www.list.co.uk/music Classical Music
works by Peter Maxwell Davies and Geryon by Janet Beat. ■ RSNO: The Firebird Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£32 (concessions available). See Thu 22. ■ Scottish Opera: Katya Kabanova Platform, The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Road, Easterhouse, 276 9696. 7.30pm. £10 (£5). See Thu 22.
Edinburgh ■ Metropolitan Opera: Aida Cameo, 38 Home Street, 0871 704 2052. 6–10pm. £25 (£19.50–£21.50). The Met brings to life a glittering, opulent ancient Egypt in Verdi’s epic opera, broadcast live as part of its Live in HD series. With Violeta Urmana in the title role and Johan Botha as Radames. Daniele Gatti conducts.
Perth ✽✽ Scottish Ensemble: Side by Street, 01738 621031. 7.30pm. £12–£14.50. See Fri 23. Side Perth Concert Hall, Mill
Sunday 25
Glasgow FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3pm. Sunday promenade concerts with different organists. ✽✽ Scottish Ensemble: Side by Side City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 3pm. £12–£14.50 (concessions available). See Fri 23. ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Italian Girl in Algiers Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0870 060 6647. 4pm. £8.50–£63 (concessions available). Colin McColl directs a co-production with New Zealand Opera that brings Rossini’s spirited, fast-paced opera following the Turkish Bey Mustafa’s attempts to trade in his wife for a newer model onto the set of a TV soap. Soloists include bass Tiziano Bracci in his UK debut and Scottish mezzo- soprano Karen Cargill. FREE Aleksander Kudajczyk: Decade of Solidarity Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 7pm. A concert by the talented Polish pianist, who caused a media stir when he was discovered working as a cleaner in Glasgow in 2007. Edinburgh FREE Sunday Morning Music National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 225 7534. 10.45am. Enjoy a stroll through the National Museums to the talents of young saxophone quartet Sax Ecosse from Live Music Now! Scotland. FREE St Giles’ at Six: Paisley Philharmonic Choir St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. Retiring collection. Sacred works by Handel, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Stanford and Rutter. ■ Ludovico Einaudi Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £11–£27.50 (concessions available). Meditative pseudo-minimalism from the phenomenally successful Italian composer and pianist. Einaudi presents his latest project, Nightbook, a dreamlike meditation on the transition between light and dark, effected through a close blend of amplified piano and strings.
Dunfermline ■ Simon Thacker and Nava Rasa Ensemble: Inner Octaves Carnegie Hall, East Port, 01383 602302. £12 (£10). Virtuoso guitarist Simon Thacker leads a voyage through the confluence of Asian and Western musical cultures, focusing on the work of two leading composers whose works have masterfully juxtaposed the two: Nigel Osborne and Shirish Korde.
Monday 26
Glasgow ■ Songs of Love and War RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £5 (£3). The RSAMD’s Song Studio explores the work of the father of opera, Monteverdi. FREE Lemur Quartet Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 7.30pm. The Norwegian group of composers and improvisers blends classical composition, free jazz and contemporary sound, performing on flute, cello, horn and double bass.
Edinburgh ✽✽ FREE The New Music Experience The Queen’s Hall,
87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.45pm. Ecat presents an informal showcase of some of the best up-and-coming talent, featuring flautist Richard Craig, cellist Su- a Lee and pianist Simon Smith.
Tuesday 27
Glasgow FREE Organ Recital: Kevin Bowyer Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 1.10pm. The third suite of Louis Vierne’s Pièces de Fantaisie. ■ Guitar Music from Around the World Ramshorn Theatre, 98 Ingram Street, 548 2558. 1.15pm. £4. Ben Kearsley takes a musical trip to Spain and Italy, finishing off in the USA with Andrew York’s Sunburst. ■ Bones Apart Trombone Quartet RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £9 (£6). Now in its tenth year, the all-female quartet has established itself as a leading chamber group and performs at the RSAMD for its only Scottish date. Edinburgh FREE The Edinburgh Quartet Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh University, Bristo Square, 650 2427. 1.10pm. The acclaimed ensemble performs Peter Nelson’s Perseverance, Stuart Taylor’s cello solo Train of Thought and Szymanowski’s Quartet No 1. ■ Scottish Chamber Orchestra: CL@Six St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road, 668 2019. 6pm. £12 (concessions available). The SCO’s CL@Six series kicks off with a musical trip through myth and legend. The suite from Henry Purcell’s most popular opera King Arthur and his beautiful Chacony are followed by selections from Rameau’s opera Dardanus. ■ Mr McFall’s Chamber St John’s Church, Princes Street, 668 2019. 8.30pm. £10 (£8). With soprano Susan Hamilton and tenor Nicholas Mulroy, the ensemble plays music by Gavin Bryars ahead of the release next month of its recording of his works. Free glass of cava at the end.
