Music Classical

Edinburgh Get Organised Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 1.30pm. £3. John Kitchen presents a programme of baroque highlights by Bach, Handel, Purcell and some of their lesser-known contemporaries.

Thursday 8

Adventures of Mr Broucek Glasgow Sax Ecosse The Merchant House, 7 West George Street, 649 5347. 12.45pm. £7 (£3–£6). Sax Ecosse, winners of the Enterprise Music Scotland Residency Project 2007, perform all American saxophone quartets by Maslanka, Bernstein and Gershwin. ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 7.15pm. £17–£36. Dissolute and disillusioned, Janácek’s comic hero relocates to the moon for a better life. When the lunar avant-garde prove to be too much he travels instead back to 15th- century Prague, where he is sentenced to death in a beer barrel. The surreality is underlined by Janá_ek’s colourfully original score. Co-produced with Opera North, directed by John Fulljames and with soloists John Graham Hall, Frances McCafferty and Donald Maxwell.

Edinburgh Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Spring Serenade The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £8.50–£26 (concessions available). Celebrated violinist Baiba Skride is soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5 (‘Turkish’) in this spring concert which opens with Haydn’s 1791 March for the Royal Society of Musicians (founded in 1738 as a ‘Fund for Decay’d Musicians’ and still going strong), and finishes on an airy, pastoral note with Brahms’ Serenade No 1.

Friday 9

Glasgow ✽✽ FREE Scottish Opera: The Adventures of Mr Broucek

Unwrapped Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 6pm. If the thought of sitting through a full-length opera fills you with trepidation, or if you’re a seasoned opera-goer with an interest in what happens backstage, this hour-long taster is a perfect introduction to the workings behind the scenes and an introduction to the principal characters and plot. Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Spring Serenade City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £11–£24 (concessions available). See Thu 8.

Edinburgh FREE City of Cardiff Concert Band Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate, 7pm. The band perform works by Holst and Vaughan Williams alongside

numbers from films and musicals. Edinburgh International Harp Festival Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £9–£12 (£7–£10). Six day music festival devoted to harps of all shape and size. Concerts, workshops and classes for all levels including complete beginners. Part of Ceilidh Culture. Edinburgh International Harp Festival: Martin Portillo/Triona Marshall Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). Two virtuoso harpists from two very different traditions: Martin Portillo presents traditional Paraguayan music for harp as well as his own compositions, while Chieftains member Triona Marshall represents the great Irish tradition. Part of Ceilidh Culture. Main Street Singers from San Francisco Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). American Chamber Choir Main Street Singers comprises 34 voices young adults from diverse backgrounds who share a passion for song. Under the direction of Mark Andrew Shaull, the troupe perform works by Byrd, Britten, Rutter, Nelybel and Whitacre.

Saturday 10

Glasgow ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Adventures of Mr Broucek

Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 7.15pm. £17–£36. See Thu 8. RSNO A Little Knight Music! Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £17.50–£32 (£10–£13). RSNO: Tchaikovsky Serenade Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£32 (concessions available). The wind, brass and string sections of the RSNO get to show off their considerable skills in this concert, which features Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments and Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous Serenade, before coming together in Richard Strauss’ famous tone poem, Don Quixote, featuring the cellist Daniel Müller-Schott.

Edinburgh FREE Lunchtime Concert St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. Retiring collection. See Fri 9. Edinburgh International Harp Festival Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £9–£12 (£7–£10). See Fri 9. Edinburgh International Harp Festival: Gwenan Gibbard/ Hoot Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). Flute and harp duo Hoot perform an exciting mix of music from around the world, while rising Welsh star Gwenan Gibbard plays traditional dance tunes, gypsy songs and variations on traditional themes. Part of Ceilidh Culture. Edinburgh Youth Orchestra

Spring Concert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £15 (£12). Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Beethoven’s violin concerto from the orchestra and soloist Daniel Bell.

