Wigmore Series Spring Brochure by Wigmore Hall

WIGMORE SERIES

SPRING JANUARY – MARCH 2013 Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk Box Office: 020 7935 2141

EUROPE’S LEADING VENUE FOR CHAMBER MUSIC AND SONG

Simon Jay Price

WELCOME TO OUR 2013 SPRING SEASON

Slovenian roots of her family, for a series which spans everything from Respighi’s haunting Il tramonto, to the transcendent beauty of Mahler’s Five Rückert Lieder.

Monteverdi’s monumental collection of sacred vocal works, published in Venice in 1640 and 1641 as Selva morale e spirituale, stands among the great treasures of baroque music. The Sixteen and Harry Christophers make a long awaited return to Wigmore Hall, presenting some of the finest pieces from the Italian composer’s Selva anthology, complete with the spectacular motet Beatus vir, an uplifting Gloria, and two mighty settings of Psalm 109, Dixit Dominus, for eight voices and instruments. John Dowland managed to distil melancholy, wit, grace and humour into the magnificent compositions he wrote for his instrument. In addition to being the most celebrated lutenist ever, he stands today as one of England’s greatest composers. Lutenist Paul O’Dette has lived with Dowland’s music for more than 40 years and we welcome him on 10 January. Throughout the season a glittering array of artists celebrate Schubert’s enduring creative legacy and the power of his works to move audiences as deeply today as when they were first performed in Vienna almost two centuries ago. ‘An die Musik’: A Celebration includes Imogen Cooper’s complete survey of Schubert’s piano sonatas, a rare opportunity to hear the complete string quartets (performed by the Casals Quartet), and the works for violin and piano from Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien. Described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘opera’s most elegant voice’ and universally praised for the intelligence and grace of her musicianship, Bernarda Fink has become a favourite with our audience. The Argentine mezzo-soprano draws on her rich cultural heritage, informed by the nourishing

Legendary may be an overworked word, but it is surely merited when applied to the Borodin Quartet. The Russian ensemble was formed in 1945 and secured global prominence thanks not least to iconic interpretations of works by Beethoven, Borodin, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union over two decades ago, the Borodins have toured the world to deliver profound thoughts on works from their repertoire’s core. They will offer compelling artistic insights into the impassioned string quartets of Tchaikovsky and Brahms. Five-star reviews and critical superlatives have followed The Prince Consort since the versatile ensemble made its debut in 2008. Artistic director Alisdair Hogarth and five outstanding young singers (Anna Leese, Jennifer Johnston, Tim Mead, Andrew Staples and Jacques Imbrailo) continue their relationship with works from across the pond, recently underlined with their world première performance of Ned Rorem’s Sonnet 144. Their latest venture explores substantial landmarks of North American art-song and offers the chance to hear neglected and new compositions. Other vocal highlights include recitals from Gerald Finley, Simon Keenlyside, The Myrthen Ensemble, Angelika Kirchschlager, Soile Isokoski, Elizabeth Watts and Anna Prohaska. Graham Johnson takes us on a journey through the landscapes of French Mélodie 1860 – 1960 with performances from Lucy Crowe, Christopher Maltman, Sarah Connolly, John Mark Ainsley, Henk Neven and others. András Schiff’s complete survey of Beethoven’s piano sonatas is sure to be remembered as one of this season’s most significant musical events, so please book early as demand for these concerts will be very high indeed. There are, of course, many more concerts I could mention but I leave you to explore the brochure for yourself, and will look forward to seeing you at Wigmore Hall during the Spring Season. John Gilhooly Director

AT A GLANCE JANUARY – MARCH 2013

See pages 3 to 65 for full details of these concerts and pages 66 to 67 for subscription savings and how to book.

Series and Events to look out for ...

Song Recital Series

FRENCH SONG SERIES: LE PLUS DOUX CHEMIN

Lucy Crowe/Christopher Maltman Page 4 Graham Johnson Sun 6 Jan Angelika Kirchschlager 5 Dietrich Henschel/Julius Drake Fri 11 Jan Marlis Petersen/Jendrik Springer 9 Gerald Finley/Julius Drake 12 Tue 15 Jan The Myrthen Ensemble 13 Fri 18 Jan Soile Isokoski/Marita Viitasalo 19 Fri 25 Jan Mon 28 Jan Elizabeth Watts/Roger Vignoles 21 Sun 3 Feb John Chest/Marcelo Amaral 25 Sun 3 Feb Wolfgang Holzmair/Russell Ryan 25 Wed 6 Feb Bernarda Fink/Hugo Wolf Quartett 27 Sun 10 Feb The Prince Consort 32 Fri 15 Feb Sophie Daneman/Ian Bostridge 36 Julius Drake 37 Sun 17 Feb Markus Schäfer/Piers Lane Mon 18 Feb Ailish Tynan/Yann Beuron 38 Graham Johnson 41 Sat 23 Feb Nash Ensemble/Christopher Maltman Fri 1 Mar Christiane Oelze/Pierre-Laurent Aimard 45 Sun 3 Mar Benedict Nelson/Malcolm Martineau 46 Thu 7 Mar Matthew Polenzani/Julius Drake 48 Sat 9 Mar Simon Keenlyside/Malcolm Martineau 49 Sun 10 Mar Royal Academy of Music Song Circle 49 Wed 13 Mar Sarah Walker 70th Birthday Concert 50 Sun 17 Mar Sophie Bevan/Sebastian Wybrew 54 Fri 22 Mar Susan Bullock/Malcolm Martineau 57 Sat 23 Mar Literary Britten 57 Mon 25 Mar Bernarda Fink/Malcolm Martineau 59

Page 4, 38

THE HUGO WOLF SONGBOOKS ‘AN DIE MUSIK’ SCHUBERT: A CELEBRATION

5, 36 6, 7, 18, 19, 22, 28, 62

PAUL O’DETTE

THE MYRTHEN ENSEMBLE

EUROPEAN CHAMBER MUSIC ACADEMY SHOWCASE

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF: ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

16, 45

SOILE ISOKOSKI

IN 27 PIECES: THE HILARY HAHN ENCORES

HAGEN QUARTET BEETHOVEN CYCLE

JOSHUA REDMAN JAZZ SERIES BERNARDA FINK RESIDENCY

24 27, 43, 59

BORODIN QUARTET: TCHAIKOVSKY & BRAHMS

HUW WATKINS DAY

THE PRINCE CONSORT AMERICAN SONG SERIES

THE SIXTEEN

TAKÁCS QUARTET: ASSOCIATE ARTISTS

40, 41

IESTYN DAVIES: ‘A SINGULARITY OF VOICE’

THOMAS DEMENGA: ‘BUILDING ON BACH’

ANDRÁS SCHIFF: BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATAS

TRIO ZIMMERMANN

BELCEA QUARTET/THOMAS QUASTHOFF ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET

53 54–55

GEORGE BENJAMIN SERIES

QUATUOR EBÈNE

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER CONCERTS

60 – 61

Bennewitz Quartet Cassard/Grimal/Gastinel Trio Carducci String Quartet Colin Carr/Thomas Sauer Lorenzo Gatto/Beatrice Berrut Francesco Piemontesi Kuss Quartet Modigliani Quartet Kungsbacka Piano Trio Arcanto Quartet Nash Ensemble Quatuor Ebène Imani Winds

Early Music and Baroque Series Thu 3 Jan Tue 8 Jan Thu 10 Jan Wed 16 Jan

Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts Sun 6 Jan Sun 13 Jan Sun 20 Jan Sun 27 Jan Sun 3 Feb Sun 10 Feb Sun 17 Feb Sun 24 Feb Sun 3 Mar Sun 10 Mar Sun 17 Mar Sun 24 Mar Sun 31 Mar

Fri 4 Jan

5 11 15 19 23 28 37 42 46 49 52 58 62

Tue 22 Jan Mon 11 Feb Mon 25 Feb Wed 27 Feb Tue 26 Mar Thu 28 Mar Sat 30 Mar

Mon 1 Apr

Carolyn Sampson/Matthew Wadsworth Florilegium/Ashley Solomon Gillian Keith Paul O’Dette Anna Prohaska/Arcangelo Jonathan Cohen Classical Opera The Sixteen Academy of Ancient Music Iestyn Davies/Academy of Ancient Music Richard Egarr Stile Antico The English Concert Florilegium/Ashley Solomon Elin Manahan Thomas/Sally Bruce-Payne James Oxley/Jimmy Holliday London Handel Orchestra Adrian Butterfield/Julia Doyle Stefanie True/Anna Starushkevych Lukas Jakobsky

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

3 8 9 12 17 34 43 44 61 61 61

Jazz Series Fri 1 Feb

Guillermo Klein/Aaron Goldberg Chris Cheek/Miguel Zenón

London Pianoforte Series Page 24

Chamber Music Season Alexander Chaushian/Ashley Wass Nash Ensemble Razumovsky Ensemble François-Frédéric Guy Fri 18 Jan Trio Karénine/Wu String Quartet Sat 19 Jan Quatuor Zaïde Sat 19 Jan Sainsbury Royal Academy Soloists Clio Gould Sun 20 Jan Trio Gaspard Mon 21 Jan Christian Tetzlaff/Lars Vogt Wed 23 Jan Britten Sinfonia Wed 23 Jan Cuarteto Casals Thu 24 Jan Cuarteto Casals Sat 26 Jan Hilary Hahn/Cory Smythe Tue 29 Jan Hagen Quartet Wed 30 Jan Hagen Quartet Thu 31 Jan Alina Ibragimova/Cédric Tiberghien Fri 8 Feb Borodin Quartet Sat 9 Feb Huw Watkins Day Sun 10 Feb Paul Watkins/Huw Watkins Tue 12 Feb The Endellion String Quartet Wed 13 Feb Britten Sinfonia Wed 13 Feb Trio Jean Paul Thu 14 Feb Jörg Widmann/Antoine Tamestit Francesco Piemontesi Sat 16 Feb Jerusalem Quartet Sun 17 Feb Steven Isserlis/Connie Shih Tue 19 Feb Nicholas Daniel/Julius Drake Jacqueline Shave/Clare Finnimore Caroline Dearnley Wed 20 Feb Takács Quartet/Lawrence Power Thu 21 Feb Scottish Ensemble/Jonathan Morton Fri 22 Feb Takács Quartet/Charles Owen Sat 23 Feb Nash Ensemble/Marianne Thorsen Ian Brown Sun 24 Feb Midori/Özgür Aydin Tue 26 Feb Pavel Haas Quartet Thu 28 Feb Thomas Demenga Sat 2 Mar Tetzlaff Quartet Wed 6 Mar Razumovsky Ensemble Tue 12 Mar Trio Zimmermann Thu 14 Mar Belcea Quartet/Thomas Quasthoff Sat 16 Mar Nash Ensemble/Martyn Brabbins Samuel West/Eleanor Bron Sun 17 Mar St. Lawrence String Quartet Tue 19 Mar Nash Ensemble/Claire Booth Philippa Davies/Richard Hosford Lawrence Power/Ian Brown Wed 20 Mar Fretwork/Susan Bickley Tabea Zimmermann/Antoine Tamestit George Benjamin Sat 23 Mar Quatuor Ebène Sun 24 Mar Viktoria Mullova/Paolo Giacometti Mon 7 Jan Sat 12 Jan Thu 17 Jan

7 10 13 14 14 15 14 16 18 18 19 20 22 22 22 29 30 31 33 33 35 35 36 37 39

40 39 41 41 42 43 44 45 48 51 53 52 54 55

58 58

Sat 5 Jan Wed 9 Jan Sun 13 Jan Sun 20 Jan Thu 7 Feb Mon 4 Mar Fri 8 Mar Mon 11 Mar Fri 15 Mar Wed 27 Mar

Christian Blackshaw Leon McCawley Christian Zacharias Ashley Wass Imogen Cooper András Schiff András Schiff András Schiff András Schiff Imogen Cooper

Page 3 8 11 15 28 47 47 47 47 62

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts Mon 7 Jan Mon 14 Jan Mon 21 Jan Mon 28 Jan Mon 4 Feb Mon 11 Feb Mon 18 Feb Mon 25 Feb Mon 4 Mar Mon 11 Mar Mon 18 Mar Mon 25 Mar

Alina Ibragimova/Cédric Tiberghien Ruby Hughes/Julius Drake Yevgeny Sudbin Christian Ihle Hadland Calefax Khatia Buniatishvili Andreas Haefliger Markus Werba/Andreas Haefliger Igor Levit Arcanto Quartet St. Lawrence String Quartet Vilde Frang/Michail Lifits

7 11 16 21 26 31 38 42 46 50 55 59

Wigmore Hall Learning Sun 6 Jan Thu 10 Jan Sat 19 Jan Tue 22 Jan Wed 23 Jan Wed 23 Jan Sat 26 Jan Fri 1 Feb Sat 2 Feb Wed 6 Feb Thu 7 Feb Sat 9 Feb Wed 13 Feb Thu 14 Feb Sat 16 Feb Mon 18 Feb Tue 19 Feb Wed 20 Feb Wed 20 Feb Fri 22 Feb Sat 23 Feb Mon 25 Feb Thu 28 Feb Fri 1 Mar Sat 2 Mar Thu 7 Mar Thu 14 Mar Sat 16 Mar Tue 19 Mar Sat 23 Mar Sat 23 Mar

Pre-Concert Talk Pre-Concert Talk ECMA Masterclass Wigmore Study Group commences Pre-Concert Talk Birkbeck Study Afternoon: Schubert: The Self-Trained Composer Family Day: Write Your Own Heroine Schools’ Concert: The Music Factory Family Concert: The Music Factory Young Producers Concert Introduction to Music Artists in Conversation Pre-Concert Talk Introduction to Music Come And Sing: Britten Pre-Concert Talk Half-Term Course: Strike A Chord Half-Term Course: Strike A Chord Post-Concert Talk Schools’ Concert: Midori Midori: Concert for Carers Pre-Concert Talk Introduction to Music Schools’ Concert: Heroes and Villains Family Day: Unwritten Britain Introduction to Music Pre-Concert Performance Talk and Film Showings Pre-Concert Talk Family Concert: Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants Literary Britten

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

5 9 14 17 18 18 63 23, 63 23, 63 63 26 30 33 26 64 38 64 64 40 41, 64 41, 64 43 26 45, 65 65 26 52 52 55 57, 65 57

WIGMORE SERIES JAN UARY – MARCH 2013 Booking Opens to Friends on 8 October, to Mailing List Subscribers on 19 October and to the General Public/Online on 1 November. Friday 4 January 7.30 pm

LUCY CROWE soprano CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN baritone GRAHAM JOHNSON piano LE PLUS DOUX CHEMIN: A JOURNEY THROUGH FIVE LANDSCAPES OF FRENCH MÉLODIE, 1860 –1960 See page overleaf for full details

Saturday 5 January 7.30 pm

CHRISTIAN BLACKSHAW piano MOZART Sonata No. 7 in C K309; Sonata No. 11 in A K331; Sonata No. 15 in F K533/494; Sonata No. 18 in D K576 CAROLYN SAMPSON

Marco Borggreve

Thursday 3 January 7.30 pm

CAROLYN SAMPSON soprano MATTHEW WADSWORTH theorbo ECHOES OF VENICE FERRARI Son ruinato, appasionato MONTEVERDI Sí dolce è’l tormento PICCININI Toccata VI; Partite variate sopra quest’ aria francese detta l’Alemana; Corrente terza STROZZI Rissolvetevi pensieri KAPSBERGER Passacaglia CACCINI Lasciatemi morire FERRARI Voglio di vita uscir STROZZI Che si può fare PICCININI Toccata X; Ciaccona in Partite Variate STROZZI L’Eraclito amoroso; L’amante segreto

Reviews of Christian Blackshaw’s Mozart Series at Wigmore Hall have reported on the ‘maturity and uncompromising spirit’ and the individuality of his interpretations. Blackshaw, whose early thoughts on Mozart were developed with lessons from Sir Clifford Curzon, concludes his survey of the composer’s piano sonatas with two youthful works, complete with the famous ‘Turkish Rondo’ of K309, and his final contribution to the genre, the majestic Piano Sonata in D K576. £15 £20 £25 £30

London Pianoforte Series/Christian Blackshaw Mozart Series

Carolyn Sampson’s recital partnership with Matthew Wadsworth has delivered profound artistic revelations to Wigmore Hall audiences. Their latest programme recalls echoes of 17th-century Venice with exquisite love songs and dashing instrumental pieces. Venice’s musical riches, eloquently interpreted by two compelling performers of early music, offer an ideal welcome to the New Year. £15 £20 £25 £30

CHRISTIAN BLACKSHAW

Herbie Knott

Early Music and Baroque Series 3

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

Le Plus Doux Chemin A JOURNEY THROUGH FIVE L ANDSC APES OF FRENCH MÉLO DIE, 1860 – 1960 Any history of the golden age of French song and its revitalisation in the late 20th century would be incomplete without a substantial chapter on the work of Graham Johnson. The pianist’s scholarship and musicianship once again combine in his choice of themes and works for ‘Le Plus Doux Chemin’, Wigmore Hall’s beguiling exploration of French mélodie. The range of songs and the corresponding artistic breadth of their interpreters here promise to deliver one of the highlights of the 2012/13 season, drawing audiences to embark on an unmissable voyage of discovery and rediscovery.

Friday 4 January 7.30 pm

Forthcoming concerts in this series

LUCY CROWE soprano CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN baritone GRAHAM JOHNSON piano

Friday 12 April 7.30 pm

IN THE SHADOW OF THE OPÉRA Songs to include: HAHN Si mes vers avaient des ailes; La Biondina in gondoleta SAINT-SAËNS Guitares et Mandolines GOUNOD Au printemps BIZET Rêvons Words and their natural expression in song mattered to each of the composers in this programme. For Reynaldo Hahn, the essence of singing rested with the sincerity of the performer’s verbal expression. Graham Johnson’s choice of repertoire here reflects the influence of French opera on Mélodie. The master pianist is joined by two artists acclaimed for their work on the opera stage and in recital.

SARAH CONNOLLY mezzo-soprano JOHN MARK AINSLEY tenor GRAHAM JOHNSON piano THE LURE OF BAYREUTH

Monday 22 April 7.30 pm

GERALDINE MCGREEVY soprano HENK NEVEN baritone GRAHAM JOHNSON piano NEW DIRECTIONS WITH THE NEW CENTURY

Saturday 29 June 7.30 pm

Monday 18 February 6.00 pm

SARAH FOX soprano IVAN LUDLOW baritone GRAHAM JOHNSON piano

PRE-CONCERT TALK

THE LAST MASTERS?

£18 £25 £30 £35

See page 38 for details

Monday 18 February 7.30 pm

AILISH TYNAN soprano YANN BEURON tenor GRAHAM JOHNSON piano MASQUES ET BERGAMASQUES See page 38 for details

Song Recital Series/ French Series: Le Plus Doux Chemin

Sunday 6 January 6.00 pm

PRE-CONCERT TALK RICHARD WIGMORE discusses the Hugo Wolf Songbooks £3 (not part of subscription scheme)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/The Hugo Wolf Songbooks

BENNEWITZ QUARTET

Pavel Ovsik

Sunday 6 January 7.30 pm

ANGELIKA KIRCHSCHLAGER Sunday 6 January 11.30 am

mezzo-soprano

BENNEWITZ QUARTET

DIETRICH HENSCHEL baritone JULIUS DRAKE piano

˘ ÁK Selection from Cypresses DVOR SCHUMANN String Quartet in A Op. 41 No. 3

THE HUGO WOLF SONGBOOKS

Finding fresh perspectives in familiar compositions is central to the Bennewitz Quartet’s work. The Czech ensemble turns to two landmarks of the Romantic repertoire for its latest Wigmore Hall performance. Dvor˘ák’s Cypresses began life in 1865 as a song-cycle and were transformed by the composer 22 years later into pieces for string quartet. The String Quartet in A, meanwhile, dates from 1842, Schumann’s glorious ‘year of chamber music’.

