Johnston, Head of Keyboard at Chetham’s School of Music Murray McLachlan, and Artistic Director at the Royal Northern College of Music Dr Michelle Castelletti to debate these issues and more. £4

Photo of girl at the piano © Alamy/Getty Images/Hodder & Stoughton

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Doric String Quartet HAYDN STRING QUARTETS OP. 76

George Garnier

Saturday 20 February 7.30 pm

Haydn String Quartet in G Op. 76 No. 1 Haydn String Quartet in D minor Op. 76 No. 2 ‘Fifths’ Haydn String Quartet in C Op. 76 No. 3 ‘The Emperor’ Haydn has never been far from the Doric String Quartet’s programmes since its foundation in 1998. The acclaimed British ensemble performs the first half of the composer’s Op. 76, giving life to works first published in London in 1799 and famed for their blend of popular melody, sophisticated thematic development, outbreaks of eccentricity and glorious hymn-like slow movements.

Doric String Quartet

£36 £30 £25 £20 £15

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

Chamber Music Season

16

Part of the Chamber Zone scheme: 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, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Anthony Marwood violin Aleksandar Madžar piano Mozart Violin Sonata in A K526 Fauré Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Op. 13

Benjamin Ealovega

21

Sunday 21 February 11.30 am

Anthony Marwood and Aleksandar Madžar have forged a close artistic union as duo partners over the past decade. Their latest Wigmore Hall programme pairs the brilliance of Mozart’s penultimate Violin Sonata with Fauré’s First Violin Sonata. The latter, observed Saint-Saëns, contains ‘everything to tempt a gourmet: new forms, excellent modulations, unusual tone colours, and the use of unexpected rhythms’. £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice Anthony Marwood and Aleksandar Madžar

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Doric String Quartet HAYDN STRING QUARTETS OP. 76

George Garnier

Sunday 21 February 7.30 pm

Haydn String Quartet in Bb Op. 76 No. 4 ‘Sunrise’ Haydn String Quartet in D Op. 76 No. 5 Haydn String Quartet in Eb Op. 76 No. 6 The Doric String Quartet concludes its two-part survey of Haydn’s Op. 76, moving from the exquisite opening, meditative Adagio and boisterous conclusion of the ‘Sunrise’ to the experimental ideas of the String Quartet in E flat, with its ‘Fantasia’ slow movement, fleet-footed minuet and tongue-in-cheek finale. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season Monday 22 February 1.00 pm

Denis Kozhukhin piano Haydn Piano Sonata in D HXVI:24 Brahms Theme and Variations in D minor Op. 18b Liszt Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude S173 No. 3 Bartók Szabadban (Out of Doors Suite) BB89

Paul Marc Mitchell

22

Doric String Quartet

Denis Kozhukhin attracted accolades as winner of the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, one of the toughest of all tests for young concert pianists.

The Russian artist, born into a family of musicians in Nizhny Novgorod in 1986, continues to win admirers with playing that combines technical command and athleticism with open-hearted communication. £13 concs £11

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Denis Kozhukhin

17

Bartók Seven Pieces from Mikrokosmos for two pianos BB120 Aurélio Edler-Copes Presence for two pianos and percussion* (world première) Debussy En blanc et noir Bartók Sonata for two pianos and percussion BB115

Gilles Durot Frank Ferville

* Co-commissioned by Ensemble intercontemporain, and by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation

Frank Ferville

Gilles Durot percussion Samuel Favre percussion Hidéki Nagano piano Sébastien Vichard piano

Samuel Favre Frank Ferville

Ensemble intercontemporain

Frank Ferville

Monday 22 February 7.30 pm

Born in Brazil in 1976, Aurélio Edler-Copes has written for many of the world’s leading contemporary music ensembles. His latest score for piano and percussion was created for the exceptional collective talents of Ensemble intercontemporain. The programme also includes Bartók’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion, and and Debussy’s three-movement ‘En blanc et noir’.

Hidéki Nagano

Sébastien Vichard

£30 £25 £20 £15 £10

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series

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Tuesday 23 February 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

O Duo: Crash, Bang, Wallop KEY STAGE 3 SCHOOLS CONCERT Virtuoso percussionists O Duo whizz around the Wigmore Hall stage as you’ve never seen before! With a marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, drum kit, African and Brazilian drums and a multitude of handheld percussion, the pair performs music by a range of composers including Bach, Philip Glass and Chopin.