Wednesday 28 Glasgow ■ Simon Thacker and Nava Rasa Ensemble: Inner Octaves The Old Fruitmarket, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 8pm. £12.50. See Sun 25.
Thursday 29
Glasgow ■ Westbourne Music Merchants House, 7 West George Street, 649 5347, 12.45pm. £7 (£3/£6). Scottish Opera Orchestra leader Tony Moffat in a virtuoso violin recital featuring the Chaconne by JS Bach. FREE Edinburgh Quartet Glasgow University Concert Hall, University Avenue, 330 4092. 1.10pm. Shostakovich’s Quartet No 8 and Schumann’s Quartet in A major. ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Italian Girl in Algiers Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0870 060 6647. 7.15pm. £8.50–£63 (concessions available). See Sun 25. 22 Oct–5 Nov 2009 THE LIST 81
PREVIEW BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS SIR PETER MAXWELL DAVIES’ 75TH BIRTHDAY Various venues, Glasgow, Thu 29 Oct–Sun 8 Nov; Edinburgh, Sat 31 Oct
One of the UK’s best known and loved musicians, Master of the Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, celebrates his 75th birthday with a festival of events presented by some of his dearest friends. That they happen to be the country’s leading orchestras and ensembles is no coincidence as Max (as he is universally known) has developed close and lasting relationships with a large range of musicians over the astonishing breadth of his career. Eighteen works by the Orkney-resident composer will be heard in 12 events in Glasgow (and, to a lesser extent, Edinburgh), involving no less than ten orchestras and ensembles. He has written across every genre of music – symphonies and concertos, operas, music theatre, films, ballet scores, children’s operas, for choirs, for soloists, light music, dark music, religious music, chamber music – it is an endless list. New for the festival is Max’s latest piece – Overture, St Francis of Assisi
– which receives its world premiere in performance by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov. The RSAMD, Hebrides Ensemble, Scottish Ensemble and Red Note also all pay tribute, but it is the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with whom Max has had the longest and most fruitful association. ‘He became our Composer Laureate in the 90s,’ says SCO Managing Director Roy McEwan, ‘but was an important figure for the orchestra before then, especially through the previous decade when he wrote the set of ten Strathclyde Concertos for us.’ Altogether, Max has written 19 major scores for the SCO, a reflection of the prolific and wide-ranging nature of his work. ‘He is also passionate about the community aspect of music,’ says McEwan, ‘and educational work. He is very public in championing issues affecting young musicians.’
For their homage to Max, the SCO return to his Symphony No 4, which they first performed at the BBC Proms 20 years ago. In the audience was Oliver Knussen, who conducts the SCO in Glasgow and Edinburgh in not only the symphony, but also his own Music for a Puppet Court, which is dedicated to Max. (Carol Main)
■ RSNO: The Firebird Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £10–£32 (concessions available). See Thu 22. ■ The Sixteen: The Choral Pilgrimage 2009 Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £10–£14 (£5–£7). The world leading early music ensemble celebrates its 30th anniversary with sacred music by two British composers with outstanding legacies: Henry Purcell and James MacMillan. The programme includes MacMillan’s haunting O bone Jesu, which was commissioned by the ensemble. ✽✽ Scottish Ensemble: Side by Side The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.45pm. £12–£14.50 (£9–£11). Clio Gould joins Jonathan Morton in Bach’s wonderful Concerto in D minor for two violins, and is soloist in Berio’s Corale. RSAMD students join in for Tippett’s
Concerto for Double String Orchestra and Vaughan Williams’ intoxicating Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.
Saturday 24 Glasgow ■ Scottish Opera: The Elixir of Love Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0870 060 6647. 7.15pm. £10–£49 (£7–£43). A revival of Giles Havergal’s massively successful 1994 production of Donizetti’s charming opera buffa. The comedy of errors follows the peasant Nemorino’s misguided attempts to win the love of the haughty Adina with a love potion, and features some of Donizetti’s most sparkling and moving music. Soloists include Elena Xanthoudakis and Edgaras Montvidas. FREE Glasgow Pipeworks: Tom Bell Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 7.30pm. The organist performs