WOLF Königlich Gebet; Der Sänger; Auf einer Wanderung; Erstes Liebeslied eines Mädchens; Das verlassene Mägdlein; Lebe wohl; Im Frühling; Prometheus; Grenzen der Menschheit; Philine; Spottlied aus Wilhelm Meister; 4 Mignon Lieder: Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt; Heiss mich nicht reden; So lasst mich scheinen; Kennst du das Land; Harfenspieler I – III

£12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

For the latest recital in Wigmore Hall’s Hugo Wolf Songbooks series, Angelika Kirchschlager and Dietrich Henschel explore the coruscating verbal and musical imagery of the Mörike- and GoetheLieder. Wolf created these sublime compositions within the span of a single year (1888–89), a time of extraordinary artistic inspiration. ‘I’m working at 1000 horsepower from early morning until late at night’, he wrote in February 1888. ‘What I now write … I write for posterity too. They are masterpieces.’

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

THE HUGO WOLF SONGBOOKS

£18 £25 £30 £35

Song Recital Series/Julius Drake: ‘Perspectives’/ The Hugo Wolf Songbooks

Friday 15 February 7.30 pm

SOPHIE DANEMAN soprano IAN BOSTRIDGE tenor JULIUS DRAKE piano See page 36 for full details

HUGO WOLF

Lithograph by William Unger

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

‘AN DIE MUSIK’ S C H U B E RT: A C E L E B R AT I O N John Gilhooly has invited a glittering array of artists to celebrate Schubert’s enduring creative legacy and the power of his works to move audiences as deeply today as when they were first performed in Vienna almost two centuries ago. ‘An die Musik’: A Celebration includes Imogen Cooper’s complete survey of Schubert’s piano sonatas, a rare opportunity to hear the complete string quartets (performed by the Casals Quartet), and readings of the works for violin and piano from Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien.

Monday 7 January 1.00 pm

ALINA IBRAGIMOVA violin CÉDRIC TIBERGHIEN piano See page opposite for details Wednesday 23 January 3.00 pm

BIRKBECK STUDY AFTERNOON SCHUBERT: THE SELF-TRAINED COMPOSER See page 18 for details Wednesday 23 January 7.30 pm Thursday 24 January 7.30 pm

CUARTETO CASALS See pages 18 and 19 for details Thursday 31 January 7.30 pm*

ALINA IBRAGIMOVA violin CÉDRIC TIBERGHIEN piano See page 22 for details Thursday 7 February 7.30 pm Wednesday 27 March 7.30 pm*

IMOGEN COOPER piano See pages 28 and 62 for details

Forthcoming concerts in this series Wednesday 17 April 7.30 pm

CUARTETO CASALS Tuesday 2 July 7.30 pm

IMOGEN COOPER piano Thursday 25 July 7.30 pm

CHRISTOPH PRÉGARDIEN tenor MICHAEL GEES piano * Selected concerts in the Schubert Celebration Series have been made possible by the generous support of the Schubert Syndicate . ‘Woman in the morning sun’ by Caspar David Friedrich, 1818

Monday 7 January 7.30 pm

ALEXANDER CHAUSHIAN cello ASHLEY WASS piano BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata in G minor Op. 5 No. 2 BRAHMS Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Op. 99 GRIEG Cello Sonata in A minor Op. 36 Alexander Chaushian and Ashley Wass, widely regarded to be among the finest musicians of the younger generation, present a trio of cello sonatas of the highest quality and inventive brilliance. They begin with one of two works written by Beethoven in 1796 for the Berlin court of Friedrich Wilhelm II, the King of Prussia and an accomplished cellist. £12 £18 £24 £28

Chamber Music Season

CÉDRIC TIBERGHIEN AND ALINA IBRAGIMOVA

Sussie Ahlburg

Monday 7 January 1.00 pm

ALINA IBRAGIMOVA violin CÉDRIC TIBERGHIEN piano SCHUBERT Sonata (Sonatina) in D D384; Violin Sonata (Sonatina) in A minor D385; Sonatina in G minor D408 Wigmore Hall’s season-long Schubert celebration continues when Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien engage with the composer’s three sonatinas. Several of his early works were written for Schubert’s violinist brother, Ferdinand. Their amiable style contrasts with the virtuosic fire and romantic spirit of his later pieces for violin and piano. Ibragimova’s imaginative spontaneity and technical command promise to unlock the full flavour of these irresistible compositions. £12 concs £10

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert/Schubert: A Celebration ALEXANDER CHAUSHIAN

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

Tuesday 8 January 7.30 pm

LEON MCCAWLEY

FLORILEGIUM ASHLEY SOLOMON director, flute GILLIAN KEITH soprano A CELEBRATION OF HANDEL HANDEL Trio Sonata in B minor Op. 2 No. 1; Two German Arias; Harpsichord Suite No. 5 in E HWV430; Cantata: Un alma innamorata HWV173; Trio Sonata in E minor Op. 5 No. 3; Sonata for flute and continuo in E minor; Three German Arias Florilegium, with Canadian soprano Gillian Keith, turns to the glories of Handel’s chamber music for its first Wigmore Hall concert of 2013. The programme includes five German Arias, intimate and charming works penned during the mid-1720s, set alongside a selection of the composer’s chamber sonatas and his dramatic secular cantata, Un alma innamorata. £15 £20 £25 £30

Early Music and Baroque Series

LEON McCAWLEY

Sheila Rock

Wednesday 9 January 7.30 pm

LEON McCAWLEY piano BACH Italian Concerto in F BWV971 BRAHMS Waltzes Op. 39 CHOPIN Scherzo No. 3 in C# minor Op. 39 LISZT Les cloches de Genève from Années de pèlerinage S160 DEBUSSY Cloches à travers les feuilles from Images, Series 2 RACHMANINOV Étude-tableau in C minor Op. 39 No. 7 BEETHOVEN 15 Variations and a Fugue on an Original Theme in E b ‘Eroica Variations’ Op. 35

FLORILEGIUM

Amit Lennon

Two centuries of keyboard history supply the sophisticated building blocks of Leon McCawley’s recital programme. The British pianist, described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as ‘a master of tone and articulation’, has been a Wigmore regular since making his debut at the Hall in the 1990s. His recordings of works by Chopin and Liszt bear witness to McCawley’s refined artistry, formidable musical imagination and compelling technical command. £15 £20 £25 £30

London Pianoforte Series

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

Friday 11 January 7.30 pm

PAUL O’DETTE

MARLIS PETERSEN soprano JENDRIK SPRINGER piano GOETHE AND THE ETERNAL FEMININE SULEIKA SCHUBERT Suleika I FANNY MENDELSSOHN Suleika FELIX MENDELSSOHN Die Liebende schreibt GRETCHEN WAGNER Gretchen am Spinnrade BEETHOVEN Wonne der Wehmut SOMMER Ach neige, du Schmerzensreiche MEDTNER Vor Gericht

PAUL O’DETTE

Jennifer Girard

Thursday 10 January 6.00 pm

PRE-CONCERT TALK JOHN DOWLAND’S IPOD: THE MUSIC THAT INSPIRED DOWLAND’S GENIUS PAUL O’DETTE discusses the inspiration behind Dowland’s Fantasias £3 (not part of subscription scheme)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event Thursday 10 January 7.30 pm

PAUL O’DETTE lute SEMPER DOWLAND SEMPER DOLENS: LUTE MUSIC OF JOHN DOWLAND DOWLAND A fancy (5); Pavin; Galliard; A fancy (6); My lady Hunnsdon’s Puffe; La mia Barbara; The King of Denmark Galliard; Sir John Smith, his Almaine; Semper Dowland semper dolens; Captain Piper’s Gaillard; The most sacred Queene Elizabeth, her Gaillard; Forlorne Hope Fancye; Walsingham; A Galliard (upon Walsingham); A coye Joye; Mrs. Vaux’s Jigge; Mistris Winters Jump; The Earl of Essex Galliard; Farewell; The lady Laiton’s Almaine; Lachrimae; The frogg Galliard; Alo; Fantasia

STELLA SOMMER Wanderers Nachtlied EISLER Von Wolken streifenhaft befangen BRUCH Morgenlied KRENEK Monolog der Stella MIGNON/PHILINE DIEPENBROCK Mignon TCHAIKOVSKY Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt WOLF Philine; Heiss mich nicht reden SCHUMANN So lasst mich scheinen KLÄRCHEN BRAUNFELS Die Trommel gerühret LISZT Freudvoll und leidvoll MEDTNER Wanderers Nachtlied II HELENA REUTTER Es ist gut TROJAHN Bewundert viel und viel gescholten BRAUNFELS Rastlose Liebe Fearless in the delivery of coloratura passages and equally in command of bel canto expression, Marlis Petersen continues to enchant audiences worldwide with the thrilling freshness of her music making. The German soprano has become synonymous with Berg’s Lulu, Mozart’s Konstanze and Strauss’s Zerbinetta. Her recital partnership with Jendrik Springer, meanwhile, is noted for its adventurous repertoire and artistic élan. £15 £20 £25 £30

Song Recital Series

Known to contemporaries as the ‘English Orpheus’, John Dowland distilled melancholy, wit, grace and humour into the magnificent compositions he wrote for his instrument. In addition to being the most celebrated lutenist ever, he stands today as one of England’s greatest composers. Paul O’Dette has lived with Dowland’s music for more than 40 years. His programme includes several of the complex musician’s least often performed pieces alongside some of his most famous works. £15 £20 £25 £30

Early Music and Baroque Series 9

MARLIS PETERSEN

Yiorgos Mavropoulos

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

Saturday 12 January 6.00 pm Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

NASH ENSEMBLE MARK PADMORE tenor IAN BROWN piano PHILIPPA DAVIES flute GARETH HULSE oboe RICHARD HOSFORD clarinet CRAIG OGDEN guitar VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Suite de Ballet for flute and piano ARNOLD Divertimento for wind trio Op. 37 FINZI Five Bagatelles for clarinet and piano Op. 23 BRITTEN Folksongs for tenor and guitar Lyricism lies at the heart of this early evening concert, placed there by an abundance of unforgettable tunes. This quality is infused in the colourful folksong settings of Britten and Malcolm Arnold’s ebullient Divertimento. It also rules the nature of Finzi’s Five Bagatelles and the folk-tinted character of Vaughan Williams’s Suite de Ballet of c. 1913. MARK PADMORE £6 or £3 with evening ticket (separate ticket required) (not part of subscription scheme)

Chamber Music Season/British Series: Dreamers of Dreams

Marco Borggreve

Saturday 12 January 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

NASH ENSEMBLE MARK PADMORE tenor MARIANNE THORSEN violin IAN BROWN piano CRAIG OGDEN guitar BAX Oboe Quintet ELGAR Salut d’Amour; Chanson de matin; Chanson de nuit for violin and piano WARLOCK The Curlew for tenor, flute, cor anglais and string quartet WALTON Anon in love for tenor and guitar VAUGHAN WILLIAMS String Quartet No. 1 in G minor This programme opens with the enchanting Oboe Quintet of Arnold Bax, with its delightful Irish feel and jig-like finale, one of several such works dedicated to Léon Goossens. Elgar’s salon music for violin provides a brief interlude before Warlock’s heart-rending The Curlew, Walton’s song cycle Anon in Love and Vaughan Williams’s First String Quartet, written soon after his studies with Ravel in Paris. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/British Series: Dreamers of Dreams CRAIG OGDEN

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

Sunday 13 January 11.30 am

CASSARD/GRIMAL/GASTINEL TRIO PHILIPPE CASSARD piano DAVID GRIMAL violin ANNE GASTINEL cello FAURÉ Piano Trio in D minor Op. 120 RAVEL Piano Trio in A minor Fauré completed his only piano trio at the age of 78, the work’s lyrical style influenced by its creator’s lifelong experience as a composer of song. The spirit of the dance is central to Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor, no doubt energised by its composer’s headlong rush to finish the score and enlist in the French army. ‘Yes, I am working on the Trio with the sureness and lucidity of a madman,’ he wrote in August 1914. Join three fine interpreters for this delightful Sunday Morning Coffee Concert. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

RUBY HUGHES

Camilo Echeverri

Monday 14 January 1.00 pm

RUBY HUGHES soprano JULIUS DRAKE piano HAYDN English Canzonettas Songs by BRAHMS SCHUMANN Liederkreis Op. 39

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Since winning the Handel Singing Competition in 2009, Ruby Hughes has made impressive progress with standout performances at English National Opera and the Buxton Festival and with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Les Arts Florissants. She made her Wigmore Hall debut with the London Handel Orchestra and returns to give a lunchtime recital as one of the current BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. £12 concs £10 Ruby Hughes is a member of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme PHILIPPE CASSARD

Vincent Catala

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert Sunday 13 January 7.30 pm

CHRISTIAN ZACHARIAS piano BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 12 in A b Op. 26 SCHUBERT 6 Moments Musicaux D780 SCHUMANN Kreisleriana Op. 16 BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Op. 14 No. 2 Romantic fantasy, classical poise and the pure abundance of invention stand proud in this programme. Christian Zacharias, who won the Ravel Competition almost forty years ago, began his recording career in the late 1970s with an album of Schubert. His searching interpretations of 19th-century masterworks, the self-revelation of his pianism and poetic sensibilities have secured Zacharias’s reputation as one the finest artists of his generation. £15 £20 £25 £30

London Pianoforte Series

CHRISTIAN ZACHARIAS

Nicole Chuard

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

Tuesday 15 January 7.30 pm

GERALD FINLEY baritone JULIUS DRAKE piano Programme to include: SCHUBERT Grenzen der Menschheit; Der Zwerg; Der Schiffer (D536); Der Kreuzzug; Der Einsame; Erlkönig MAHLER From Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Der Tamboursg’sell; Das irdische Leben; Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen; Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt; Lob des hohen Verstandes Schubert and Mahler were governed by the emotional domain of the Austrian empire’s famous double-headed eagle and its one eye smiling, the other eye weeping. Gerald Finley and Julius Drake run the full expressive gamut in this programme. Their recital includes Schubert’s near-symphonic response to Goethe’s hymn ‘Grenzen der Menscheit’, Mahler’s heartbreaking tale of ‘Das irdische Leben’ and the sardonic ‘Lob des hohen Verstandes’, with its thinly veiled mockery of music critics. £18 £25 £30 £35

ANNA PROHASKA

Monika Rittershaus

Supported by the members of the Rubinstein Circle

Wednesday 16 January 7.30 pm

Song Recital Series/Julius Drake: ‘Perspectives’

ANNA PROHASKA soprano ARCANGELO JONATHAN COHEN director ZELENKA Andante from Sinfonia a 8 HANDEL Combattuta da due venti from Faramondo ZELENKA Aria da capriccio from Sinfonia a 8 HANDEL Felicissima quest’alma from Apollo e Dafne; Come in ciel from Apollo e Dafne; Concerto Grosso in B b Op. 3 No. 2 (Vivace & Largo); Tornami a vagheggiar from Alcina PURCELL See, even Night from The Fairy Queen VIVALDI Alma oppressa from La fida ninfa PURCELL The Gordion Knot Unty’d (mvts 1, 3 & 6); The Plaint HANDEL Furie Terribili from Rinaldo; Overture from Agrippina; Se giunge un dispetto from Agrippina Jan Dismas Zelenka served the magnificent Dresden court of Friedrich August I, the so-called ‘Saxon Hercules’. The composer, born in Bohemia in 1679, graced the mighty ruler’s chapel with dazzling polyphonic works. Arcangelo and Anna Prohaska travel to other major centres of 17thand 18th-century music-making, from the Venice of Handel’s Apollo e Dafne and Vivaldi’s La fida ninfa to Purcell’s London. £15 £20 £25 £30

Early Music and Baroque Series GERALD FINLEY

Sim Canetty-Clarke

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

Thursday 17 January 6.00 pm

THE MYRTHEN ENSEMBLE

PRE-CONCERT EVENT RAZUMOVSKY ACADEMY YOUNG ARTISTS RECITAL The Razumovsky Academy provides an environment in which exceptionally gifted young musicians collaborate closely with some of the world’s finest artists and teachers. This concert offers the chance to hear potential future stars at an early stage in their careers. £6 or free with evening concert (separate ticket required) (not part of subscription scheme)

Thursday 17 January 7.30 pm

RAZUMOVSKY ENSEMBLE OLEG KOGAN artistic director, cello FRANÇOIS-FRÉDÉRIC GUY piano

THE MYRTHEN ENSEMBLE

Friday 18 January 7.30 pm

THE MYRTHEN ENSEMBLE

BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in D Op. 70 No. 1 ‘Ghost’ BRAHMS Piano Quartet in C minor Op. 60 Members of the Razumovsky Ensemble’s team of outstanding chamber musicians gather to explore two landmark works in the repertoire for piano trio and piano quartet. The ‘Ghost’ Trio contains a haunting slow movement, most likely inspired by a scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. ‘Imagine a man about to shoot himself,’ Brahms wrote about his Piano Quartet Op. 60, expressing the turmoil of his love for Clara Schumann. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

FRANÇOIS FRÉDÉRIC-GUY

Friday 18 January 1.00 pm

TRIO KARÉNINE WU STRING QUARTET EUROPEAN CHAMBER MUSIC ACADEMY SHOWCASE

Guy Vivien

SOPHIE BEVAN soprano CLARA MOURIZ mezzo-soprano ALLAN CLAYTON tenor MARCUS FARNSWORTH baritone JOSEPH MIDDLETON piano

SONGS TO THE MOON BRAHMS Der Gang zum Liebchen; Walpurgisnacht; Nächtens; Vor der Tür; Unbewegte laue Luft; Ständchen; Der Abend; Vergebliches Ständchen SCHUMANN Unterm Fenster; Mondnacht; Zwei Venetianische Lieder; Die Lotosblume; In der Nacht WARLOCK The night MACONCHY Sun, Moon and Stars BARBER Nocturne SZULC Clair de lune MOMPOU Damunt de tu només les flors SAINT-SAËNS Guitares et Mandolines DEBUSSY Apparition CHAUSSON La nuit HAHN L’heure exquise DUPARC La Fuite BACHELET Chère nuit MASSENET Rêvons, c’est l’heure FAURÉ Clair de lune; Pleurs d’or; Tarentelle Joseph Middleton, identified by The Times as belonging to ‘the cream of the new generation’, formed the Myrthen Ensemble in 2012 with regular duo partners Sophie Bevan, Clara Mouriz, Allan Clayton and Marcus Farnsworth. ‘These are four singers I absolutely love working with,’ he comments. ‘I have huge respect for their artistry and we’re all very like-minded.’ The group’s passion for exploring words and music is clearly etched into the programme of its eagerly awaited Wigmore Hall debut. £15 £20 £25 £30

Song Recital Series

See page 14 for full details 13

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

EUROPEAN CHAMBER MUSIC ACADEMY SHOWCASE The European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) was established in 2004 by Hatto Beyerle, co-founder and violist of the Alban Berg Quartet. Its mission is to promote and nurture today’s aspiring chamber music ensembles, especially string quartets and piano trios. The Academy stands as an association of European music education institutions and festivals, which provides ongoing training opportunities for its young ensembles and offers students a comprehensive mix of theoretical and practical tuition.