This is a perfect opportunity for Key Stage 3 students to explore the huge variety of genres and styles that can be explored with percussion instruments.' £3.50

Wigmore Hall Learning Event O Duo

Tuesday 23 February 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Wigmore Study Group PURCELL See 17 February for full details Returns only

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Henry Purcell: A Retrospective

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Tuesday 23 February 7.30 pm

Theatre of the Ayre Rodolfo Richter violin Clare Salaman violin Alison McGillivray viola da gamba Robert Howarth organ Sophie Daneman soprano Katherine Watson soprano Robin Blaze countertenor Nicholas Mulroy tenor Matthew Brook bass-baritone

Clare Salaman

SACRED THEATRE Solo songs, dialogues and scenes by Purcell and his contemporaries

Raphaelle Photography

Anonymous Canon a 3 Laudate Dominum Purcell We sing to him whose wisdom form’d the ear Blow/Humfrey Hark how the wakeful cheerful cock Purcell My song shall be alway of the loving kindness of the Lord; Sonata in Three Parts No. 10 in A Z799; Lord, what is man?

Blow Enough, my muse, of earthly things Robin Blaze Purcell In the black, dismal dungeon of despair; Sonata in Three Parts No. 11 in F minor Z800; In Guilty Night (Saul and the Witch of Endor); I was glad when they said unto me; Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes; Awake, ye dead, the trumpet calls Carissimi Lucifer, caelestis olim Purcell Sonata in Four Parts No. 6 in G minor Z807 Humfrey Lord, I have sinned Blow Help, Father Abraham Purcell With sick and famish’d eyes; Now that the sun hath veiled its light (An Evening Hymn); Sonata in Four Parts No. 10 in D Z811; The night is come (An Evening Hymn) Clarke All praise to thee my God this night

Sophie Daneman

Katherine Watson

Nicholas Mulroy

Matthew Brook

Benjamin Ealovega

Dorothea Heise

Robert Howarth

Richard Shymansky

Elizabeth Kenny director, theorbo

Alison McGillivray Hugo Bernand

Sandra Lousanda

Rodolfo Richter

Elizabeth Kenny

Playford’s Harmonia Sacra, first published in 1688, was aimed at people ‘no less musical’ than those who had a keen appetite for lighter ‘sportings of wit’ but who were more devout. Prospective purchasers were assured that they would ‘feel the breathings of divine love from every line’ and also experience life-and-death sacred drama.

Theatre of the Ayre and a stellar team of soloists show how Playford’s anthology brought music fit for the Chapel Royal to intimate domestic settings. £40 £35 £30 £25 £15

Early Music and Baroque Series / Henry Purcell: A Retrospective

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Wednesday 24 February 12.15 pm

Pre-Concert Talk An introduction to the Britten Sinfonia lunchtime concert with composer Daníel Bjarnason and Dr Kate Kennedy.

Free to concert ticket holders (separate ticket required)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Daníel Bjarnason

19

Wednesday 24 February 1.00 pm

Emer McDonough flute Clare Finnimore viola Lucy Wakeford harp

Tina Foster

Harry Rankin

Britten Sinfonia Debussy Syrinx Donatoni Small II Daníel Bjarnason New work* (London première) Donatoni Marches Debussy Sonata for flute, viola and harp * Co-commissioned by Britten Sinfonia with the 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

Emer McDonough

Clare Finnimore

Lucy Wakeford

Flute, viola and harp may not be the most familiar trio combination, but it certainly lends itself to the rich exploration of colour and harmonies typical of Debussy’s output. A deeply expressive curiosity in soundscapes and association with visual art is also infused in the music of Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason, whose new work features alongside Debussy in this programme. £13 concs £11

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series

Steven Isserlis cello Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C BWV1009 György Kurtág From Signs, Games and Messages: Souvenir de Balatonboglár; In memoriam Ferenc Wilheim Bach Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor BWV1008 György Kurtág From Signs, Games and Messages: Schatten; György Kroó in memoriam Bach Cello Suite No. 6 in D BWV1012

Satoshi Aoyagi

Wednesday 24 February 7.30 pm

Steven Isserlis completes his landmark survey of Bach’s Cello Suites, surrounding three of them with space for deep absorption in the aphoristic form of pieces from György Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages. Bach stands as one of the strongest and most enduring influences on Kurtág’s highly personal, deeply expressive musical language. £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series /Steven Isserlis: Bach & Kurtág

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Steven Isserlis

Thursday 25 February 1.00 pm

Lisa Peacock Thursday Lunchtime Showcase Recitals

Rivka Golani viola Michael Hampton piano Britten Lachrymae Op. 48a Howard Blake Prelude for solo viola Op. 402 Schubert Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821 Brahms 2 Hungarian Dances: No. 3 in F & No. 1 in G minor ‘[Rivka Golani] stands at the head of today’s supreme viola virtuosi – white-hot in delivery, kaleidoscopic in tone colours, electrifying in rhythmic attack, an obvious inspiration to composers’ Financial Times

Rivka Golani

Michael Hampton

‘Rivka Golani is a magnificent violist, with impeccable technique and both taste and power … she may be carving out a place of her own that no other performer on the instrument can reach.’ Fanfare Magazine Michael Hampton performs regularly on major stages around the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He plays in all the major chamber music venues in London and at the Royal Festival Hall and is broadcast frequently on radio.

