Music Classical
Peebles ■ Mr McFall’s Chamber & Michael Marra Eastgate Theatre & Arts Centre, Eastgate, 01721 725777. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). A colourful patchwork quilt of pieces from around the world as Mr McFall’s once again teams up with Marra. New workings of his songs are performed alongside instrumental works from Finland, 19th-century salon music from Cuba, folk-influenced classical music from the Czech Republic and tango music from Argentina.
Thursday 20
Glasgow ■ Westbourne Music The Merchant House, 7 West George Street, 649 5347. 12.45pm. £7 (£3–£6). Regular recital partners violist Jessica Beeston and pianist Andrew Johnston give a recital to include Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata. ■ BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: North by North-East 5 City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7pm. £10–£23 (concessions available). The final instalment in the BBC SSO’s musical voyage through the North sees Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 3 rubbing shoulders with Shchedrin’s sparkling showpiece Concerto for Orchestra No 1 (‘Naughty Limericks’) and Tchaikovsky’s magnificent Piano Concerto No 1. Conducted by Stefan Solyom, with guest soloist Simon Trpceski. ■ Angela Hewitt with the Basel Chamber Orchestra Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £15–£28 (concessions available). Angela Hewitt is widely regarded to be the most accomplished interpreter of Bach’s keyboard works in the world today. She demonstrates why in a selection of the composer’s concertos, joined by the highly acclaimed Basel Chamber Orchestra. Edinburgh ■ Scottish Opera – Five:15 Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 7.30pm. £15. Following the success of last year’s Five:15, Scottish Opera has again teamed up with some of Scotland’s leading creative figures to produce a new set of 15-minute operas. All different in character, style and subject matter, they provide an informal introduction to where opera is headed in the 21st century. Tickets are available from www.hubtickets.co.uk
Friday 21
Glasgow FREE Music for Malawi Ramshorn Theatre, 98 Ingram Street, 548 2558. 5pm. Strathclyde University Chorus and music students perform some well-known tunes to raise money for the University’s Malawi Millennium Project. Drop in for a long as you like, have a drink, and remember to put a donation in the pot. ■ RSNO Junior Chorus City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£15. Five separate choirs comprising talented young singers perform alongside the RSNO in a celebration of their 30th anniversary. Christopher Bell conducts. Edinburgh ■ Lunchtime Concert St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. Retiring collection. Norwegian ladies’ choir Varia Vocalis performs. ■ Scottish Opera – Five:15 Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 7.30pm. £15. See Thu 20.
Saturday 22
Glasgow ■ All Britain & Ireland Festivals of Male Voice Praise Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7pm. £10–£14. The 400-strong gospel choir hailing from Britain, Ireland and further afield celebrates its 75th anniversary. 80 THE LIST 13–27 May 2010
■ Glasgow Orchestral Society Sherbrooke St Gilbert’s Church, Nithsdale Road, Pollokshields, 7.30pm. £10 (£6; first concert £5). A concert of late Romantic works conducted by Marco Romano. Verdi’s Nabucco overture is followed by Brahms’ fiendishly virtuosic Violin Concerto, performed by Barbara Downie, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 4. Edinburgh ■ A Musical Evening at Surgeons’ Hall in Celebration of the Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Surgeons’ Hall Museum, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Nicolson Street, 527 1649. 6.30pm. £14 (£10). Scottish musicians Feargus Hetherington and Will Pickvance perform music from the time of Conan Doyle in an evening introduced by Dr Alan Mackaill, author of Conan Doyle and Joseph Bell: The Real Sherlock Holmes, which also includes a private viewing of the museum’s collections. ■ Bach: Mass in B minor St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). The Edinburgh Bach Choir performs Bach’s magnificent liturgical work. ■ Edinburgh Light Orchestra The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £6–£9.50. Following last year’s sell-out concert, this year soprano Elizabeth McKeon joins the orchestra for an evening of favourites from stage, screen, classics and light music, including songs from Les Misérables, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz and popular classics. ■ Scottish Opera – Five:15 Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 7.30pm. £15. See Thu 20.