Friday 18 January 1.00 pm

TRIO KARÉNINE WU STRING QUARTET SCHUMANN Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor Op. 63 MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in D Op. 44 No. 1 Since its foundation in 2002 at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, the Wu String Quartet has impressed with the clarity and maturity of its music-making. The ensemble became only the second UK-based group to join ECMA’s famous ‘talent factory’. Trio Karénine, formed in 2009, was named after the heroine of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to reflect its members’ shared passion for literature. Saturday 19 January 11.00 am

ECMA MASTERCLASS TRIO KARÉNINE

Violinist and Co-Artistic Director of ECMA, JOHANNES MEISSL, gives a masterclass working with the WU STRING QUARTET. Wigmore Hall Learning Event Saturday 19 January 4.00 pm

QUATUOR ZAÏDE MOZART String Quartet in F K590 STRAVINSKY Three Pieces for string quartet HINDEMITH String Quartet No. 4 Op. 22 WU STRING QUARTET

Quatuor Zaïde swept the board in March 2012 at the International Haydn Competition in Vienna, winning first prize in the string quartet category and receiving three special jury awards. The ensemble, formed in 2009, prefaced its Viennese triumph with first prize in the 2011 Beijing International Music Competition. Sunday 20 January 4.00 pm

TRIO GASPARD QUATUOR ZAÏDE

HAYDN Piano Trio in G HXV:41 ˘ ÁK Piano Trio in F minor Op. 65 DVOR Trio Gaspard cast refined light on works by Haydn and Ravel at its last ECMA Showcase recital at Wigmore Hall. The German ensemble, first prize-winner in the trio category at the 2012 International Haydn Competition in Vienna, returns to the Hall with a programme of Haydn and Dvor˘ák. All tickets £5 each event (not part of subscription scheme) Free admission to masterclass only (ticket required) Chamber Music Season/ECMA Showcase

TRIO GASPARD

The ECMA Showcase has been supported by a gift from the estates of the late Thomas and Betty Elton in memory of Sigmund Elton

Sunday 20 January 7.30 pm

ASHLEY WASS piano BEETHOVEN 32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor WoO80 LISZT 3 Petrarch Sonnets S158 BARBER Piano Sonata in E b minor Op. 26 BEETHOVEN/LISZT Symphony No. 6 in F Op. 68 ‘Pastoral’ (arr. piano)

CLIO GOULD

Saturday 19 January 7.30 pm

SAINSBURY ROYAL ACADEMY SOLOISTS CLIO GOULD director HANDEL Concerto Grosso in B b Op. 6 No. 7 STRAUSS Metamorphosen for string septet BARTÓK Divertimento for Strings

In December 1880, Liszt attended the Rome première of Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony. Before the invention of sound recordings, piano versions of orchestral works offered the only way for many to discover the symphonic repertoire. Liszt first transcribed Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony for piano in 1838 and revised his score in the 1860s. The transcription, like Beethoven’s own 32 Variations in C minor of 1806, evokes orchestral sonorities from the keyboard, brought to life by Wigmore Hall regular Ashley Wass. £15 £20 £25 £30

London Pianoforte Series

Towering standards of string playing and ensemble artistry belong to the benchmarks set for members of the Sainsbury Royal Academy Soloists under Clio Gould’s direction. The acclaimed young ensemble’s qualities can be heard in contrasting works, opening with Handel’s sonorous Concerto Grosso in B flat, touching the contemplative depths of Strauss’s wartime ‘Study for 23 strings’, Metamorphosen, and concluding with Bartók’s Divertimento, completed days before the outbreak of World War II. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

ASHLEY WASS

Patrick Allen

Sunday 20 January 11.30 am

CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET HAYDN String Quartet in G minor Op. 74 No. 3 ‘Rider’ DEBUSSY String Quartet in G minor Op. 10 A Sunday morning date with Haydn and Debussy offers the chance for Wigmore Hall’s audience to discover the latest chapter in the Carducci String Quartet’s artistic development. The Anglo-Irish quartet has been praised for its ‘technical rigour, penetrative musical insight and lively yet unified individualism’, qualities ideally matched to the originality and expressive range of the ‘Rider’ Quartet of 1793. Debussy’s G minor Quartet, completed a century after Haydn’s work, blends classical poise with exoticism and impressionistic harmonies. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET

Andy Holdsworth

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

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

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF: ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

YEVGENY SUDBIN

Monday 21 January 7.30 pm

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF violin LARS VOGT piano 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 Christian Tetzlaff’s season as Wigmore Hall’s Artist in Residence continues with this unmissable recital. Brahms has been a constant in the German violinist’s artistic development and in that of his regular duo partner, Lars Vogt. The Independent on Sunday described his account of Brahms’s Violin Concerto at the 2011 BBC Proms as a benchmark interpretation. ‘Tetzlaff, playing as if his life depended on it, transported his audience from the Hungarian gypsy camp to the salons of Vienna. It was the trip of a lifetime.’ £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/Christian Tetzlaff: Artist in Residence Saturday 2 March 7.30 pm

TETZLAFF QUARTET YEVGENY SUDBIN

Mark Harrison

See page 45 for full details

Monday 21 January 1.00 pm

Forthcoming events in this series

YEVGENY SUDBIN piano

Wednesday 15 May 6.00 pm

SCARLATTI 3 Sonatas LISZT Funérailles S173 No. 7 CHOPIN Ballade No. 3 in A b Op. 47 SKRYABIN Piano Sonata No. 5 in F # Op. 53 SAINT-SAËNS/LISZT/HOROWITZ Danse Macabre ‘I’m completely lost when people talk to me about ‘The Russian Tradition’,’ notes Yevgeny Sudbin. ‘There’s just so much variety – how can there be one tradition?’

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION Wednesday 15 May 7.30 pm

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF violin ANTJE WEITHAAS violin

The pianist, born in St Petersburg in 1980, draws inspiration from many traditions and his innate feeling for tone colour and expressive communication. His BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert follows the course of a journey from Scarlatti’s classical grace to the fiery virtuosity of the Liszt/Horowitz transcription of Danse Macabre. £12 concs £10

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF

Alexandra Vosding

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

WIGMORE STUDY GROUP

Tuesday 22 January 7.30 pm

CLASSICAL OPERA SARAH FOX soprano RENATA POKUPIC´ mezzo-soprano IAN PAGE conductor MOZART’S CASTRATI ARNE By that belov’d embrace from Artaxerxes MOZART Se il rigor d’ingrata sorte from Mitridate, re di Ponto K87 JC BACH Disperato in mar turbato from Adriano in Siria MOZART Se il labbro più non dice from Ascanio in Alba K111; Ah se a morir mi chiama from Lucio Silla K135; Exsultate, Jubilate K165; Dolce d’amor compagna from La finta giardiniera K196; Aer tranquillo e dì sereni from Il re pastore K208; Il padre adorato from Idomeneo K366; A questo seno ... Or che il cielo K374; Deh per questo istante solo from La clemenza di Tito K621

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Painting by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller

Although aspiring castrati suffered beneath the barber-surgeon’s blade, a select number rose to fame and fortune as stars of the 18th-century stage. Classical Opera’s programme explores the legacy of those who worked with Mozart. Arias from seven of the composer’s operas are complemented by his famous motet Exsultate, Jubilate and arias by Thomas Arne and Johann Christian Bach. £16 £22 £26 £30

Tuesday 22 January 3.00 – 6.00 pm Friday 25 January 3.00 – 6.00 pm Tuesday 29 January 3.00 – 6.00 pm

Early Music and Baroque Series

BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTETS Tied to the opening concert of the Hagen Quartet’s complete Beethoven series, the second Wigmore Study Group of the 2012/13 Season focuses on three of the composer’s most significant quartets: his first (Op. 18 No. 1 completed at the opening of the 19th century), his last (Op. 135 composed in the final year of his life) and No. 1 from his three ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets Op. 59 (dating from 1806). Participants will have the opportunity to explore each of these works in depth over three afternoons, with live illustrations from postgraduate chamber musicians from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Hosted by composer JULIAN PHILIPS, these iconic works will be approached from historical, compositional and interpretative perspectives with the Wigmore Study Group’s lively mix of presentation, discussion and performance. Series ticket price £53 including 3 study sessions and a ticket for the evening concert on 29 January. (not part of subscription scheme)

IAN PAGE

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Hagen Quartet Beethoven Cycle

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

Wednesday 23 January 12.15 pm

Wednesday 23 January 3.00 – 5.30 pm

PRE-CONCERT TALK

BIRKBECK STUDY AFTERNOON

An introduction to the lunchtime concert

SCHUBERT: THE SELF-TRAINED COMPOSER

Free to concert ticket holders (separate ticket required)

Schubert’s early string quartets show experimentation with a cornucopia of musical ideas, some more successful than others. Ten years later his self-criticism – and perhaps his personal experiences too – resulted in a much more taut and focused style with unity of purpose, still showing lively exuberance, but also sorrowful reflection. By looking at a selection of quartets from the Cuarteto Casals programmes, we will examine these enticing examples of Schubert’s stylistic development in detail.

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Linked to the CUARTETO CASALS concerts on 23 and 24 January (concert tickets to be purchased separately) £10 concs £6 (not part of subscription scheme) In association with Birkbeck, University of London

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/ Schubert: A Celebration

Wednesday 23 January 7.30 pm

CUARTETO CASALS MARK PADMORE

Marco Borggreve

Wednesday 23 January 1.00 pm

BRITTEN SINFONIA MARK PADMORE tenor RICHARD WATKINS horn HUW WATKINS piano RICHARD RODNEY BENNETT Tom O’Bedlam’s Song POULENC Elégie GERALD BARRY Jabberwocky (London première)* WALTON 3 Sitwell Songs BRITTEN Three Songs from ‘The Heart of the Matter’ (a selection) *Co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall and Britten Sinfonia

SCHUBERT String Quartet in D D94; String Quartet in Bb D68; String Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’ Cuarteto Casals connects with early and late Schubert as part of its survey of the composer’s complete string quartets. The Quartet’s intensely lyrical Schubert interpretations reflect the idea first coined by Neville Cardus that the composer’s instrumental works are ‘bursting to be sung’. Cuarteto Casals crowns this programme with the String Quartet in D minor, Schubert’s profound contemplation of death. £12 £18 £24 £28

Chamber Music Season/Schubert: A Celebration

Britten Sinfonia marks Benjamin Britten’s centenary with a tribute to the composer’s partner and muse, Peter Pears. Works dedicated to Pears are here interwoven with scores inspired by Edith Sitwell’s verse, part of a fascinating portrait performed by one of today’s finest interpreters of music created for Pears. Britten’s friend Poulenc wrote his heartfelt Élégie in memory of Dennis Brain, who inspired many composers, Britten among them. The programme’s themes are drawn together in a new work by Gerald Barry. £12 concs £10

Chamber Music Season

CUARTETO CASALS

Felix Broede

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

Thursday 24 January 7.30 pm

CUARTETO CASALS SCHUBERT String Quartet in Bb D36; String Quartet in D D74; String Quartet in A minor D804 ‘Rosamunde’ For all the cares and pain of syphilis, Schubert found comfort in writing his String Quartet in A minor in 1824. The composer turned to existing pieces for the new work’s raw material, using an exquisite melody from the play Rosamunde as the substance of its slow movement. Cuarteto Casals sets the scene for the ‘Rosamunde’ Quartet with two compositions from Schubert’s teens, including the exuberant String Quartet in D, conceived as a nameday present for his father.

Soile Isokoski’s recital crosses borders and continents in search of lost memories, traces of midsummer reveries and vanished dreams. The Finnish soprano, with her permanent accompanist, Marita Viitasalo, begins with the sensual delights of little things, the pearls and olives celebrated in Hugo Wolf’s setting of Paul Heyse’s folk-verse. She moves through the mysterious realm of Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and Strauss’s unsettling Ophelia songs, gradually discovering repose in the nostalgia of Ives miniatures and Sallinen’s Four Dream Songs. £18 £25 £30 £35

Song Recital Series

£12 £18 £24 £28 Supported by the Patron Friends of Wigmore Hall

Chamber Music Season/Schubert: A Celebration Saturday 26 January 7.30 pm

HILARY HAHN violin CORY SMYTHE piano

SOILE ISOKOSKI

IN 27 PIECES: THE HILARY HAHN ENCORES (PART II) See page overleaf for full details

Sunday 27 January 11.30 am

COLIN CARR cello THOMAS SAUER piano BEETHOVEN 12 Variations on a Theme from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus WoO45 SCHUBERT Arpeggione Sonata in A minor D821 RACHMANINOV Cello Sonata in G minor Op. 19

SOILE ISOKOSKI

Heikki Tuuli

Friday 25 January 7.30 pm

SOILE ISOKOSKI soprano MARITA VIITASALO piano WOLF From Italienisches Liederbuch: Auch kleine Dinge; Man sagt mir, deine Mutter; O wär dein Haus durchsichtig; Mein Liebster singt am Haus; Wenn du, mein Liebster BERLIOZ Les nuits d’été Op. 7 STRAUSS Drei Lieder der Ophelia Op. 67 IVES On the Counter; The Side Show; Berceuse; Memories: a. Very Pleasant, b. Rather Sad SALLINEN Neljä laulua unesta (Four Dream Songs) 19

Colin Carr captivated Wigmore Hall audiences last season with sublime readings of Bach’s Six Cello Suites. He returns to perform three multifaceted works, captivating in their individual characters and collective contrasts. The Arpeggione Sonata’s power was charged by the pain of Schubert’s illness and his love for life. Rachmaninov’s four-movement sonata, one of the greatest works in the cello repertoire, projects cello and piano as equals in music of romantic fervour. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

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

IN 27 PIECES: THE HILARY HAHN ENCORES (PART II) Saturday 26 January 7.30 pm

HILARY HAHN violin CORY SMYTHE piano BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor Op. 23 BACH Sonata No. 1 in G minor for solo violin BWV1001 Interspersed with a selection of encore pieces by contemporary composers Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn introduced her latest project to Wigmore Hall last year with eight component parts of ‘In 27 Pieces’, including specially commissioned encores by Auerbach, Hatzis, Higdon and Muhly. The next batch of Hilary Hahn Encores will be unveiled in this concert as colourful companions to Beethoven’s strikingly original Violin Sonata No. 4 and the richly embellished lines of Bach’s Sonata No. 1 for solo violin. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/ In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores

Photo by Peter Miller

Monday 28 January 1.00 pm

CHRISTIAN IHLE HADLAND piano MOZART Piano Sonata in D K576 SCHUBERT Piano Sonata in A D959 One of Norway’s brightest and most engaging young performers, Christian Ihle Hadland has appeared at Wigmore Hall in the past as a member of the Razumovsky Ensemble. His artistry captured international attention in 2006 when he accompanied Renée Fleming at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo. The BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, hailed in his homeland and beyond as ‘a rare talent’, makes his Wigmore Hall solo recital debut with this lunchtime programme. £12 concs £10

ELIZABETH WATTS

Christian Ihle Hadland is a member of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme

Marco Borggreve

Monday 28 January 7.30 pm

ELIZABETH WATTS soprano ROGER VIGNOLES piano GOETHE HEROINES

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

SCHUBERT Gretchen am Spinnrade; Gretchens Bitte; Der König in Thule WOLF Kennst du das Land SCHUBERT Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt from Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister; Heiss mich nicht reden (D726); So lasst mich scheinen from Gesänge aus Wilhelm Meister SCHUMANN Singet nicht in Trauertönen SCHUBERT Suleika I & II MEYERBEER Wie mit innigstem Behagen WOLF Hochbeglückt in deiner Liebe GLINKA Gretchen’s Song VERDI Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata LISZT Es war ein König in Thule DUPARC Romance de Mignon TCHAIKOVSKY Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt WOLF Heiss mich nicht reden; So lasst mich scheinen; Singet nicht in Trauertönen FELIX MENDELSSOHN Was bedeutet die Bewegung; Ach, um deine feuchten Schwingen FANNY MENDELSSOHN An Suleika WOLF Nimmer will ich dich verlieren

CHRISTIAN IHLE HADLAND

Trond A. Isaksen

Vivid verbal imagery, romantic evocations of distant lands, and the tragic figures of Gretchen and Mignon belong to this heady blend of songs to texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The poet’s ability to view aspects of the human condition from apparently infinite perspectives inspired countless settings of his words to music. Elizabeth Watts and Roger Vignoles explore the enduring legacy of Goethe’s work and his influence on composers as different as Schubert and Tchaikovsky, Glinka and Duparc. £15 £20 £25 £30

Song Recital Series

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

HAGEN QUARTET: BEETHOVEN CYCLE Tuesday 22 January 3.00 – 6.00 pm Friday 25 January 3.00 – 6.00 pm Tuesday 29 January 3.00 – 6.00 pm

WIGMORE STUDY GROUP BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTETS See page 17 for full details Tuesday 29 January 7.30 pm

HAGEN QUARTET BEETHOVEN String Quartet in F Op. 18 No. 1; String Quartet in F Op. 135; String Quartet in F Op. 59 No. 1 ‘Razumovsky’ Connoisseurs of the finest string quartet playing will need no prompting to add the Hagen Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle to their list of ‘must hear’ concerts this season. The Quartet’s artistic roots run deep, bound by the sibling ties of its founder members, and nurtured over the past three decades by total dedication to the cause of chamber music. Its highly individual, often visceral and always compelling performances of Beethoven are not to be missed. £15 £20 £25 £30

FRANZ SCHUBERT

Anonymous painting, 1818

Chamber Music Season/Hagen Quartet Beethoven Cycle Thursday 31 January 7.30 pm Wednesday 30 January 7.30 pm

HAGEN QUARTET BEETHOVEN String Quartet in A minor Op. 132; String Quartet in E minor Op. 59 No. 2 ‘Razumovsky’ The Hagens open their second all-Beethoven concert with the late String Quartet in A minor, a masterwork intensified by its sublime slow movement. After completing the work’s first two movements, Beethoven fell ill with a serious gastrointestinal infection. The central ‘Hymn of thanks from a sick man to God on his recovery – feeling of new strength and reawakened feeling’ recalls the sound and spirit of ancient sacred music to express its composer’s profound relief that his life had been spared. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/Hagen Quartet Beethoven Cycle Forthcoming concerts in this series Friday 19 April 7.30 pm Saturday 20 April 7.30 pm Tuesday 28 May 7.30 pm Wednesday 29 May 7.30 pm

ALINA IBRAGIMOVA violin CÉDRIC TIBERGHIEN piano SCHUBERT BIRTHDAY CONCERT SCHUBERT Rondo in B minor D895; Violin Sonata (Duo) in A D574; Sei mir gegrüsst (arr. violin and piano); Nacht und Träume (arr. violin and piano); Fantasy in C D934 Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien crown their Schubert survey with a programme framed by two late, great works. The C major Fantasy, completed less than a year before the composer’s death, is based on the song ‘Sei mir gegrüsst’, a tender-hearted setting of words by Friedrich Rückert. The formidable Rondo was one of only three of Schubert’s chamber compositions to be published during his lifetime, although it is rarely heard today. £15 £20 £25 £30 Supported by the Schubert Syndicate

Chamber Music Season/Schubert: A Celebration

HAGEN QUARTET 22

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Friday 1 February 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

THE MUSIC FACTORY KEY STAGE 2 SCHOOLS’ CONCERT Join the five wacky woodwind musicians from the Calefax Reed Quintet for a tale of tubes, pipes and whistles. Set in a Music Factory, this extraordinary show is packed full of musical humour and re-workings of Mozart, Debussy, Bach and Prokofiev, including opportunities for the audience to join in. An ideal concert for children learning the recorder. £2.50 (not part of subscription scheme) Supported by The Monument Trust

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Friday 1 February 7.30 pm

GUILLERMO KLEIN piano, voice AARON GOLDBERG piano CHRIS CHEEK saxophone MIGUEL ZENÓN saxophone JOSHUA REDMAN JAZZ SERIES See page overleaf for full details

LORENZO GATTO

J N Doumont

Saturday 2 February 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

THE MUSIC FACTORY

Sunday 3 February 11.30 am

FAMILY CONCERT

LORENZO GATTO violin BEATRICE BERRUT piano

For age 5 plus A repeat of the Calefax concert on 1 February, for families Adult £7 Children £5 (not part of subscription scheme) Supported by Mayfield Valley Arts Trust and The Monument Trust

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

JANÁC˘EK Violin Sonata BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’ Born in Brussels in 1986, Lorenzo Gatto gave his first recital at the age of twelve and rose to international prominence as second prize-winner at the 2009 Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition. His artistic pedigree has been informed by lessons with, among others, Hermann Krebbers and Augustin Dumay, and developed in recent years with appearances as a member of the Rising Stars young artists programme. He makes his Wigmore Hall debut with delightful Swiss pianist Beatrice Berrut. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

CALEFAX

Rob Marinissen

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

JOSHUA REDMAN J A Z Z S E R I E S Joshua Redman returns for his second outing as curator of Wigmore Hall’s Jazz Series. The charismatic saxophonist’s original compositions and improvisations have attracted a worldwide following since the release of his eponymous debut album as band leader twenty years ago. His sheer exuberance, musicianship and creative imagination have drawn countless newcomers to jazz while earning plaudits from seasoned be-bop critics and others in search of fresh jazz thinking.