He also performs regularly at music societies and festivals around the UK. £13 concs £11 20% discount when you book for 3 or more concerts in this series (see further dates below)

Tickets also on sale for Thursday Lunchtime Showcase Recitals on 28 January (Thomas Gould & Diana Ketler) and 17 March (Hélène Dautry & Bruno Rigutto) Lisa Peacock Concert Management Ltd

20

Thursday 25 February 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm

Introduction to Music MOZART See 4 February for full details Series ticket price £30

Wigmore Hall Learning Event /The Mozart Odyssey

Bryan Hymel tenor Irene Roberts mezzo-soprano

Dario Acosta

Rosenblatt Recitals 2015/16

K. Hobermann

Thursday 25 February 7.30 pm

Violist to be announced

Julius Drake piano Vaughan Williams Four Hymns for tenor, viola and piano: Lord, Come Away!; Who is this fair one?; Come Love, Come Bryan Hymel Lord; Evening Hymn Wagner Wesendonck Lieder Gounod Ah! lève-toi, soleil! from Roméo et Juliette Mascagni Mamma, quel vino e generoso from Cavalleria rusticana Berlioz D’amour l’ardente flame from La damnation de Faust Bizet Flower song: La fleu que tu m’avais jetée, and Duet and final Chorus: C’est toi! C’est moi! from Carmen

Sim Canetty-Clarke

Irene Roberts

American tenor Bryan Hymel is one of opera’s fastest-rising stars. Impressing audiences with his ‘clarion tone and a ringing top’ (Opera), he is joined by guest mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts. Hymel is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist and winner of the 2013 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for a trio of performances at London’s Royal Opera House.

Julius Drake

‘Pavarotti, roll over. There’s a new king of the high Cs ... Hymel’s voice is rare these days: a combination of Wagnerian muscle and bel canto refinement, comfortable in the stratospheric register… This is why we listen to opera!’ NPR ‘If Hymel had been born a generation earlier we might have had The Four Tenors. That’s how good he is.’ Sinfini Music £30 £26 £22 £18 £16

Tickets also on sale for Rosenblatt Recitals on 12 January (Gianluca Buratto), 16 March (Ekaterina Siurina & Charles Castronovo), 14 April (Javier Camarena) and 14 June (Mariella Devia)

Dunedin Consort John Butt director Sophie Bevan soprano Bach Cantata: Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht BWV52 Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G BWV1049 Handel Cantata: Alpestre monte HWV81 Handel Concerto Grosso in B b Op. 3 No. 2 Handel Gloria HWV deest John Butt’s personal fusion of penetrating scholarship Dunedin Consort and heartfelt music-making is mirrored in the work of his Dunedin Consort, Scotland’s leading baroque ensemble. Their recordings of great choral works by Bach and Handel, the St Matthew Passion and Messiah among them, have become instant classics, offering interpretative benchmarks and confirming the group’s excellence and artistry. The Dunedin Consort returns to Wigmore Hall in company with Sophie Bevan, known not least for her vocal beauty and readiness to take risks in unlocking the vital expressive energy of baroque recitatives and arias.

Sussie Ahlburg

26

Friday 26 February 7.30 pm

£50 £40 £30 £25 £15

Early Music and Baroque Series

Sophie Bevan

21

O Duo: Crash, Bang, Wallop

Sussie Ahlburg

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Saturday 27 February 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

FAMILY CONCERT For ages 5 plus Virtuoso percussionists O Duo whizz around the Wigmore Hall stage as you’ve never seen before! With a marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, drum kit, African and Brazilian drums and a multitude of handheld percussion, the pair performs music by a diverse range of composers including Bach, Philip Glass and Chopin, illustrating the variety of genres and styles that can be explored with percussion instruments.