Sunday 11

Glasgow ✽✽ Edinburgh Youth Orchestra Spring Concert RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £15 (£12). See Sat 10. Edinburgh Edinburgh International Harp Festival Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 3pm & 7.30pm. £9–£12 (£7–£10). See Fri 9. St Giles at Six St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. Retiring collection. Solo cellist Veronica Henderson performs Bach’s Suite No 2 in D minor BWV 1008 andSuite No 3 in C major BWV 1009. National Children’s Orchestra of Scotland Spring Concert Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7pm. £10–£14 (concessions available). The stirring Vltava from Smetana’s affectionate tribute to his homeland, Ma Vlast, kicks off this concert, which features the talents of bassoonist Karen Geoghagan in Carol Jacobi’s Introduction and Polonaise. Also on the programme are Shostakovich’s Tahiti Trot and a majestic finale with the last movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 2. Second half is given over to the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland. Edinburgh International Harp Festival: Tom Duan/ Enzo Vacca Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). Tom Duan plays folk harp tunes from the Renaissance and Baroque eras as well as his own compositions, while Italian Enzo Vacca is joined by three Scottish musicians to play pieces gathered by 19th century diplomat, folklorist and poet Constantino Nigra. Part of Ceilidh Culture.

Monday 12

Glasgow National Children’s Orchestra of Scotland Spring Concert Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7pm. £10–£14 (concessions available). See Sun 11. Edinburgh Edinburgh International Harp Festival Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 3pm & 7.30pm. £9–£12 (£7–£10). See Fri 9.

Tuesday 13 Edinburgh Get Organised Usher Hall, Lothian

Road, 228 1155. 1.30pm. £3. Series of regular organ recitals by John Kitchen, this one entitled ‘The English Romantic Tradition’ and featuring Percy Whitlock’s Sonata in C minor and works by Francis Jackson and Howells. Edinburgh International Harp Festival: Francois Pernel and Emily Hoile Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 3–4pm. £10. Pernel plays arrangements for harp of music composed in the style of Satie, Chopin, Scriabin and Messaien, as well as traditional music. Geordie Hoile, meanwhile, plays traditional and original folk from around Scotland and England. Part of Ceilidh Culture. Edinburgh International Harp Festival Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 3pm & 7.30pm. £9–£12 (£7–£10). See Fri 9. FREE 20th Century British Organ Music (1951–2000) St Mary’s Cathedral, 23 Palmerston Place, 225 6293. 8pm. Edinburgh Society of Organists’ president Andrew Caskie is joined by organist Jeremy Cull for the second of a two-part exploration of 20th century British organ music. Hawick FREE The Trinity Belles Beanscene, Tower Mill, Kirkstile, 01450 376 228. 12.30pm. Free lunchtime recitals from these students at the Trinity College of Music in London.

Wednesday 14

Edinburgh Edinburgh International Harp Festival: Isobel Mieras, Tamnak Prathon Junior Harp Ensemble and The RS Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 3pm–4pm. £9 (£7). Isobel Mieras’ suite The Megget Valley is performed by the Festival Orchestra and members of na Clarsairean. The triple bill is completed by a young harp ensemble from Thailand and the cream of RSAMD’s young musicians. Part of Ceilidh Culture. Edinburgh International Harp Festival Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 228 1155. 3pm & 7.30pm. £9–£12 (£7–£10). See Fri 9. ✽✽ Scottish Opera: The Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street, 529 6000. 7.15pm. £14–£62. See Thu 8. Chamber Philharmonic Europa Powerful Emotions Tour 2010 St Mary’s Cathedral, 23 Palmerston Place, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £15 (£11–£13). Chamber Philharmonic Europe orchestra in concert with award-winning soloists K Gusarov (trumpet) and B Balogh (violin), performing works by Vivaldi, Mozart, Purcell, Albinoni and Grieg. Adventures of Mr Broucek

Glenrothes Fife Electronic Organ Society Concert Glenwood High School, South Parks Road, 01592 264820.

Janáček

The Adventures of Mr Brouček A beer-fuelled journey through space & time

80 THE LIST 1–15 Apr 2010