GUILLERMO KLEIN

AARON GOLDBERG

CHRIS CHEEK

MIGUEL ZENÓN

Friday 1 February 7.30 pm

GUILLERMO KLEIN piano, voice AARON GOLDBERG piano CHRIS CHEEK saxophone MIGUEL ZENÓN saxophone Argentinian composer and band leader Guillermo Klein makes a rare UK appearance alongside jazz pianist Aaron Goldberg and virtuoso saxophonists Chris Cheek and Miguel Zenón. Join us as these four world-renowned musicians bring together jazz, folk melodies and complex musical structures inspired by Messiaen and Ligeti, in a collection of beautifully honed compositions and arrangements. £15 £20 £25 £30

Saturday 11 May 7.30 pm

JOSHUA REDMAN saxophone CHRISTIAN McBRIDE double bass Joshua Redman is joined by jazz bass virtuoso Christian McBride for what promises to be an exceptional duo recital. Christian McBride is one of the most recorded musicians of his generation and has collaborated with jazz greats such as Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson and McCoy Tyner to name but a few. £15 £20 £25 £30

Booking for all events in this series is now open 24

Joshua Redman Jazz Series

Sunday 3 February 4.00 pm

JOHN CHEST baritone MARCELO AMARAL piano BARBER 3 songs to poems by James Joyce: Rain has fallen; Sleep now; I hear an army BARBER Mélodies passagères SCHUMANN Liederkreis Op. 24 WOLF Mörike Lieder: Fussreise; Begegnung; Peregrina I & II; Auf einer Wanderung Hotly tipped for international success, American baritone John Chest made his mark as winner of the 2010 Stella Maris Singing Competition. He was one of eight performers nominated by the world’s leading opera houses to contest the Stella Maris prize. Chest’s career credits include membership of San Francisco’s Merola Opera Programme and the Bavarian State Opera’s Opera Studio. He makes his Wigmore Hall recital debut with songs steeped in dramatic imagery, including Samuel Barber’s Op. 10 settings of poems by James Joyce. £12 concs £10

Song Recital Series WOLFGANG HOLZMAIR

Ernest W. Gruber

Sunday 3 February 7.30 pm

WOLFGANG HOLZMAIR baritone RUSSELL RYAN piano KRENEK From Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen Op. 62: Motiv; Verkehr; Kloster in den Alpen; Wetter; Friedhof im Gebirgsdorf; Regentag; Unser Wein; Auf und ab; Gewitter; Heimweh; Heißer Tag am See; Ausblick nach Süden; Heimkehr Interspersed with SCHUBERT Über Wildemann; Der Kreuzzug; Schäfers Klagelied; Der Alpenjäger (Schiller); Trinklied; Der Alpenjäger (Mayrhofer); Nach einem Gewitter; Das Heimweh; Auf der Riesenkoppe; Im Walde For the second of his Retrospective Series recitals, Wolfgang Holzmair revisits the work of two composers closely associated with his art. The Austrian baritone’s 1998 recording of his countryman Ernst Krenek’s Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen did much to establish the composer’s 1929 song-cycle, a work in part inspired by reflections on the recent centenary of Schubert’s death, in part by the passing of traditions and the collapse of the polyglot Habsburg Empire. £15 £20 £25 £30

JOHN CHEST

Andrey Stoycher

Song Recital Series/Wolfgang Holzmair Retrospective Series

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

Monday 4 February 1.00 pm

INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC

CALEFAX reed quintet BRUMEL Languente Miseris; Nato Canunt Omnia (arr. Raaf Hekkema) DEBUSSY Suite bergamasque (arr. Oliver Boekhoorn) RAMEAU Suite La triomphante (arr. Raaf Hekkema) Calefax opens ears to contrasting sound-worlds reinterpreted and transcribed for reed quintet. The ensemble, established in the Netherlands more than 25 years ago, recalls haunting motets for five voices by Antoine Brumel, who began his career in Chartres in the 1480s and became chapel master to the court of Alfonso I d’Este in Ferrara. Two works by later French composers underline the importance of dance and of eloquent melody to the music of Rameau and Debussy. £12 concs £10

Thursday 7 February 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm Thursday 14 February 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm Thursday 28 February 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm Thursday 7 March 5.00 pm – 6.15 pm

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

CALEFAX

Wednesday 6 February 7.30 pm

BERNARDA FINK mezzo-soprano HUGO WOLF QUARTETT BERNARDA FINK RESIDENCY See page opposite for full details

Rob Marinissen

For many, or maybe most music-lovers, their experience of listening starts in the later 17th century and extends to the end of the 19th with a gaping hole at either end. The music of the 20th century (and of now) is perceived as difficult to enjoy mostly because the language has somehow become unfamiliar. These four talks, given by ROY STRATFORD, will attempt to address that unfamiliarity, to explain how and why the language changed and to give insights into possible ways to enjoy music which at first hearing sounds forbidding and alienating. On the other hand, composers such as Shostakovich, Britten, Copland and Prokofiev present few problems of comprehension as they stayed closer to the traditions of the 19th century, still writing symphonies and sonatas in a recognisable and direct musical language whilst remaining true to the spirit of the age. This is an era which also has seen (and continues to see) musical boundaries being broken down with many outstanding examples of pieces that incorporate jazz and even rock and pop music into what we confusingly and misleadingly call ‘classical’ music. The four sessions will examine why the musical language changed as it did, what sort of music emerged from these changes, the multiplicity of styles in the 20th century and where we are now and might be going in the future. Series ticket price £24 (not part of subscription scheme)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

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

BERNARDA FINK RESIDENCY Described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘opera’s most elegant voice’ and universally praised for the intelligence and grace of her musicianship, Bernarda Fink has become a favourite with Wigmore Hall audiences. The Argentine mezzo-soprano draws on her rich cultural heritage, informed by the nourishing Slovenian roots of her family and a mind strikingly open and alive to the connection between words and music. Her latest Residency at Wigmore Hall spans everything from Respighi’s haunting Il tramonto, for voice and string quartet, to the transcendent beauty of Mahler’s Five Rückert Lieder. Wednesday 6 February 7.30 pm

BERNARDA FINK mezzo-soprano HUGO WOLF QUARTETT SCHUMANN String Quartet in A Op. 41 No. 3 RESPIGHI Il tramonto for voice and string quartet WOLF Songs from Italienisches Liederbuch WOLF Italian Serenade in G For the first of her four-concert Wigmore Hall Residency, Bernarda Fink has chosen to preface strong shades of Italy with a masterwork by a composer dear to her heart. Schumann’s String Quartet in A reflects its creator’s close study of quartets by Haydn, Mozart and, above all, Beethoven. Evocations of ancient melodies surface in Respighi’s Il tramonto of 1914, a radiant setting of Shelley’s ‘The Sunset’, preparing the ground for Wolf’s Italian Serenade and exquisite miniatures from his Italienisches Liederbuch. £15 £20 £25 £30 Supported by the Season Patrons who have made a major contribution to the 2012 –13 Wigmore Series

Song Recital Series/Bernarda Fink Residency Monday 25 February 7.30 pm

ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC BERNARDA FINK mezzo-soprano RODOLFO RICHTER director, violin See page 43 for details Monday 25 March 7.30 pm

BERNARDA FINK mezzo-soprano MALCOLM MARTINEAU piano See page 59 for details Forthcoming concert in this series Thursday 20 June 7.30 pm

BERNARDA FINK mezzo-soprano MARCOS FINK bass-baritone ANTHONY SPIRI piano Photo by Klemen Breitfuss

Saturday 9 February

HUW WATKINS DAY See page page 30 for full details

Sunday 10 February 11.30 am

FRANCESCO PIEMONTESI piano BACH English Suite No. 2 in A minor BWV807 BACH/LISZT Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV542 LISZT Années de pèlerinage (a selection) Francesco Piemontesi was named as ‘Best Newcomer’ at the 2012 BBC Music Magazine Awards. The Swiss-Italian pianist, an alumnus of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, developed his refined artistic character through studies with Alfred Brendel, Cécile Ousset and Alexis Weissenberg. His interpretations of Bach and Liszt have been hailed for their clarity of thought and judicious blend of intellect and fantasy. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert IMOGEN COOPER

Sussie Ahlburg

Thursday 7 February 7.30 pm

IMOGEN COOPER piano SCHUBERT 4 Impromptus D899; Piano Sonata in A minor D784; Ecossaises D781; Piano Sonata in D D850 Songful pianism, expressive insight and intellectual depth underscore Imogen Cooper’s abiding affinity for the music of Schubert. Her evolving thoughts on the composer’s work always leave room for spontaneity in performance. Here she launches her survey of Schubert’s piano sonatas, setting the scene with the Four Impromptus D899 of 1827 before releasing the tempestuous emotions of the Sonata in A minor D784 and the spirited Sonata in D D850. £18 £25 £30 £35

London Pianoforte Series/Schubert: A Celebration

Friday 8 February 7.30 pm

BORODIN QUARTET TCHAIKOVSKY AND BRAHMS See page opposite for full details

FRANCESCO PIEMONTESI

Marco Borggreve

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

BORODIN QUARTET TCHAIKOVSKY AND BRAHMS Legendary may be an overworked word. But it is surely merited when applied to the Borodin Quartet. The Russian ensemble came to life in 1945 and secured global prominence thanks not least to iconic interpretations of works by Beethoven, Borodin, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union over two decades ago, the Borodins have toured the world to deliver profound thoughts on works from their repertoire’s core. Their latest Wigmore Hall cycle continues with performances certain to offer consummate musicianship and compelling artistic insights into the impassioned string quartets of Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

Friday 8 February 7.30 pm

BORODIN QUARTET BRAHMS String Quartet in A minor Op. 51 No. 2 TCHAIKOVSKY String Quartet No. 2 in F Op. 22 The Borodins reach the midpoint in their Wigmore Hall Brahms and Tchaikovsky series, arriving at the second of Brahms’s Op. 51 quartets and Tchaikovsky’s Op. 22, written in a blaze of creative activity around Christmas 1873. £12 £18 £24 £28

Forthcoming concert in this series Saturday 18 May 7.30 pm

BORODIN QUARTET BRAHMS String Quartet in B b Op. 67 TCHAIKOVSKY String Quartet No. 3 in E b minor Op. 30 Chamber Music Season/Borodin Quartet: Tchaikovsky and Brahms Photo by Patrick Xu

Saturday 9 February

HUW WATKINS DAY Whether at work as composer, solo pianist or chamber musician, Huw Watkins is blessed with the unfailing ability to communicate and draw audiences close to the edge of their seats. His chamber compositions, many of them premièred at Wigmore Hall in recent years, have earned critical acclaim and entered the repertoire. 11.30 am

EMILY BEYNON flute MATTHEW HUNT clarinet HUW WATKINS piano LUCY WAKEFORD harp ARONOWITZ ENSEMBLE HUW WATKINS Sad Steps; Four Spencer Pieces; Gig for flute, clarinet, string quartet and harp Wigmore Hall’s Huw Watkins Day opens with Sad Steps, originally written for the Aronowitz Ensemble, before the composer performs his own Four Spencer Pieces for solo piano. 3.00 pm

CAROLYN SAMPSON soprano ALINA IBRAGIMOVA violin MAGNUS JOHNSTON violin GUY JOHNSTON cello HUW WATKINS piano HUW WATKINS Partita for solo violin; Five Larkin Songs; Piano Trio The musicianship and personalities of individual artists have contributed to the development of Huw Watkins’s output. His Partita was written for Alina Ibragimova and premièred by her at Wigmore Hall in 2006, while the Five Larkin Songs were conceived with Carolyn Sampson’s voice and stage presence clearly in mind. The Piano Trio entered the world at Wigmore Hall in 2009. Its composer here joins forces with the Johnston brothers, Magnus and Guy, for the work’s latest outing at the Hall. 6.00 pm

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION

7.30 pm

MARK PADMORE tenor LAURA SAMUEL violin MATTHEW HUNT clarinet RICHARD WATKINS horn HUW WATKINS piano ELIAS STRING QUARTET HUW WATKINS In my craft or sullen art (Goodison Quartet No. 4) STRAVINSKY The Soldier’s Tale Suite (arr. violin, clarinet and piano) HUW WATKINS Trio for horn, violin and piano FAURÉ Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor Op. 115 Intense lyricism and unsettling silences pervade In my craft or sullen art, Huw Watkins’s captivating setting of verse by Dylan Thomas. The work, commissioned by Sir Nicholas Goodison, received its première at Wigmore Hall in 2007. This programme includes the arrangement made by Stravinsky of music from his Soldier’s Tale for Werner Reinhard, the amateur clarinettist and ‘amiable Maecenas’ who underwrote the original score’s creation.

HUW WATKINS in conversation with TOM SERVICE

CONCERTS £10 EACH DAY TICKET £20 (not including Artists in Conversation)

£3 (not part of subscription scheme)

Chamber Music Season/Huw Watkins Day

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

The Huw Watkins Day is supported by RVW Trust Photo by Hanya Chlala

Sunday 10 February 4.00 pm

THE PRINCE CONSORT ALISDAIR HOGARTH artistic director THE PRINCE CONSORT AMERICAN SONG SERIES See page overleaf for full details

Sunday 10 February 7.30 pm

PAUL WATKINS cello HUW WATKINS piano BEETHOVEN 7 Variations on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte WoO46 SCHUMANN Adagio and Allegro in Ab Op. 70 (for cello and piano) HUW WATKINS New work (world première)* WEBERN Drei kleine Stücke Op. 11 MENDELSSOHN Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Op. 58 * Co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall with the support of André Hoffmann, President of the Fondation Hoffmann, a Swiss grant making foundation.

As a coda to Wigmore Hall’s Huw Watkins Day, the composer and pianist returns to the stage with his brother and an enthralling programme of works that includes a Watkins world première and the young Beethoven’s evergreen set of variations on one of the most popular tunes from late 18th-century Vienna. The recital also charts the experimental soundscapes of Webern’s exquisite Op. 11 miniatures and Mendelssohn’s Bach-inspired Second Cello Sonata.

KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI

Julia Wesely

£15 £20 £25 £30

Monday 11 February 1.00 pm

Chamber Music Season

KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI piano CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 2 in B b minor Op. 35 ‘Funeral March’; Scherzo No. 2 in B b minor Op. 31; Scherzo No. 3 in C # minor Op. 39 RAVEL La valse Sparks fly whenever Khatia Buniatishvili makes music. The Georgian pianist, born in 1987, made her debut at the age of six in Tbilisi and went on to study at the city’s conservatory. She draws inspiration from the often melancholic, lyrical nature of Georgian folk music and from pianists as individual and charismatic as Rachmaninov, Richter and Gould. £12 concs £10

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

PAUL WATKINS

Paul Marc Mitchell

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

THE PRINCE CONSORT AMERICAN SONG SERIES FACING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK ANNA LEESE soprano JENNIFER JOHNSTON mezzo-soprano TIM MEAD countertenor ANDREW STAPLES tenor JACQUES IMBRAILO baritone ALISDAIR HOGARTH artistic director, piano The Prince Consort’s series explores substantial landmarks of North American art-song and offers audiences the chance to hear neglected and new compositions. ‘Facing forward, looking back’ evokes the spirit of a series constructed to connect great works from America’s musical past with outstanding compositions from the nation’s present. Booking for all events in this series opens to Friends on 8 October, to Mailing List Subscribers on 19 October and to the General Public on 1 November. Sunday 10 February 4.00 pm

Friday 12 July 10.00 pm

BARBER Hermit Songs Op. 29 (excerpts); Sure on this Shining Night; Nocturne LOWELL LIEBERMANN 6 Songs on poems of H. W. Longfellow Op. 57 WILLIAM BOLCOM Cabaret Songs (excerpts)

COPLAND 12 poems of Emily Dickinson (excerpts) JAKE HEGGIE How well I knew the light NED ROREM Two sonnets for two singers JAKE HEGGIE The moon is a mirror; Looking forward, looking back

Sunday 7 April 4.00 pm

Tickets for each concert £12 concs £10

with guest pianist JOHN MUSTO JOHN MUSTO Litany (for mezzo and piano); The Old Gray Couple (for soprano, baritone and piano duet); Book of Uncommon Prayer (SATB and piano)

Song Recital Series/The Prince Consort American Song Series

Photo by Richard Ecclestone

Monday 11 February 7.30 pm

Wednesday 13 February 12.15 pm

THE SIXTEEN HARRY CHRISTOPHERS director

PRE-CONCERT TALK

MONTEVERDI – SELVA MORALE E SPIRITUALE

Free to concert ticket holders (separate ticket required)

See page overleaf for full details

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

An introduction to the lunchtime concert

Wednesday 13 February 1.00 pm

BRITTEN SINFONIA THOMAS GOULD violin MIRANDA DALE violin CLARE FINNIMORE viola CAROLINE DEARNLEY cello ALASDAIR BEATSON piano COPLAND Vitebsk, Study on a Jewish Theme SHOSTAKOVICH Two pieces for string quartet: Elegy and Polka BRITTEN Reflection for viola and piano JAY GREENBERG New work (London première)* BRITTEN Three Divertimenti for String Quartet *Co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall and Britten Sinfonia

THE ENDELLION STRING QUARTET

Eric Richmond

The two composers most admired by Britten feature in a vibrant programme with strong stage and dance connections. Copland’s gritty Vitebsk drew inspiration from a Jewish folk theme by playwright S. Ansky, author of The Dybbuk; Britten’s Three Divertimenti, meanwhile, took their original subtitle from Shakespeare. Shostakovich’s Two Pieces began life in his opera Lady Macbeth and ballet The Age of Gold. The concert also includes a new work by the winner of Cambridge University’s 2012 Composers Workshop.