Children £8 Adults £10

Wigmore Hall Learning Event O Duo

Saturday 27 February 7.30 pm

Apartment House Egidija Medekšaite˙ Pratiksha* (world première) Luiz Henrique Yudo A QUARTET FOR FRANÇOIS MORELLET (UK première) Henning Christiansen Modeller: First Series Op. 33 Leo Chadburn Freezywater* (world première) Martin Arnold Stain Ballad (world première) Luiz Henrique Yudo A QUARTET FOR CLAUDE MOLLET (UK première) John White Newspaper Reading Machine * Co-commissioned by Apartment House and by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, president of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant-making foundation

Wigmore Hall’s contribution to contemporary chamber Apartment House music and repertoire development goes from strength to strength, as this unmissable programme richly demonstrates. Apartment House, formed by cellist Anton Lukoszevieze in 1995, became the first contemporary music ensemble to win the coveted Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music and Song in 2012. In this programme for string quartet, piano, percussion and harmonium, the ensemble gives the first performance of Freezywater, a Wigmore Hall commission by Leo Chadburn, known to many as the ‘transgressive pop’ artist Simon Bookish. Works by Lithuanian composer Egidija Medekšaite˙, Toronto-based composer and performer Martin Arnold, and Dutch/Brazilian composer Luiz Henrique Yudo add to the concert’s ear-catching mix of world and UK premières. £30 £25 £20 £15 £10

Chamber Music Season/Contemporary Music Series

Signum Quartet Mozart Adagio and Fugue in C minor K546 Schubert String Quartet in G D887

Irène Zandel

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Sunday 28 February 11.30 am

The Signum Quartet was recently praised by the Süddeutscher Zeitung for its ‘exquisitely expressive playing’ and ‘awe-inspiring tonal acuity’. The group’s latest Wigmore Hall recital prefaces Schubert’s mighty String Quartet in G D887 with Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor, the opening of which veers from violent outbursts to moments of mystical reverence. £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

22

Signum Quartet

Sunday 28 February 7.30 pm Kaupo Kikkas

The Keyboard Charitable Trust Prizewinners’ Concert Series

Alexander Ullman piano Chopin Polonaise-fantasy in Ab Op. 61; Berceuse in Db Op. 57; Piano Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor Op. 35 ‘Funeral March’; Waltz in F Op. 34 No. 3; Scherzo No. 2 in Bb minor/Db major Op. 31; Nocturne in C# minor Op. 27 No. 1; 5 Mazurkas Op. 24; Ballade No. 4 in F minor Op. 52 Born in 1991 in London, Alexander Ullman studied at The Purcell School, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Leon Fleisher, Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Robert McDonald, and is currently at the Royal College of Music with Dmitri Alexeev and Ian Jones. In 2011 he won First Prize at the Liszt Competition in Budapest and in 2014 was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT).

Alexander Ullman

‘His performance of the Chopin fourth Ballade will live in my mind’s ear for ever: every nuance perfectly judged, poised and placed … His sound is unique.’ Seen and Heard International £30 £25 £20 £15 £10 Lisa Peacock Concert Management Keyboard Charitable Trust (Reg. Charity No. 1017036)

Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Op. 96 Brahms Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Op. 100

Simon Fowler/Decca

Nicola Benedetti violin Alexei Grynyuk piano

Whether speaking up for the fundamental importance of music in education or appearing as concerto or recital soloist, Nicola Benedetti is known for her intoxicating mix of eloquence, receptivity and passion. Her lunchtime programme, presented Nicola Benedetti Alexei Grynyuk with regular chamber music partner Alexei Grynyuk, includes Beethoven’s final violin sonata, written under the influence of an intense yet ultimately unrequited love affair.

Returns only

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Ralph Kirshbaum cello Shai Wosner piano Beethoven 7 Variations on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte Wo0. 46; Cello Sonata in G minor Op. 5 No. 2; 12 Variations in F on ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’ from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte Op. 66; Cello Sonata in A Op. 69

Marco Borggreve

Monday 29 February 7.30 pm J Henry Fair

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Monday 29 February 1.00 pm

Ralph Kirshbaum, loved by cellists and audiences alike, made Ralph Kirshbaum Shai Wosner his professional debut in the late 1950s with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and went on to win the Cassadó Competition and the International Tchaikovsky Competition little more than a decade later. He begins the week of his 70th birthday in company with Shai Wosner to give the first of two concerts of Beethoven’s works for cello and piano (the second concert takes place on Wednesday 2 March at 7.30pm). £36 £30 £25 £20 £15

CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust www.cavatina.net

Part of the Chamber Zone scheme: 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, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’.

Chamber Music Season

23

How to get to Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP Box Office Tel: 020 7935 2141 Director: John Gilhooly OBE, HonFRAM, HonFGS, HonRCM 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