Tuesday 12 February 7.30 pm

£12 concs £10

THE ENDELLION STRING QUARTET

Chamber Music Season

HAYDN String Quartet in D Op. 50 No. 6 ‘The Frog’ BARTÓK String Quartet No. 2 Op. 17 BEETHOVEN String Quartet in E b Op. 74 ‘Harp’ Haydn’s good-natured and imaginative work is followed by Bartók’s compelling quartet, with its lyrical first movement, wild and thrilling centrepiece and profoundly inward and contemplative Finale. Beethoven’s Op. 74, suffused with warmth and blessed with a strikingly inspired and singing Adagio at its heart, will be included in the Endellions’ complete Beethoven cycle to be given in New York soon after this concert. £12 £18 £24 £28

Chamber Music Season

BRITTEN SINFONIA

Harry Rankin

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

Monday 11 February 7.30 pm

THE SIXTEEN HARRY CHRISTOPHERS director MONTEVERDI – SELVA MORALE E SPIRITUALE MONTEVERDI Gloria; Salve Regina (Secondo); Laudate pueri (Primo); Deus tuorum militum (Primo); Dixit Dominus (Secondo); Dixit Dominus (Primo); Salve Regina (Terzo); Beatus vir (Primo); Magnificat (Primo) Monteverdi’s monumental collection of sacred vocal works, published in Venice in 1640 and 1641 as Selva morale e spirituale, stands among the great treasures of baroque music. The Sixteen and Harry Christophers make a long awaited return to Wigmore Hall, presenting some of the finest pieces from the Italian composer’s Selva anthology, complete with the spectacular motet Beatus vir, an uplifting Gloria, and two mighty settings of Psalm 109, Dixit Dominus, for eight voices and instruments. £18 £25 £30 £35

Early Music and Baroque Series

Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi by Bernardo Strozzi c.1640

Wednesday 13 February 7.30 pm

TRIO JEAN PAUL BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in E b Op. 1 No. 1 WOLFGANG RIHM Fremde Szene III SCHUBERT Piano Trio No. 1 in Bb D898 Ulf Schneider, Martin Loehr and Eckart Heiligers, collectively known as the Trio Jean Paul, preface the first of Schubert’s monumental late piano trios with the last of Wolfgang Rihm’s Fremde Szenen (1982– 4), a work of beguiling eloquence and intensity directly inspired by Schumann. Their programme opens with the Piano Trio in E flat, young Beethoven’s strikingly assured creation. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

JÖRG WIDMANN

Thursday 14 February 7.30 pm

JÖRG WIDMANN clarinet ANTOINE TAMESTIT viola FRANCESCO PIEMONTESI piano

TRIO JEAN PAUL

Irène Zandel

BRUCH Eight pieces for clarinet, viola and piano Op. 83 JÖRG WIDMANN Fantasie for solo clarinet GYÖRGY KURTÁG Hommage à Robert Schumann Op. 15d MOZART Fantasia in D minor K397 for solo piano GYÖRGY KURTÁG 3 pieces from Signs, Games and Messages for solo viola MOZART Clarinet Trio No. 2 in E b K498 ‘Kegelstatt’ Viennese classics and the shades of romanticism are among the influences that have shaped Jörg Widmann’s work as a composer. The German musician, born in 1973, stands among the most talented of his generation, in demand worldwide as soloist, chamber performer, resident artist and creator of unforgettable new works. The programme draws together the multiple strands of his remarkably rich and productive musical life, crowned by Kurtág’s perfectly formed miniatures and Mozart’s ‘Kegelstatt’ Trio, conceived for the three instruments most loved by the composer. For this recital we also proudly welcome the world-renowned virtuoso pianist Francesco Piemontesi and leading violist Antoine Tamestit, now a regular at Wigmore Hall. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season ANTOINE TAMESTIT

Eric Larrayadieu/Naïve

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

Saturday 16 February 7.30 pm

JERUSALEM QUARTET WOLF Italian Serenade in G MOZART String Quartet in B b K589 ‘Prussian’ SMETANA String Quartet No. 1 in E minor ‘From my life’ The Jerusalem Quartet emerges from its recent immersion in Shostakovich’s music to perform three other autobiographical works. Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ Quartets were conceived to attract patronage from Prussia’s cello-playing King Friedrich Wilhelm II, while Wolf’s Serenade was apparently inspired by Eichendorff’s novella From the Life of a Good for Nothing. Smetana drew on personal experience of deafness for his First String Quartet. The four players, he wrote, ‘should converse together in an intimate circle about the things which so deeply trouble me’. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season SOPHIE DANEMAN

Sandra Lousada

Friday 15 February 7.30 pm

SOPHIE DANEMAN soprano IAN BOSTRIDGE tenor JULIUS DRAKE piano THE HUGO WOLF SONGBOOKS MÖRIKE LIEDER WOLF Der Genesene an die Hoffnung; Der Jäger; Selbstgeständnis; Agnes; Ein Stündlein wohl vor Tag; Lied vom Winde; Lied eines Verliebten; Nimmersatte Liebe; Storchenbotschaft; Zitronenfalter im April; Frage und Antwort; An eine Äolsharfe; Heimweh; Bei einer Trauung; Jägerlied; Abschied GOETHE LIEDER WOLF Frech und Froh I & II; Gutmann und Gutweib; Der Schäfer; Cophtisches Lied I & II; Epiphanias; Dank des Paria; Blumengruss; Frühling übers Jahr; Beherzigung; Der Rattenfänger Wigmore Hall’s Hugo Wolf Songbooks series continues with such mesmerising Mörike songs as ‘An eine Äolsharfe’ and sublime Goethe settings, the rarely heard ‘Cophtisches Lieder’ among them. Ian Bostridge and Sophie Daneman continue their acclaimed song partnership following the success of the tenor’s ‘Ancient and Modern’ series at Wigmore Hall last season.

JERUSALEM QUARTET

Felix Broede

£18 £25 £30 £35

Song Recital Series/Julius Drake: ‘Perspectives’/ The Hugo Wolf Songbooks

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

Sunday 17 February 11.30 am

KUSS QUARTET MOZART String Quartet in D K575 JANÁC˘EK String Quartet No. 1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ Great literature inspired Janác˘ek’s operatic output and influenced many of his instrumental works. The Czech composer’s imagination was fired by Tolstoy’s novella The Kreutzer Sonata, which recounts the terrible consequences when a husband discovers an extra-marital affair between his aristocratic wife and a violinist and murders her with a dagger. The Berlin-based Kuss Quartet prefaces Janác˘ek’s work with the first of Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ Quartets, which contains delightful echoes of the composer’s popular song ‘Das Veilchen’.

STEVEN ISSERLIS

Eisuke Miyoshi

Sunday 17 February 7.30 pm

STEVEN ISSERLIS cello CONNIE SHIH piano

£12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

HAHN Variations chantantes FAURÉ Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor Op. 109 THOMAS ADÈS Lieux retrouvés SAINT-SAËNS Romanza from Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Op. 51 FRANCK Sonata in A for cello and piano

KUSS QUARTET

Neda Navaee

Sunday 17 February 4.00 pm

Memories and echoes of songs from earlier times pervade this programme, an opulent combination of works compiled by Steven Isserlis and crowned by Franck’s radiant Sonata in A. The cellist gave the first performance of Lieux retrouvés in 2009 with Thomas Adès and presented its London première at Wigmore Hall the following year. He frames the work here with Reynaldo Hahn’s Variations chantantes, based on an aria from Handel’s Xerxes, Fauré’s D minor Cello Sonata of 1917, and the emotive slow movement from Saint-Saëns’s Second Cello Sonata.

MARKUS SCHÄFER tenor PIERS LANE piano

£18 £25 £30 £35

SCHUBERT A. W. Schlegel Lieder: Wiedersehn; Abendlied für die Entfernte; Sprache der Liebe; Die gefangenen Sänger SCHUBERT Seidl Lieder: Widerspruch; Am Fenster; Irdisches Glück; Im Freien; Bei dir allein!; Der Wanderer an den Mond; Wiegenlied; Sehnsucht; Das Zügenglöcklein

Chamber Music Season

Supported by The Hargreaves and Ball Trust

Following his professional debut at Zurich’s Opernhaus in the mid-1980s, Markus Schäfer developed his artistry as a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. The German lyric tenor’s repertoire spans everything from Monteverdi and Mozart to Keiser and Karg-Elert. His sophisticated Schubert interpretations, exquisitely shaped and always alive to emotional contrasts, have been heard at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and New York’s Lincoln Center. He is joined by Piers Lane, acclaimed for probing deep beneath the surface of Romantic works. £12 concs £10

Song Recital Series

MARKUS SCHÄFER

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

Monday 18 February 7.30 pm

AILISH TYNAN soprano YANN BEURON tenor GRAHAM JOHNSON piano MASQUES ET BERGAMASQUES Songs to include: DEBUSSY Fêtes galantes Book I DEBUSSY Mandoline FAURÉ En sourdine HAHN L’heure exquise DEBUSSY Il pleure dans mon cœur

ANDREAS HAEFLIGER

Marco Borggreve

Monday 18 February 1.00 pm

ANDREAS HAEFLIGER piano BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Op. 109 BERIO Erdenklavier; Wasserklavier SCHUMANN Fantasy in C Op. 17

In this concert, the second in Graham Johnson’s French Song Series, the pursuits of the idle rich, so ardently cultivated by French aristocrats in the decades before the Revolution, are recalled in Debussy’s youthful first book of Fêtes galantes, erotically charged settings of verse by Paul Verlaine. The symbolist poet’s English years, chiefly spent as a school-teacher in Lincolnshire, were prefaced by a spell in prison following his drunken attempt to shoot fellow author and libertine Arthur Rimbaud! £18 £25 £30 £35

Song Recital Series/French Song Series: Le Plus Doux Chemin

Almost twenty years after making his Wigmore Hall debut, Andreas Haefliger is recognised globally for the perception and depth of his artistry. The German-born Swiss musician includes works by Luciano Berio in his lunchtime recital, two of six epigrammatic encore pieces composed between 1965 and 1990. Beethoven and Schumann supply the mighty bookends for Haefliger’s programme. Schumann’s Fantasy in C, originally written in 1836, was created to help raise funds for the erection of a birthplace monument to Beethoven in Bonn. £12 concs £10

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Monday 18 February 6.00 pm

PRE-CONCERT TALK RODERICK SWANSTON explores the music in the evening concert entitled Masques et Bergamasques. £3 (not part of subscription scheme)

AILISH TYNAN

Sussie Ahlburg

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/French Song Series: Le Plus Doux Chemin

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

Wednesday 20 February 7.30 pm (Post-concert talk at 9.45 pm) Wigmore Hall Associate Artists

TAKÁCS QUARTET LAWRENCE POWER viola See page overleaf for full details NICHOLAS DANIEL

Benjamin Harte

Tuesday 19 February 7.30 pm

Thursday 21 February 7.30 pm

NICHOLAS DANIEL oboe JULIUS DRAKE piano JACQUELINE SHAVE violin CLARE FINNIMORE viola CAROLINE DEARNLEY cello

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE JONATHAN MORTON director, violin

SCHUMANN 3 Romances Op. 94 BRITTEN Temporal Variations SCHUMANN 5 Stücke im Volkston Op. 102 HELEN GRIME 3 Miniatures for oboe and piano SCHUMANN Adagio and Allegro in A b Op. 70 (for oboe and piano) BRITTEN Phantasy Quartet for oboe and string trio Op. 2 HELEN GRIME Oboe Quartet MOZART Oboe Quartet in F K370 Benjamin Britten provides the lynchpin in this programme, connecting his love for Schumann and Mozart with his concern to encourage young composers. Britten’s Temporal Variations was first performed at Wigmore Hall in December 1936; Phantasy Quartet, meanwhile, dates from his earlier years as a student at the Royal College of Music. Helen Grime, who studied oboe at the RCM, offers her contemporary perspective on the instrument. ‘Although I rarely play anymore,’ she observes, ‘I have retained a strong bond with the instrument.’

GEMINIANI Concerto Grosso ‘La Folia’ GÓRECKI Harpsichord Concerto Op. 40 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Violin Concerto (Concerto accademico) HOLST St Paul’s Suite GÓRECKI 3 Pieces in Old Style VIVALDI Concerto in B minor for 4 violins Op. 3 No. 10 BRITTEN Simple Symphony Op. 4 ‘This is one set of musicians you really need to see live to fully appreciate’ The Scotsman

Supported by the Supporter Friends of Wigmore Hall

The Scottish Ensemble’s Wigmore Hall series continues with a selection of string music characteristic of its distinctive programming style, offering fresh perspectives on familiar works and making unexpected connections between them. The UK’s only professional string orchestra is increasingly in demand worldwide, having recently performed in Austria, Belgium, China and Turkey, and with a major tour of the USA set for April 2013.

Chamber Music Season

£15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE

Joanne Green

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

TAKÁCS QUARTET A SSOCIATE ART ISTS Few can match the Takács Quartet’s majestic music-making or the revelatory power of its artistry. Last January John Gilhooly announced that he had appointed the group to hold the new position of Associate Artists from the 2012/13 season. ‘I am very pleased to welcome back the Quartet to the Wigmore stage,’ he noted. ‘We all look forward to many marvellous years of music-making.’ Launching its tenure at the end of 2012 with performances of Benjamin Britten’s string quartets, the Takács Quartet now turns its focus to jewels of the Austro-German chamber music repertoire by Brahms, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. Wednesday 20 February 7.30 pm

Wednesday 20 February 9.45 pm

Wigmore Hall Associate Artists

POST-CONCERT TALK

TAKÁCS QUARTET LAWRENCE POWER viola

Post-concert talk with the TAKÁCS QUARTET, LAWRENCE POWER and ANNETTE MORREAU

BRAHMS String Quartet in A minor Op. 51 No. 2 HAYDN String Quartet in B b Op. 76 No. 4 ‘Sunrise’ BRAHMS String Quintet in G Op. 111 Wigmore Hall’s Associate Artists direct their searching artistry to the interpretation of compositions deeply rooted in their collective DNA. Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’ Quartet received its apt nickname thanks to the ascending theme that emerges above sustained chords in the work’s first movement. The thematic wealth and aural beauty of Brahms’s late String Quintet in G, performed in company with master violist Lawrence Power, enrich this alluring programme. £15 £20 £25 £30 Supported by an anonymous donor

Chamber Music Season/Takács Quartet: Associate Artists Photo by Allen Appel

£3 (not part of subscription scheme)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Takács Quartet: Associate Artists Friday 22 February 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Associate Artists

TAKÁCS QUARTET CHARLES OWEN piano See page opposite for details Forthcoming concerts in this series Wednesday 8 May 7.30 pm Repeated Friday 10 May 7.30 pm

TAKÁCS QUARTET RALPH KIRSHBAUM cello

Friday 22 February 1.30 pm – 2.30 pm

MIDORI SCHOOLS’ CONCERT KEY STAGE 2 SCHOOLS’ CONCERT School children are offered a unique opportunity to hear renowned violinist Midori in the intimate setting of Wigmore Hall. Performing violin sonatas by a range of composers including Bach and Beethoven, this is a chance for the next generation of string players to hear her exceptional playing. Please note that this concert will be a traditional programme with limited interactive elements. We therefore encourage older children in Key Stage 2 to attend. £2.50 (not part of subscription scheme) Supported by The Monument Trust

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Midori: Celebrating 20 Years of Community Outreach

Friday 22 February 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Associate Artists

TAKÁCS QUARTET CHARLES OWEN piano BRAHMS String Quartet in C minor Op. 51 No. 1 HAYDN String Quartet in D Op. 76 No. 5 BRAHMS Piano Quintet in F minor Op. 34 In 2007 the Takács recorded Brahms’s monumental F minor Piano Quintet for the second time. The Grammy Award-nominated album was praised by Gramophone for its ‘fire and passion’. The Quartet is joined for this performance by British pianist Charles Owen, known as an acutely sensitive chamber musician. The fifth of Haydn’s Op. 76 collection stands as the penultimate work in the composer’s final and most adventurous set of string quartets, completed in 1797 and dedicated to Count Joseph Erdödy. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/Takács Quartet: Associate Artists

Saturday 23 February 3.00 pm – 4.00 pm

MIDORI: CONCERT FOR CARERS As part of our ongoing commitment to our local community, Wigmore Hall Learning presents this Saturday afternoon concert for carers and the people they care for, with violinist Midori. There will also be the opportunity to meet representatives from Music for Life, Wigmore Hall and Dementia UK’s pioneering project with people living with dementia. £1 (not part of subscription scheme)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Midori: Celebrating 20 Years of Community Outreach

CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN

Pia Clodi

Saturday 23 February 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

NASH ENSEMBLE CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN baritone MARIANNE THORSEN violin IAN BROWN piano BRIDGE Phantasie Piano Quartet in F # minor DELIUS Violin Sonata No. 2 FINZI By Footpath and Stile Op. 2 BUTTERWORTH Love Blows as the Wind Blows ELGAR Piano Quintet in A minor Op. 84 In repertoire written just before and after the First World War, baritone Christopher Maltman’s presentation of two touching song-cycles with string quartet accompaniment – Finzi’s Hardy setting By Footpath and Stile and Butterworth’s Love Blows as the Wind Blows – are framed by Frank Bridge’s lyrical early Phantasie Piano Quartet, Delius’s Second Violin Sonata and the Nash’s celebrated reading of Elgar’s evergreen Piano Quintet. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/British Series: Dreamers of Dreams

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Monday 25 February 1.00 pm

MARKUS WERBA baritone ANDREAS HAEFLIGER piano SCHUBERT Gesänge des Harfners I, II & III WOLF Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo SCHUMANN Dichterliebe

MODIGLIANI QUARTET

Jerôme Bonnet

Sunday 24 February 11.30 am

Studies at the Klagenfurt Conservatory and Vienna’s Musikuniversität introduced baritone Markus Werba to the Austrian way of giving voice to words and communicating poetic texts through the medium of song. His Lieder partner for this concert learned invaluable lessons about the art form at an early age from his father, the legendary Swiss tenor, Ernst Haefliger. This lunchtime recital moves into the impassioned world of Schumann’s Dichterliebe by way of settings of masterful poetry by Goethe and Michelangelo. £12 concs £10

MODIGLIANI QUARTET BEETHOVEN String Quartet in F Op. 135 RAVEL String Quartet in F

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

The Modigliani Quartet offers its vision of the last in what one Beethoven scholar memorably describes as the composer’s ‘introspective and exploratory final cluster of quartets’. The work’s finale contrasts the slow chords of its introduction with a swifter main theme, the former accompanied in the manuscript by Beethoven’s question ‘Muss es sein?’ (‘Must it be?’), the latter with his emphatic answer, ‘Es muss sein!’ (‘It must be!’). £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert MARKUS WERBA

Sunday 24 February 7.30 pm

MIDORI violin ÖZGÜR AYDIN piano BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Op. 30 No. 3 BACH Violin Sonata No. 1 in B minor BWV1014 BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Op. 24 ‘Spring’ BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Op. 12 No. 1 BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor Op. 108 Midori celebrated twenty years of her pioneering education and community outreach at Wigmore Hall earlier this season. Returning to London on 22 and 23 February to give concerts for schoolchildren and local carers, she now trains her focus on ‘the Three Bs’, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, iconic figures in the history of western classical music and giants in the field of human creativity. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/Midori: Celebrating 20 Years of Community Outreach 42

MIDORI

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

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

Tuesday 26 February 7.30 pm

PAVEL HAAS QUARTET SCHNITTKE String Quartet No. 3 SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No. 8 in C minor Op. 110 BEETHOVEN String Quartet in B b Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge Op. 133

ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC

Marco Borggreve

Monday 25 February 6.30 pm

PRE-CONCERT TALK With RODOLFO RICHTER, musicians from the AAM and SARA MOHR-PIETSCH. Free (separate ticket required)

Listen to the opening of Schnittke’s Third String Quartet and you’ll hear resonant echoes of Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue and the D-S-C-H motto from Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet. Beethoven was almost totally deaf when he wrote his Op. 133, an earthshattering double fugue for string quartet that contemplates the very essence of existence. Shostakovich dedicated his C minor quartet ‘in memory of the victims of fascism and war’, although it can also be interpreted as a haunted composer’s lament for the victims of Stalin’s Terror. £12 £18 £24 £28 Supported by the Benefactor Friends of Wigmore Hall

Chamber Music Season

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Monday 25 February 7.30 pm

ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC BERNARDA FINK mezzo-soprano RODOLFO RICHTER director, violin ITALIAN PASSIONS VERACINI Overture in G minor MERULA Aria: Hor ch’è tempo di dormire VIVALDI Concerto in E for violin RV271 ‘L’amoroso’ VIVALDI Aria: Sovvente il sole from Andromeda liberata VIVALDI Concerto in D for violin RV234 ‘L’inquietudine’ ALBINONI Concerto in C Op. 9 No. 9 FERRANDINI Cantata: Il pianto di Maria Brought to life by the ‘stirring storyteller’ Bernarda Fink, this AAM concert explores emotional extremes and the open-hearted Italian spirit. Merula’s canzonetta ‘Now it is time to sleep’ — depicting the Virgin Mary’s grief-stricken lullaby for her dying son — gives way to tender intertwinings of violin and voice in Vivaldi’s ‘Sovvente il sole’ and to his ecstatic and restless ‘L’amoroso’ and ‘L’inquietudine’ concertos. The programme is curated and directed by Rodolfo Richter, Associate Leader of the AAM and winner of the Antonio Vivaldi Violin Competition.

RODOLFO RICHTER

Marco Borggreve

£18 £24 £28 £32

Early Music and Baroque Series/Bernarda Fink Residency

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IESTYN DAVIES RESIDENCY: ‘A SINGULARITY OF VOICE’

IESTYN DAVIES

Marco Borggreve

Famed for the crystalline beauty of his voice and the breathtaking daring of his artistry, Iestyn Davies continues his Wigmore Hall Residency, the first ever for a countertenor. Wednesday 27 February 7.30 pm

IESTYN DAVIES countertenor Musicians from the ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC RICHARD EGARR harpsichord ARISE MY MUSE PURCELL Arise, my muse; Strike the viol; The Pale and the Purple Rose Music for 3 violins by GABRIELI, PACHELBEL and PURCELL PURCELL ’Tis nature’s voice; Crown the altar; If Music be the Food of Love CLARKE The Glory of the Arcadian Groves BLOW Poor Celadon CROFT Ye tuneful numbers BLOW Suite from Venus and Adonis HUMFREY A hymn to God the Father PURCELL O solitude, my sweetest choice Iestyn Davies here follows in the repertoire steps of Alfred Deller, godfather of British countertenors and a pioneer in the revival of music from the time of the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution. This programme contains songs guaranteed to show why Davies is in such high demand at the world's most prestigious venues, as, with Richard Egarr and musicians from the AAM, he reaches back to the Restoration Court to reveal the wealth of musical riches of late 17th-century London. £18 £25 £30 £35 Supported by the Iestyn Davies Syndicate

Early Music and Baroque Series/Iestyn Davies Residency: ‘A Singularity of Voice’

THOMAS DEMENGA ‘BUILDING ON BACH’

THOMAS DEMENGA

Philippe Pache

Thomas Demenga’s artistic pedigree contains lines connecting him with such inspirational teachers as Leonard Rose and Mstislav Rostropovich and enduring ties to a veritable Who’s Who of other great musicians. The Swiss cellist, composer and teacher, born in Bern in 1954, reaches the midway point of ‘Building on Bach’ with a programme that delivers exactly what the series title suggests. Demenga will use period and modern instruments to suit each of the works in his thought-provoking solo recital. Thursday 28 February 7.30 pm

THOMAS DEMENGA cello LUTOSL ´ AWSKI Sacher Variation BERIO Les mots sont allés BACH Cello Suite No. 4 in E b BWV1010 KLAUS HUBER Transpositio ad infinitum BACH Cello Suite No. 3 in C BWV1009 Johann Sebastian Bach’s contemplative Fourth Cello Suite and the rhythmic élan and eloquent lyricism of his Third Cello Suite are performed by Thomas Demenga in company with three contrasting miniatures written in the mid-1970s as a 70th-birthday offering to the Swiss musician and arts patron Paul Sacher: Witold Lutosl´awski’s quicksilver Sacher Variation, Luciano Berio’s ‘recitativo’ for solo cello, Les mots sont allés, and Klaus Huber’s plaintive Transpositio ad infinitum. £15 £20 £25 £30

Forthcoming concert in this series

Chamber Music Season/Thomas Demenga ‘Building on Bach’

Friday 5 July 7.00 pm

Forthcoming concert in this series

IESTYN DAVIES countertenor THOMAS DUNFORD lute

Sunday 19 May 7.30 pm

THOMAS DEMENGA cello

Friday 1 March 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

HEROES AND VILLAINS KEY STAGE 1 SCHOOLS’ CONCERT Join international countertenor IESTYN DAVIES and characters from 18th-century opera for a concert of glorious arias and diva behaviour. Travel on a marvellous musical journey and explore the costumes, drama and characters of the time. Accompanied by a teachers’ resource pack. £2.50 (not part of subscription scheme) Supported by The Monument Trust

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Iestyn Davies Residency: ‘A Singularity of Voice’

Friday 1 March 7.30 pm

CHRISTIANE OELZE soprano PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD piano SCHUMANN Frauenliebe und -leben Op. 42 DEBUSSY Chansons de Bilitis MESSIAEN Harawi Under Pierre Laurent-Aimard’s artistic direction, the Aldeburgh Festival received a 2012 Royal Philharmonic Society Award not least for the depth and imagination of his programming. Those qualities apply equally to the choice of repertoire for his recital with Christiane Oelze. Aspects of love inform each collection of songs to be performed in this concert, from the multifaceted emotions of Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben to Messiaen’s elusive, complex exploration of the Wagnerian notion of lovedeath in his rarely heard song-cycle Harawi. £15 £20 £25 £30

Song Recital Series

CHRISTIANE OELZE

Natalie Bothur

Saturday 2 March 7.30 pm

TETZLAFF QUARTET HAYDN String Quartet in C Op. 20 No. 2 BERG Lyric Suite BEETHOVEN String Quartet in A minor Op. 132 Christian Tetzlaff and his eponymous Quartet have lived with Berg’s works for many years and developed a close affinity for the kaleidoscope of tonal, thematic and expressive contrasts at the heart of the Viennese composer’s chamber music. Berg’s six-movement Lyric Suite dates from the mid-1920s and has been shown to harbour a ‘secret programme’ dedicated to his mistress, Hanna Fuchs-Robettin. Masterworks from an earlier age, including the second of Haydn’s groundbreaking Op. 20 quartets and Beethoven’s cathartic Op. 132, complete this programme. £15 £20 £25 £30 Supported by the Season Patrons who have made a major contribution to the 2012–13 Wigmore Series

Chamber Music Season/Christian Tetzlaff: Artist in Residence TETZLAFF QUARTET

Alexandra Vosding

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

Sunday 3 March 11.30 am

KUNGSBACKA PIANO TRIO BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in D Op. 70 No. 1 ‘Ghost’; Piano Trio in G Op. 1 No. 2 Named for the Swedish town in which it made its debut in the late 1990s, the Kungsbacka Piano Trio enjoys an enviable international reputation thanks to the vitality and vision of its interpretations. They direct their thoughts here to the thematic invention, formal scope and expansive harmonies of two of Beethoven’s irresistible works for piano trio. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

IGOR LEVIT

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Felix Broede

Monday 4 March 1.00 pm

IGOR LEVIT piano SCHUBERT/LISZT Sei mir gegrüsst S558 No. 1 SCHUBERT 6 Moments Musicaux D780 LISZT Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi sonata from Années de pèlerinage S161

KUNGSBACKA PIANO TRIO

Hanya Chlala

Sunday 3 March 4.00 pm

BENEDICT NELSON baritone MALCOLM MARTINEAU piano SCHUMANN Liederkreis Op. 24 IRELAND The Three Ravens GURNEY The Twa Corbies WARLOCK The Fox BRITTEN From Songs and Proverbs of William Blake: The Tyger; The Fly POULENC Le bestiaire RAVEL From Histoires naturelles: Le cygne; Le martin-pêcheur CAPLET Le corbeau et le renard from 3 Fables of Jean de La Fontaine

Liszt’s version of ‘Sei mir gegrüsst’ preserves the tender lyricism of Schubert’s original song while deepening its harmonic palette and intensifying its yearning qualities. The considerable technical demands made by Schubert in his Moments Musicaux and even more so by Liszt in his Dante Sonata hold no fears for BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Igor Levit. The GermanRussian pianist has been lauded for his ability to balance the precise demands of keyboard virtuosity with spontaneity in performance. £12 concs £10 Igor Levit is a member of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Benedict Nelson, identified by the Daily Telegraph as best opera newcomer of 2009, continues to attract critical attention with performances of uncommon maturity and eloquence. Last season he won new admirers in the title-role of English National Opera’s Billy Budd. The London-born baritone won the Guildhall School of Music’s Gold Medal in 2007 and has since worked closely with Sir Thomas Allen as a Samling Foundation Scholar. £12 concs £10

Song Recital Series

BENEDICT NELSON

Chris Gloag

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

ANDRÁS SCHIFF B E E T H OV E N PI A NO S O N ATA S András Schiff’s complete survey of Beethoven’s piano sonatas is sure to be remembered as one of this season’s most significant musical events. The Hungarian-born British pianist charts the composer’s artistic development as he journeys towards the crowning glories of the ‘thirty-two’, the ‘Hammerklavier’ and the last three sonatas, Opp. 109, 110 & 111. Of the latter, Schiff notes that they are ‘so great … words fail’. His mature thoughts on Beethoven rest on over four decades of deep study of these inexhaustible works, their inner workings and spiritual substance. Monday 4 March 7.30 pm

Monday 11 March 7.30 pm

ANDRÁS SCHIFF piano

BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 16 in G Op. 31 No. 1; Sonata No. 17 in D minor Op. 31 No. 2 ‘The Tempest’; Sonata No. 18 in E b Op. 31 No. 3; Sonata No. 21 in C Op. 53 ‘Waldstein’

BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 27 in E minor Op. 90; Sonata No. 28 in A Op. 101; Sonata No. 29 in B b Op. 106 ‘Hammerklavier’

£18 £25 £30 £35 (not part of subscription scheme)

Friday 8 March 7.30 pm

ANDRÁS SCHIFF piano BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 22 in F Op. 54; Sonata No. 23 in F minor Op. 57 ‘Appassionata’; Sonata No. 24 in F # Op. 78; Sonata No. 25 in G Op. 79; Sonata No. 26 in E b Op. 81a ‘Les Adieux’ £18 £25 £30 £35 (not part of subscription scheme)

There will be no interval during this performance. £18 £25 £30 £35 (not part of subscription scheme)

Friday 15 March 7.30 pm

ANDRÁS SCHIFF piano BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 30 in E Op. 109; Sonata No. 31 in A b Op. 110; Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111 There will be no interval during this performance. £18 £25 £30 £35 (not part of subscription scheme)

London Pianoforte Series/András Schiff: Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Photo by Yutaka Suzuki

Wednesday 6 March 6.00 pm

Wednesday 6 March 7.30 pm

RAZUMOVSKY ENSEMBLE MOZART String Quintet in C K515 SCHUBERT String Quintet in C D956 The swansong of Schubert’s chamber music output, the String Quintet in C major dates from the final year of the composer’s life. It is, as Jack Westrup memorably observed in the 1940s, ‘a work robust and courageous in expression and illuminated by shafts of tenderness that no one, having once heard them, can ever forget.’ Unforgettable, too, is Mozart’s C major String Quintet, created as a counterblast to its composer’s financial and personal troubles. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

MATTHEW POLENZANI

Dario Acosta

Thursday 7 March 7.30 pm

MATTHEW POLENZANI tenor JULIUS DRAKE piano LISZT Die stille Wasserrose; Im Rhein, im schönen Strome; Wie singt die Lerche schön; Kling leise, mein Lied; Es rauschen die Winde; S’il est un charmant gazon; Enfant, si j’étais roi; Comment, disaient-ils; Oh! quand je dors RAVEL Cinq mélodies populaires grecques SATIE Trois mélodies BARBER Hermit Songs Op. 29 With his distinctive and richly cultured lyric voice, Matthew Polenzani is blessed with the ability to shape the finest of bel canto phrases and sustain the quietest sounds. The American tenor’s latest Wigmore Hall programme includes emotionally charged songs by Liszt, which Polenzani and Julius Drake have recorded to critical acclaim. He also offers Ravel’s five Greek folksong settings, in part based on seductive melodies collected on the Aegean island of Chios in the late 1890s. £15 £20 £25 £30

Song Recital Series/Julius Drake: ‘Perspectives’

Friday 8 March 7.30 pm

ANDRÁS SCHIFF piano See previous page for full details OLEG KOGAN, Artistic Director, Razumovsky Ensemble

Robert Cassen

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

Saturday 9 March 7.30 pm

Sunday 10 March 11.30 am

SIMON KEENLYSIDE baritone MALCOLM MARTINEAU piano

ARCANTO QUARTET

WOLF Harfenspieler I; Wie sollt ich heiter bleiben; Blumengruss; Bei einer Trauung; Der Rattenfänger; Jägerlied; Denk’ es, o Seele!; Prometheus; Der König bei der Kronung FAURÉ From L’horizon chimérique: Je me suis embarqué; Diane Séléné FAURÉ Aubade; Barcarolle RAVEL Don Quichotte à Dulcinée POULENC Paganini; Montparnasse; Un poème; Attributs; Mazurka; Jacques Villon from Le travail du peintre

Four outstanding string soloists have found artistic communion as partners in the Arcanto Quartet, founded in 2002 and recently praised by the Daily Telegraph for the ‘freshness, close rapport, finesse, and … blend of eloquence and vitality’ of their performances. Haydn created his Seven Last Words from the Cross in the mid-1780s as an orchestral piece for the Good Friday service at Cadiz Cathedral. The work’s string quartet version offers a sublime meditation on Christ’s Passion.

HAYDN Seven Last Words from the Cross

Simon Keenlyside’s recital partnership with Malcolm Martineau has so far yielded four magnificent recordings and many exceptional live performances. Their artistic sights are trained in this concert on two immensely rich worlds of song. Hugo Wolf’s ability to enhance poetry registers with crystal clarity in his settings of Goethe’s ballad ‘Der Rattenfänger’ and Mörike’s mercurial ‘Jägerlied’. Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, Ravel’s last completed work, conveys the touching sincerity and self-delusion of Don Quixote’s love for the fair Dulcinea.

£12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Sunday 10 March 4.00 pm

ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC SONG CIRCLE

£18 £25 £30 £35 (not part of subscription scheme)

Song Recital Series

SÓNIA GRANÉ soprano ANGHARAD LYDDON mezzo-soprano SAMUEL FURNESS tenor GARETH JOHN baritone MANON ABLETT piano FINNEGAN DOWNIE DEAR piano

BENJAMIN BRITTEN THE LINGUIST: A RECITAL OF HIS SONGS IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN AND RUSSIAN Benjamin Britten wrote his first songs around the time of his ninth birthday, refined his innate ability to set words to music while a student at the Royal College of Music and developed to become one of the 20th-century’s greatest composers of song. The Royal Academy of Music Song Circle explores the rich range of Britten’s creative response to fine poetry. £12 concs £10

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

Song Recital Series

SIMON KEENLYSIDE

Benjamin Ealovega

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

Tuesday 12 March 7.30 pm

TRIO ZIMMERMANN See page opposite for full details

Wednesday 13 March 7.30 pm Sarah Walker 70th Birthday Concert

LAURA MITCHELL soprano SARAH WALKER mezzo-soprano KITTY WHATELY mezzo-soprano STEPHAN LOGES baritone ELEANOR BRON reciter GRAHAM JOHNSON piano

SARAH WALKER

Monday 11 March 1.00 pm

ARCANTO QUARTET BRAHMS String Quartet in B b Op. 67 HAYDN String Quartet in B minor Op. 64 No. 2 Tranquil summer days spent in the German village of Ziegelhausen left their mark on the String Quartet in B b, crafted in 1875 complete with a slow movement described by Brahms as ‘the most amorous, affectionate thing I have ever written’. The composer’s invented folk melodies course through much of his passionate score. The Arcanto Quartet contrasts Brahms with the second of Haydn’s Op. 64 quartets, almost certainly performed for the first time in London in 1791. £12 concs £10

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

ARCANTO QUARTET

Monday 11 March 7.30 pm

ANDRÁS SCHIFF piano

Marco Borggreve

LET US GARLANDS BRING: SHAKESPEARE CELEBRATION DANKWORTH The Complete Works SCHUBERT Ständchen; Trinklied WOLF Lied des transferierten Zettel SCHUBERT An Silvia BRAHMS Ophelia-Lieder STRAUSS Drei Lieder der Ophelia BERLIOZ La mort d’Ophélie HOROVITZ Lady Macbeth – a Scena DANKWORTH Dunsinane Blues ARNE Tell me where is fancy bred BRITTEN Fancie POULENC Fancy KODÁLY Tell me where is Fancy bred FINZI Let us garlands bring PARRY O mistress mine! VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Dirge for Fidele QUILTER O Mistress Mine RUBBRA Take, O take those lips away DANKWORTH Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? HORDER Under the greenwood tree BUSH It was a lover and his lass ARNE Where the bee sucks from The Tempest TIPPETT Where the bee sucks WOLF Elfenlied Whether singing Maria Stuarda, Mrs Sedley, Mistress Quickly or Schubert songs, Sarah Walker’s onstage presence, charismatic engagement with words and inimitable vocal artistry sealed her place among the leading British artists of the last half century. This concert, given two days after the mezzo-soprano’s 70th birthday, has been assembled by Graham Johnson to reflect the life-affirming passion and panache of his friend’s favourite recital repertoire and her long legacy as teacher and masterclass mentor. £15 £20 £25 £30

Song Recital Series

See page 47 for full details

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

Tuesday 12 March 7.30 pm

TRIO ZIMMERMANN Trio Zimmermann was formed in 2007 by violinist FRANK PETER ZIMMERMANN in company with violist ANTOINE TAMESTIT and cellist CHRISTIAN POLTÉRA. Its corporate tonal richness, technical excellence and perceptive musicianship are informed by central Europe’s long tradition of string trio playing. The Trio’s special qualities are also nourished by the solo accomplishments of each of its members. Frank Peter Zimmermann was Artist in Residence with the New York Philharmonic last season, while his colleagues performed concertos with, among others, the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. BEETHOVEN Serenade for String Trio in D Op. 8 HINDEMITH String Trio No. 2 BEETHOVEN String Trio in E b Op. 3 Hindemith’s rarely heard string trios deserve to be much better known. His Second String Trio, completed months after Hitler’s seizure of power in 1933, was proscribed by the Nazis. Even so, it was taken up by musicians outside the Third Reich and famously recorded by Szymon Goldberg, Hindemith and Emanuel Feuermann. The energy and élan of Beethoven’s early String Trio in E b, a keystone of Trio Zimmermann’s repertoire, find reverberant echoes in the opening movement of Hindemith’s work. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

Photo by Mats Backer

Saturday 16 March 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

NASH ENSEMBLE MARTYN BRABBINS conductor SAMUEL WEST reciter* ELEANOR BRON reciter* *subject to availability

BRITTEN AND WALTON FILM AND RADIO MUSIC BRITTEN Sinfonietta Op. 1 for winds and strings; Night Mail for reciter and ensemble; The Way to the Sea for reciter and ensemble; The Sword in the Stone – concert suite for ensemble WALTON Henry V – A Musical Scenario for reciter and ensemble

Free (ticket required)

The Nash’s pioneering programme of film and radio music by Britten and Walton, presented with leading actors, includes the iconic Night Mail, the less familiar The Way to the Sea and the atmospheric score for The Sword in the Stone. Walton’s music for Shakespeare’s Henry V receives a memorable framework here, given in its concert version as a ‘Musical Scenario’ to make a fitting close to the ‘Dreamers of Dreams’ series. An afternoon film show of the original Night Mail and Laurence Oliver’s Henry V provides a stirring introduction to the evening.

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

£18 £24 £28 £32

NASH ENSEMBLE

Hanya Chlala/ArenaPAL

Thursday 14 March 6.00 pm

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE Pre-concert performance by quartets who took part in the National Young String Quartet Weekend earlier in March at Chetham’s School of Music.

Chamber Music Season/British Series: Dreamers of Dreams Thursday 14 March 7.30 pm

BELCEA QUARTET THOMAS QUASTHOFF narrator

Sunday 17 March 11.30 am

See page opposite for full details

NASH ENSEMBLE

Friday 15 March 7.30 pm

ANDRÁS SCHIFF piano See page 47 for full details

Saturday 16 March 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm

TALK AND FILM SHOWINGS Introductory talk followed by film showings of Night Mail (music by BRITTEN) and Laurence Olivier’s Henry V (music by WALTON). £10 concs £8 (not part of subscription scheme)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/British Series: Dreamers of Dreams

Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Quintet in D for piano, clarinet, horn, violin and cello ˘ ÁK Piano Quintet in A Op. 81 DVOR The return of Vaughan Williams’s early chamber music to performance – largely through the activities of the Nash – brought to an end a nearcentury ban on performance. It precedes many of the familiar RVW fingerprints, but all is wellmade and has a cherished poetry all of its own. Notable among these is the Quintet for piano, clarinet, horn and strings, hinting at the way his music would go. It is paired with Dvor˘ák’s wellloved and exhilarating Piano Quintet of 1887. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert/British Series: Dreamers of Dreams

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BELCEA QUARTET THOMAS QUASTHOFF AS NARRATOR In their late chamber pieces, Haydn and Beethoven harnessed the power of their musical language to transcend mundane cares and inspire listeners to contemplate the infinity of creation. The Belcea Quartet’s interpretations of both composers’ mature output are blessed with the vision and inventive strength required to span the vast spiritual dimensions of Beethoven’s String Quartet in C # minor Op. 131 and the timeless drama of Haydn’s Seven Last Words from the Cross. Thomas Quasthoff’s speaking voice, coloured by his extraordinary former singing career, is sure to add gravitas to the Quartet’s latest Wigmore Hall programme. Thursday 14 March 7.30 pm

BELCEA QUARTET THOMAS QUASTHOFF narrator BEETHOVEN String Quartet in C # minor Op. 131 HAYDN Seven Last Words from the Cross Haydn’s devotional masterwork reflects on the final words of Jesus from the Cross, framed by a meditative slow introduction and chilling final depiction of the earthquake that followed the saviour’s death. Thomas Quasthoff makes a welcome return to the Wigmore Hall stage to narrate the Belcea Quartet’s vision of the Seven Last Words. The Belceas begin with an exploration of the profound spirituality and abiding humanity of Beethoven’s String Quartet in C sharp minor, written soon after the unsuccessful suicide bid of the composer’s nephew in 1826. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

Photo by Evy Ottermans

THOMAS QUASTHOFF

Harald Hoffmann/DG

Sunday 17 March 4.00 pm

ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET

SOPHIE BEVAN soprano SEBASTIAN WYBREW piano PURCELL O solitude, my sweetest choice SCHUBERT Das Marienbild; Die Einsiedelei SCHUMANN Der Einsiedler SCHUBERT Die junge Nonne WOLF From Spanisches Liederbuch: Herr, was trägt der Boden hier; Die ihr schwebet SCHUBERT Das Zügenglöcklein; Seligkeit BARBER Nocturne Op. 13 No. 4 LENNOX BERKELEY Lay your sleeping head, my love BARBER Hermit Songs Op. 29 Love offered freely and without qualification surfaces as a theme in Sophie Bevan’s recital programme, a condition expressed with heart-aching candour in Wolf’s setting of the Spanish folk text ‘Herr, was trägt der Boden hier’ and Lennox Berkeley’s ‘Lay your sleeping head, my love’. The lyric soprano, winner of The Times Breakthrough Award at the 2012 South Bank Sky Arts Awards, also explores the sweet solitude of miniature masterpieces by Barber, Purcell, Schubert and Schumann. £12 concs £10

Song Recital Series

ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET

Marco Borggreve

Since winning the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 1992, the St. Lawrence Quartet has delighted audiences with its spontaneous, passionate and dynamic performances. The St. Lawrences, noted Alex Ross in The New Yorker, ‘are remarkable not simply for the quality of their music-making … but for the joy they take in the act of connection.’ Last season, they joined the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Michael Tilson Thomas to give the world première of John Adams’s Absolute Jest, adding to their long list of commissions and first performances. This pair of programmes, complete with Osvaldo Golijov’s new quartet, offers a vivid snapshot of St. Lawrence life. Sunday 17 March 7.30 pm

ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET BEETHOVEN String Quartet in B b Op. 18 No. 6 OSVALDO GOLIJOV New work (UK première) ˘ ÁK String Quartet No. 14 in A b Op. 105 DVOR The first programme opens with the last of Beethoven’s Op. 18 string quartets, in which the composer showed his unfailing mastery of the style developed by Haydn and Mozart. Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov enhanced his long and fruitful association with the St. Lawrences in 2011 when he created Qoheleth for the group, a new work inspired by core texts from the book of Ecclesiastes. Dvor˘ák’s final string quartet brings the concert to a joyful close. SOPHIE BEVAN

Robin Workman

£12 £18 £24 £28

Chamber Music Season

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Monday 18 March 1.00 pm

ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET HAYDN String Quartet in D Op. 71 No. 2 BEETHOVEN String Quartet in C Op. 59 No. 3 ‘Razumovsky’ Two landmarks in string quartet history form this lunchtime recital. The St. Lawrence String Quartet’s ability to draw and hold audience attention is ideally suited to the subtle musical argument of Haydn’s String Quartet in D, one of three elaborate works completed in Vienna in 1793 and first performed in London the following year. The third of Beethoven’s ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets reflects advances recently made by the composer during the creation of his pioneering Third Symphony.

CLAIRE BOOTH

Sven Arnstein

Tuesday 19 March 7.30 pm

£12 concs £10

Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence

NASH ENSEMBLE CLAIRE BOOTH soprano PHILIPPA DAVIES flute RICHARD HOSFORD clarinet LAWRENCE POWER viola IAN BROWN conductor

BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Tuesday 19 March 6.00 pm

PRE-CONCERT TALK COMPOSERS IN FOCUS ANTHONY BURTON in conversation with DAVID MATTHEWS.

NASH INVENTIONS – A 70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FOR DAVID MATTHEWS DAVID MATTHEWS Clarinet Quartet Op. 35 JAMES FRANCIS BROWN New work for flute, clarinet, string quartet & harp (world première)*† MICHAEL BERKELEY Three Rilke Sonnets for soprano and ensemble* DAVID MATTHEWS ‘A Blackbird Sang’ for flute and string trio (world première)* ‡ JULIAN ANDERSON Prayer for solo viola* DAVID MATTHEWS The Sleeping Lord Op. 58 for soprano and ensemble* * Nash Ensemble commissions. † Co-commissioned by

Free (ticket required)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

Wigmore Hall. ‡ Supported by the Britten-Pears Foundation and the John S Cohen Foundation

The Nash Ensemble complements its ‘Dreamers of Dreams’ series with a 70th-birthday tribute to David Matthews, whose output reflects his lifelong love of British music, literature and landscape. The concert includes the première of his Flute Quartet, together with two earlier works written for the Nash, the 1984 Clarinet Quartet and The Sleeping Lord, a setting of lines inspired by Arthurian legend. The all-British programme also contains recent Nash commissions from Michael Berkeley and Julian Anderson, and a new ensemble work commissioned, at Matthews’s suggestion, from James Francis Brown. £12 £14 £18 £22

Chamber Music Season DAVID MATTHEWS

Clive Barda

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

GEORGE BENJAMIN SERIES London-born George Benjamin began composing at the age of seven and gained granite-like foundations for his future career through childhood composition and piano lessons with Peter Gellhorn. He went on to study with Olivier Messiaen in Paris and Alexander Goehr at Cambridge University, while attracting international attention with his orchestral work Ringed by the Flat Horizon. Wigmore Hall’s George Benjamin Series, a significant addition to the venue’s growing commitment to contemporary chamber music and song, presents fascinating perspectives on the composer’s diverse works within the context of programmes of music by his influences and colleagues. Booking for all events in this series opens to Friends on 8 October, to Mailing List Subscribers on 19 October and to the General Public on 1 November. Wednesday 20 March 7.30 pm

Saturday 6 April

FRETWORK SUSAN BICKLEY mezzo-soprano TABEA ZIMMERMANN viola ANTOINE TAMESTIT viola GEORGE BENJAMIN piano

GEORGE BENJAMIN DAY

ALEXANDER GOEHR Three sonnets and two fantasias; from Shadow of Night; Sur terre, en l’air GEORGE BENJAMIN Piano Figures; Viola, Viola; Upon Silence £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season/George Benjamin Series

11.30 am

CAROLIN WIDMANN violin JACQUES ZOON flute MARINO FORMENTI piano GEORGE BENJAMIN Sonata for violin and piano; Flight; Shadowlines CHRISTIAN MASON Heaven’s Chimes Are Slow GEORGE BENJAMIN Three Miniatures for solo violin; Three Studies All seats £10

6.00 pm

PRE-CONCERT TALK With GEORGE BENJAMIN and JOHN GILHOOLY All seats £3

7.30 pm

BIRMINGHAM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC GROUP REBECCA BOTTONE soprano HILARY SUMMERS contralto GEORGE BENJAMIN conductor FRANCESCO ANTONIONI Ballata DAVID SAWER Rumpelstiltskin Suite (co-commissioned by BCMG and Wigmore Hall) GEORGE BENJAMIN Into the Little Hill £15 £20 £25 £30

DAY TICKET £30 (not including Pre-Concert Talk)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/ George Benjamin Series

Photo by Matthew Lloyd

Saturday 23 March 2.00 pm

LITERARY BRITTEN ANDREW KENNEDY tenor IAIN BURNSIDE piano ALEX JENNINGS reader

A RECITAL OF MUSIC AND READINGS BY BENJAMIN BRITTEN AND W H AUDEN BRITTEN On This Island TIM WATTS Six Songs to Orpheus (London première) BRITTEN Fish in the unruffled lakes SUSAN BULLOCK

Ann-Marie Le Blé

Friday 22 March 7.30 pm

SUSAN BULLOCK soprano MALCOLM MARTINEAU piano Songs by SCHUMANN, DEBUSSY and BRITTEN ‘Anything that happens in the world affects me: politics … literature, people,’ wrote Robert Schumann to his beloved Clara Wieck in 1838. The monumentally gifted young musician absorbed impressions formed in life and gave them profound expression in his compositions. Susan Bullock’s recital explores the multilayered impulses and complex emotions at work in Lieder, mélodies and songs by Schumann, Debussy and Britten. £18 £25 £30 £35

Benjamin Britten and W H Auden met in July 1935, quickly developing a close friendship and highly productive working relationship. Their relationship was a rare example of a living poet and composer mutually influencing each other's work, and developing their political and artistic views alongside each other. This programme of music by Britten, interspersed with Auden’s poetry, alongside a new work by Tim Watts, reflects the themes that were current concerns to Britten and Auden in the 1930s – love, travel, politics, in particular the rise of fascism and impending war, and their connection to words and music. £10 concs £8 (not part of subscription scheme)

Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Song Recital Series

Song Recital Series

Saturday 23 March 11.00 am – 12.00 noon

FAMILY CONCERT SIR SCALLYWAG AND THE GOLDEN UNDERPANTS With ENSEMBLE 360 and POLLY IVES For age 5 plus When King Colin’s Golden Underpants go missing and the royal bottom is bared, it’s Sir Scallywag to the rescue! Brave and bold, he’s the perfect knight for the job … and what does it matter that he’s only six! Alongside pieces such as Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks and Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Sir Scallywag features lots of audience participation and illustrated projections (including a brief appearance of the King’s bottom!). Based on the book written by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Korky Paul and published by Puffin, Penguin Books Ltd. Music by Paul Rissmann. Adults £7 Children £5 (not part of subscription scheme)

W H AUDEN AND BENJAMIN BRITTEN IN THE 1930s

Wigmore Hall Learning’s Family programme is supported by Mayfield Valley Arts Trust and The Monument Trust. Ensemble 360 is supported by Grants for the Arts and Mayfield Valley Arts Trust

Wigmore Hall Learning Event

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

Sunday 24 March 11.30 am

QUATUOR EBÈNE

QUATUOR EBÈNE HAYDN String Quartet in C Op. 76 No. 3 ‘The Emperor’ BARTÓK String Quartet No. 4 Haydn and Bartók belong to the bedrock of the Ebène’s repertoire. The Quartet marks the 85th anniversary year of Bartók’s Fourth String Quartet, a five-movement work completed in the summer of 1928, and generally regarded as the most original and uncompromising of his compositions. Haydn’s ‘Emperor’ Quartet bears witness to the composer’s complete mastery of the string quartet medium. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

Sunday 24 March 7.30 pm

VIKTORIA MULLOVA violin PAOLO GIACOMETTI fortepiano 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’ QUATUOR EBÈNE

Julien Mignot

Quatuor Ebène has made a cardinal virtue of flexibility, stamping its performances with authenticity in everything from the quartets of Mozart and Debussy to jazz improvisations on tunes by Lennon and McCartney. The Gramophone Awardwinning ensemble, founded at the Conservatoire in BoulogneBillancourt in 1999, is devoted to the cause of boundary breaking, a pursuit that places risk high on its list of artistic ambitions and invariably sees its members striving to push their creative limits in performance. Quatuor Ebène’s jawdropping blend of invention and daring has guaranteed its place among the finest quartets on the international scene.

All bar one of Beethoven’s violin sonatas date from the turn of the 19th century and were written, unlike many contemporary works of their kind, with professional players in mind. By 1803, the year in which he completed the ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, Beethoven had fully absorbed the structural strategies of Mozart and Haydn to create a blend of formal precision and drama with striking instrumental virtuosity. £15 £20 £25 £30

Chamber Music Season

Saturday 23 March 7.30 pm

QUATUOR EBÈNE FANNY MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in E b FELIX MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor Op. 13; String Quartet No. 6 in F minor Op. 80 Quatuor Ebène’s thoughts on Mendelssohn, certain to be fully alive to the composer’s genius, demand to be heard. The Quartet’s programme is built around the String Quartet No. 2 in A minor Op. 13, in reality the 18-year-old composer’s first mature quartet, a work inspired by and indebted to Mendelssohn’s deep study of Beethoven’s late string quartets. £12 £18 £24 £28

Chamber Music Season

VIKTORIA MULLOVA

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

Monday 25 March 7.30 pm

BERNARDA FINK mezzo-soprano MALCOLM MARTINEAU piano SCHUMANN Lied eines Schmiedes; Meine Rose; Kommen und Scheiden; Die Sennin; Einsamkeit; Der schwere Abend; Requiem MAHLER Frühlingsmorgen; From Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Das irdische Leben; Das himmlische Leben WOLF From Spanisches Liederbuch: Nun wandre, Maria; Die ihr schwebet; Ach, des Knaben Augen; In dem Schatten meiner Locken; Bedeckt mich mit Blumen; Mögen alle bösen Zungen MAHLER Five Rückert Lieder

VILDE FRANG

Marco Borggreve

Monday 25 March 1.00 pm

VILDE FRANG violin MICHAIL LIFITS piano

Schumann invested his Op. 90 settings of poetry by Nikolaus Lenau with feverish energy, passion and improvisatory freedom. The Lenau songs are crowned by the composer’s overtly dramatic response to lines from the Requiem Mass. Bernarda Fink’s recital is charged with wonderful narrative poetry and crowned by Mahler’s peerless Rückert Lieder, exquisite in their musical and expressive range. Her programme also reflects the seductive tonal warmth and sensual beauty of songs from Wolf’s Spanisches Liederbuch. £15 £20 £25 £30

Song Recital Series/Bernarda Fink Residency

MENDELSSOHN Violin Sonata in F LUTOSL ´ AWSKI Partita for violin and piano BRAHMS 3 Hungarian Dances: No. 11 in A minor, No. 17 in F # minor, No. 2 in D minor Vilde Frang, born in Norway in 1986, made her debut with the Oslo Philharmonic and Mariss Jansons at the age of twelve. She first appeared at Wigmore Hall in 2009 and returns for a recital that reflects her delightful programming flair. Frang marks Lutosl´awski’s centenary year with one of his finest late works, the Partita for violin and piano. The Partita’s improvisatory sections pre-echo the spontaneity and élan of Brahms’s Hungarian Dances, with their folk-based melodies and irresistible rhythmic vitality. £12 concs £10

MALCOLM MARTINEAU

Russell Duncan

Tuesday 26 March 7.30 pm

STILE ANTICO See page 61 for full details BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert Wednesday 27 March 7.30 pm

IMOGEN COOPER piano See page 62 for full details

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

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER CONCERTS In the Christian calendar, Holy Week and Easter contain the year’s most important feast days. Wigmore Hall’s seasonal reflections, presented by leading period performance specialists, connect with the despair of Christ’s Passion, the meditative mood preceding Eastertide and the joyful news of the holy saviour’s resurrection in a series of music from the High Baroque.

‘Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene’ by Charles de la Fosse, c.1685

Tuesday 26 March 7.30 pm

Saturday 30 March 7.30 pm

STILE ANTICO

FLORILEGIUM ASHLEY SOLOMON director ELIN MANAHAN THOMAS soprano SALLY BRUCE-PAYNE mezzo-soprano JAMES OXLEY tenor JIMMY HOLLIDAY bass

MISERERE: PENITENTIAL MUSIC BY BYRD AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES BYRD Miserere mei TALLIS Salvator mundi I MORLEY Nolo mortem peccatoris TALLIS Absterge Domine BYRD Memento, homo TALLIS Purge me, O Lord WHITE Lamentations BYRD Emendemus in melius TALLIS In jejunio et fletu BYRD Attend mine humble prayer TALLIS Miserere nostri BYRD Miserere mihi SHEPPARD Haste thee O God BYRD Infelix ego Stile Antico presents a sequence of music by Byrd and his contemporaries appropriate for the season of Lent, traditionally a time of self-examination, penitence and rededication to God. This programme spans a strikingly wide range of styles, from the briefest of English-texted prayers by Byrd, Tallis, Morley and Sheppard to Robert White’s great five-voiced Latin Lamentations. The programme closes with the mighty Infelix ego, to words written by Girolamo Savonarola while awaiting his execution. Savonarola’s text inspired Byrd to create one of the greatest achievements of English sacred polyphony, suffused with humanity and compassion.

TELEMANN Overture and conclusion from Tafelmusik BACH Cantata BWV158 ‘Der Friede sei mit dir’ BACH Easter Oratorio BWV249 ‘Kommt eilet und laufet’ Over the past twenty years Florilegium has given many outstanding Bach programmes at Wigmore Hall. This year, to celebrate the Easter weekend, the ensemble performs Bach’s jubilant Easter Oratorio and his brief and tender cantata for the third day of Easter, ‘Der Friede sei mit dir’ (‘Peace be with you’), originally written in Leipzig in the late 1720s. The concert opens with Telemann’s virtuosic Overture and the conclusion from his eternally popular Tafelmusik. £18 £25 £30 £35

£15 £20 £25 £30

Monday 1 April 7.30 pm

Supported by the Season Patrons who have made a major contribution to the 2012–13 Wigmore Series

Early Music and Baroque Series/ William Byrd Sacred Music Series/Holy Week and Easter Concerts

LONDON HANDEL ORCHESTRA ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD conductor JULIA DOYLE soprano (as Maddalena) STEFANIE TRUE soprano (as Angelo) ANNA STARUSHKEVYCH

Thursday 28 March 7.30 pm

mezzo-soprano (as Cleofe) Tenor to be announced (as Giovanni)

THE ENGLISH CONCERT THE CHOIR OF THE ENGLISH CONCERT LAURENCE CUMMINGS director, organ BACH Christ lag in Todesbanden BWV4 BIBER Missa Christi resurgentis The English Concert and Choir perform music for Holy Week, opening with the Easter cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden, perhaps Bach’s earliest surviving sacred vocal work. Laurence Cummings directs a performance of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s rarely heard Missa Christi Resurgentis, which was most likely written in 1674 for performance on Easter Day in Salzburg Cathedral. The Bohemian-born composer crafted a suitably lavish setting of the Latin Mass for the edification of his powerful employer, the PrinceArchbishop of Salzburg. £15 £20 £25 £30

LUKAS JAKOBSKI bass (as Lucifero) HANDEL La Resurrezione HWV47 La Resurrezione was written for performance at Easter in Rome in 1708 during the season when opera was banned in the city by papal decree. Handel’s sacred oratorio offers a dramatic portrayal of the battle that took placed between God (represented by an Angel) and the Devil after Jesus’s crucifixion. This is one of the composer’s most colourful scores, small wonder given that the excellent orchestra at its first performances was led by the famous Italian violinist, Arcangelo Corelli. £15 £20 £25 £30

Early Music and Baroque Series/ Holy Week and Easter Concerts

IMANI WINDS

Russell Duncan

Sunday 31 March 11.30 am Wednesday 27 March 7.30 pm

IMANI WINDS

IMOGEN COOPER piano

MENDELSSOHN Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (arr. Gabler) RAVEL Le tombeau de Couperin (arr. Mason Jones) ELLIOTT CARTER Woodwind Quintet BARBER Summer Music Op. 31 VALERIE COLEMAN Tzigane

SCHUBERT 16 German Dances D783; 6 Moments Musicaux D780; Drei Klavierstücke D946; Piano Sonata in G D894 In 1847 an anonymous German critic declared that Schubert ‘understood most clearly and felt most deeply the contact and force of Beethoven’s music’. The Viennese composer was much more than a faithful disciple, however. Schubert’s original keyboard works embrace everything from the joyful German Dances of 1823–24 to the lyrical Three Piano Pieces. Imogen Cooper here explores the uplifting nature of Schubert’s dance-inspired pieces together with what she describes as the ‘completely serene’ Piano Sonata in G. £18 £25 £30 £35 Supported by the Schubert Syndicate

London Pianoforte Series/Schubert: A Celebration

Repertoire diversity, multicultural bridge-building and scintillating ensemble playing are among the sterling qualities owned by Imani Winds. The New York-based quintet’s 2006 album, The Classical Underground, received a Grammy Award nomination and generated a thick folder of five-star reviews. Its spirit of musical adventure courses through this concert, which includes Tzigane by the group’s flautist, Valerie Coleman, Elliott Carter’s piquant Woodwind Quartet of 1948 and a jaw-droppingly beautiful arrangement of Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin. £12 concs £10 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice

Sunday Morning Coffee Concert

IMOGEN COOPER

Benjamin Ealovega

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

EVENTS FOR FAMILIES, YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS All events listed on pages 63 – 65 will open for booking on 1 November 2012, with the exception of the Family Concerts on 2 February and 23 March, Come and Sing on 16 February, and Midori: Concert for Carers on 23 February, which go on sale to Friends on 8 October and to Mailing List Subscribers on 19 October. Family Events are supported by Mayfield Valley Arts Trust and The Monument Trust Saturday 2 February 11.00 am – 12 noon

THE MUSIC FACTORY For age 5 plus A repeat of the Calefax concert on 1 February, for families. Adults £7 Children £5

Wednesday 6 February 5.30 pm

YOUNG PRODUCERS CONCERT

www.benjaminharte.co.uk

Saturday 26 January 10.30 am – 3.30 pm

WRITE YOUR OWN HEROINE FAMILY DAY

Teenagers from secondary schools in Tower Hamlets have been working with Wigmore Hall Learning as Young Producers to programme this unique concert for young people, by young people. Keep up to date with developments by visiting www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/learning/ young-producers Supported by The Monument Trust and Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service

For age 5 plus Join composer JAMES REDWOOD to discover some of the heroes and heroines who come alive on the Wigmore Hall stage, and have a go at writing and staging your own songs to perform at the end of the day. Adults £12 Children £8

Friday 1 February 11.00 am – 12 noon

THE MUSIC FACTORY KEY STAGE 2 SCHOOLS’ CONCERT Join the five wacky woodwind musicians from the CALEFAX REED QUINTET for a tale of tubes, pipes and whistles. Set in a Music Factory, this extraordinary show is packed full of musical humour and re-workings of Mozart, Debussy, Bach and Prokofiev, including opportunities for the audience to join in. An ideal concert for children learning the recorder. www.benjaminharte.co.uk

Tickets £2.50 Supported by The Monument Trust

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

Saturday 16 February 10.00 am – 3.30 pm

COME AND SING: BRITTEN As part of the Hall’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s birth, ISABELLE ADAMS leads a day of singing workshops for adults, inspired by Britten and his contemporaries. Learn some new songs, join in with fun vocal warm-ups and finish the day with a performance on the Wigmore Hall stage. Adults £18 Concessions £10

Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 February 10.00 am – 3.30 pm both days

STRIKE A CHORD HALF-TERM COURSE For ages 11 – 16 Join Wigmore Hall Learning’s resident ensemble IGNITE and an exciting guest guitarist for this two-day half-term course. Get stuck into writing and playing some brand new music of your own, make new friends, and finish by performing your pieces on the Wigmore Hall stage at the end of the course. Open to all instrumentalists, but may be especially exciting for budding guitarists. £40 for the two-day course Supported by Mayfield Valley Arts Trust and The Monument Trust

www.benjaminharte.co.uk

Friday 22 February 1.30 pm – 2.30 pm

MIDORI SCHOOLS’ CONCERT KEY STAGE 2 SCHOOLS’ CONCERT School children are offered a unique opportunity to hear renowned violinist MIDORI in the intimate setting of Wigmore Hall. Performing violin sonatas by a range of composers including Bach and Beethoven, this is a chance for the next generation of string players to hear her exceptional playing. Please note that this concert will be a traditional programme with limited interactive elements. We therefore encourage older children in Key Stage 2 to attend. Tickets £2.50 Supported by The Monument Trust

Saturday 23 February 3.00 pm – 4.00 pm

MIDORI: CONCERT FOR CARERS As part of our ongoing commitment to our local community, Wigmore Hall Learning presents this Saturday afternoon concert for carers and the people they care for, with violinist MIDORI. There will also be the opportunity to meet representatives from Music for Life, Wigmore Hall and Dementia UK’s pioneering project for people living with dementia. Tickets £1 www.benjaminharte.co.uk

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

Thursday 28 February – Sunday 3 March

NATIONAL YOUNG STRING QUARTET WEEKEND AT CHETHAM’S SCHOOL OF MUSIC If you are in a string quartet at school or college, this is a fantastic opportunity to take part in an intensive weekend of coaching and performance with leading chamber music coaches and the CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET. For more information or to apply, contact Ruth Wheal at rwheal@wigmore-hall.org.uk.

Friday 1 March 11.00 am – 12 noon

HEROES AND VILLAINS KEY STAGE 1 SCHOOLS’ CONCERT Join international countertenor IESTYN DAVIES and characters from 18th-century Opera for a concert of glorious arias and diva behaviour. Travel on a marvellous musical journey and explore the costumes, drama and characters of the time. Accompanied by a teachers’ resource pack. Tickets £2.50 Supported by The Monument Trust

Saturday 23 March 11.00 am – 12 noon

SIR SCALLYWAG AND THE GOLDEN UNDERPANTS FAMILY CONCERT With ENSEMBLE 360 and POLLY IVES For age 5 plus

www.benjaminharte.co.uk

Saturday 2 March 10.30 am – 3.30 pm

UNWRITTEN BRITTEN FAMILY DAY For age 5 plus Join workshop leader RUS PEARSON and musicians from the Royal Academy of Music for this fun family workshop inspired by Britten’s Serenade for tenor, horn and strings. Spend the day making music together and finish by performing your new works on the Wigmore Hall stage.

When King Colin’s Golden Underpants go missing and the royal bottom is bared, it’s Sir Scallywag to the rescue! Brave and bold, he’s the perfect knight for the job … and what does it matter that he’s only six! Alongside pieces such as Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks and Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Sir Scallywag features lots of audience participation and illustrated projections (including a brief appearance of the King’s bottom!). Based on the book written by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Korky Paul and published by Puffin, Penguin Books Ltd. Music by Paul Rissmann. Adults £7 Children £5 Ensemble 360 is supported by Grants for the Arts and Mayfield Valley Arts Trust

Adults £12 Children £8 In partnership with the Royal Academy of Music

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

Booking Information

BOOKING DATES BOOKING PERIOD 2 Thursday 3 January – Sunday 31 March 2013 Friends Priority booking form to reach the Box Office by 8 October Mailing List Priority booking form to reach the Box Office by 19 October

Benjamin Ealovega

WIGMORE HALL BOX OFFICE 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP

General Public

Tel: 020 7935 2141

By telephone/online from 1 November

Online Booking: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk Email: (not for bookings) boxoffice@wigmore-hall.org.uk

SUBSCRIPTION BOOKINGS TICKETS

WIGMORE SERIES SUBSCRIPTION (excludes Coffee Concerts, BBC Lunchtime Concerts and other events where stated) Book 12 or more concerts at a 5% discount

BBC LUNCHTIME CONCERT SUBSCRIPTIONS

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

Book 10 or more concerts at a 5% discount Book all concerts in any one booking period at a 10% discount

A-D BALCONY

COFFEE CONCERT SUBSCRIPTIONS

T- X

Book 10 or more concerts at a 5% discount Book all concerts in any one booking period at a 10% discount

Q -S N-P

To qualify for a subscription, the same number of tickets need to be booked for each event. Any tickets bought in addition to a subscription series must be paid for at the full rate.

STA LLS C-M A -B CC BB AA

CC BB

PL ATFO RM

Discounts cannot be combined.

BOOKING INFORMATION 3 January – 31 March 2013

BOX OFFICE HOURS

CAR PARKING

7 days a week: 10.00 am–8.30pm. Days without an evening concert 10.00am–5.00pm. No advance booking during the half-hour prior to performance.

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 participates 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.

TELEPHONE BOOKINGS 7 days a week: 10.00 am–7.00 pm. Days without an evening concert 10.00am–5.00pm. There is a non-refundable £2.00 administration charge for each transaction. This includes the return of your tickets by post if time permits.

FACILITIES FOR DISABLED PEOPLE Full details from 020 7258 8210

POSTAL BOOKINGS Please make cheques payable to Wigmore Hall with the amount left open but stating an upper limit, and add an administration charge of £2.00. Tickets will then be sent by post. ONLINE BOOKINGS Online booking is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is a £1.00 administration charge online. You can select your own seat and make subscription bookings online. TICKETS FOR CONCESSIONS Where a concession (concs) ticket price is listed these are available to students, senior citizens and the unemployed.

OXFORD CIRCUS BOND STREET

GROUP BOOKINGS Discounts of 10% are available for groups of 12 or more, subject to availability. RESTAURANT/BAR Wigmore Hall has its own restaurant and bars serving pre-concert and interval refreshments. Visit www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/restaurant or call 020 7258 8292 for further information. TRANSPORT Tubes: Bond Street (Central, Jubilee lines), Oxford Circus (Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines). Buses: A number of bus routes pass along Oxford Street.

This brochure is available in alternative formats. Please contact the Box Office if this would be of assistance to you. Telephone: 020 7935 2141 Email: boxoffice@wigmore-hall.org.uk Information in this brochure was correct at the time of printing. The right is reserved to substitute artists and to vary programmes if necessary. Cover photos by Benjamin Ealovega Cover design by WLP Ltd. www.whitelabelproductions.co.uk Brochure design and production by Peter Williamson

BOOKING INFORMATION 3 January – 31 March 2013

Supporting Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall’s size brings an unparalleled sense of intimacy to every performance and is loved by audiences and musicians alike. However, the limitation that this places on audience numbers means that ticket sales alone cannot meet all our costs. Additional support from individuals, companies and charitable foundations is vital in order to ensure that the world’s finest musicians, together with promising young performers, can continue to appear at Wigmore Hall. If you would like to support the Hall by becoming a Friend, or by sponsoring a concert or Learning event, please call 020 7258 8230 or email friends@wigmore-hall.org.uk for more information. The Wigmore Hall Trust is very grateful to the individuals and organisations listed below who have made an investment in our concert, learning and community programmes this season: HONORARY PATRONS Aubrey Adams Donald Kahn OBE Sir Ralph Kohn FRS and Lady Kohn Mr and Mrs Paul Morgan

SEASON PATRONS 2012/13 Aubrey Adams* American Friends of Wigmore Hall Karl Otto Bonnier* William and Alex de Winton* The Fidelio Charitable Trust David B Rockwell* Cita and Irwin Stelzer* ’Scilla and Tony Thornton* and several anonymous donors

CORPORATE SUPPORTERS Café de Colombia Capital International Limited (corporate matched giving) Clifford Chance LLP Complete Coffee Ltd Duncan Lawrie Private Banking Hutton Collins Partners LLP Lloyds TSB Private Banking Martin Randall Travel Ltd Oracle Capital Group Rosenblatt Solicitors Rothschild

DONORS AND SPONSORS Mr Eric Abraham and Miss Natasha Abraham* Neville and Nicola Abraham Elaine Adair Tony and Marion Allen* The Andor Charitable Trust David and Jacqueline Ansell* Mr and Mrs Stephen Arthur Arts Council England Anthony Austin David and Margaret Beaton Alan Bell-Berry Mr Nicholas J Bez Mrs Arline Blass* Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust David and Mary Bowerman* Alan Bradley* Britten–Pears Foundation Rainer and Doreen Burchett* Gwen and Stanley Burnton* Clive Butler A bequest from the late Peter Canter

Cavatina Chamber Music Trust Charities Advisory Trust City of Westminster Eric Clause* Edwin C Cohen* The John S Cohen Foundation Sonia and Harvey Cole John Crisp* Peter Crisp and Jeremy Crouch* Judy Davies and Kingsley Manning* Anthony Davis* Henry and Suzanne Davis The Dorset Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust J L Drewitt Dunard Fund Annette Ellis* Vernon and Hazel Ellis The Elton Family Dr C A Endersby and Prof D Cowan The Equitable Charitable Trust Mrs Susan Feakin Peter and Sonia Field John and Amy Ford S E Franklin Charitable Trust No. 3 Friends of Wigmore Hall Jonathan Gaisman* The Garrick Charitable Trust J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust John Gilhooly John and Lauren Goldsmith* Nicholas and Judith Goodison* Elizabeth Gordon The Gordon Foundation Charles Green Mr and Mrs Rex Harbour* The Hargreaves and Ball Trust André and Rosalie Hoffmann Gay Huey Evans* Graham and Amanda Hutton* Simone Hyman* John Lyon’s Charity Marc Jourdren* Donald and Jeanne Kahn* Jerome Karet* David and Louise Kaye* Sir Ralph Kohn FRS and Lady Kohn* The Kohn Foundation Christian Kwek and David Hodges* Maryly La Follette* Su Lesser and Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS* Dame Felicity Lott* Simon and Pamela Majaro Mayfield Valley Arts Trust

The Wigmore Hall Trust, registered charity number 1024838

Milton Damerel Trust The Monument Trust Mr and Mrs Paul Morgan Amyas and Louise Morse* Valerie O’Connor and Jeannette McIntosh A bequest from the late Richard Oake The Geoffrey Parsons Memorial Trust Lionel and Lynn Persey* The Piano Fund Dr Clive Potter* Oliver Prenn Nick and Claire Prettejohn* The Rayne Foundation Charles Rose* Jackie Rosenfeld OBE, Hon. RCM* Ruth Rothbarth* The Rubinstein Circle RVW Trust The Sampimon Trust The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust Richard Sennett and Saskia Sassen* Victoria Sharp* Martin and Elise Smith* John Stephens OBE, Hon. FTCL* Alisa and Joshua Swidler* Katja and Nicolai Tangen* The Tertis Foundation Allen Thomas and Jane Simpson* Tower Hamlets Arts Music and Education Service John and Ann Tusa* Marina Vaizey* Kathleen Verelst* Robin Vousden* Gerry Wakelin Marie-Luise Waldeck Andrew and Hilary Walker* Michael and Rosemary Warburg Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement David and Frances Waters* Anne and David Weizmann* Mrs Mary Weston The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation Philip and Emeline Winston The Wolfson Foundation Worshipful Company of Information Technologists Simon Yates and Kevin Roon* The Zochonis Charitable Trust and several anonymous supporters * also Rubinstein Circle members

New Releases on Wigmore Hall Live

Anna Caterina Antonacci soprano Donald Sulzen piano L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra Dawn divides the light from the shadows

Songs by Hahn, Tosti, Cilea, Refice, Cesti & Respighi

Forthcoming release in the 2012/13 Season:

Roderick Williams baritone Helmut Deutsch piano

Maxim Vengerov violin Itamar Golan piano

Schumann Kerner Lieder Op. 35 & Songs by Wolf, Korngold & Mahler

Bach Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin BWV1004 Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’

CDs priced £9.99 available from www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/live, 020 7935 2141 and stores nationwide

EUROPE’S LEADING VENUE FOR CHAMBER MUSIC AND SONG

‘Nearly every night of the year, there’s something of note... It’s easy to start feeling that the Wigmore is London music.’ SUNDAY TIMES

Director: John Gilhooly 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP Box Office Tel: 020 7935 2141