Sunday 23
Glasgow ■ All Britain & Ireland Festivals of Male Voice Praise Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 2.30pm. £10–£14. See Sat 22. FREE Kelvingrove Sunday Organ Recitals Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Argyle Street, 276 9599. 3–3.45pm. See Sun 16. ■ The Band of her Majesty’s Royal Marines Scotland City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £16. A musical extravaganza featuring an array of classics, showtunes and traditional military music. ■ We’ll Meet Again Café Cossachok, Trongate 103, 553 0733. 9pm. £6. Operatic arias, Russian, gypsy and Ukrainian tunes from violinist Lev Atlas, Georgi Gajjic on accordion and baritone Alexey Gusev. Edinburgh ■ St Giles’ at Six St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. Retiring collection. Walter Erdt conducts Bach’s Der Geist hilft unserer Schwacheit auf and Mendelssohn’s Te Deum for double choir, joined by organist Hans-Helmut Graeger.
Monday 24
Edinburgh ■ Lunchtime Concert St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 12.15pm. Retiring collection. The Genevans choir from Pennsylvania gives a lunchtime performance. FREE ■ Noisy Nights Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 8pm. Experimental new sounds in the company of Red Note Ensemble and its quirky combinations of instruments.
Tuesday 25 Glasgow ■ The Guitar: Its Past and Present Ramshorn Theatre, 98 Ingram Street, 548 2558. 1.15pm. £4. Peter Argondizza performs three contrasting 20th-century guitar masterpieces by de Falla, Ginastera and Steve Reich. ■ Elizabeth Watts and Julius Drake Pollok House Art Society, Pollok
MINI OPERAS FIVE:15 IN TWENTY:10 Scottish Opera, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 20, Fri 20 and Sat 22 May; Oran Mor, Glasgow, Tue 25, Wed 26 and Thu 27 May
The state of the economy is never far from the headlines these days, but as an opera subject it is somewhat unexpected. Not so in Scottish Opera’s latest batch of five short new operas. For the third year of the company’s bold commissioning strand, FIVE:15 in twenty:10, themes range from isolation to spirituality, Zen philosophy to the economy, the latter topic given a satirical slant by writer Ron Butlin and composer Lyell Cresswell. Like Cresswell, the first woman composer to be featured in the Five:15 portfolio is a New Zealander. Currently a lecturer in music at Aberdeen University, Miriama Young teams up with Alan Spence, director of the city’s Word Festival, which hosts performances in mid-May. Their story is based on a Japanese parable in which a young girl finds herself pregnant, confiding to her parents that the father is Zen master Hakuin. ‘He takes this in his stride,’ explains Young, ‘When the baby is born, he takes ownership, but the girl finally concedes it was some other dude and the parents plead to get the baby back. The monk accepts this, so the story is about letting everything wash over you, about accepting whatever comes your way.’
Young’s music alludes to the east and sounds of the temple, in particular through its use of bells. The challenge for her as a composer is, she says, ‘to bring some of the drama that full-length opera. I think it’s a brilliant idea. For a composer, you might be commissioned to write a two-hour-long opera, which will take three years to complete. This way you can try the medium and get a taste for it’. (Carol Main)
Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, 07703 131457. 7.30pm. £15 (£10 if attending first concert). Pollok House Arts Society presents the award-winning soprano in a concert of works by Schubert, Strauss, Barber and Wolff. She is accompanied onstage by leading chamber pianist Julius Drake. Doors open at 6.45pm.
Wednesday 26 Glasgow ■ Concerto Concert RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 7.30pm. £10 (£7). A chance for a gifted soloist to show off his or her skills, concertos are always an audience favourite. Here the RSAMD’s Symphony Orchestra is joined by a cellist, double bassist, clarinettist and pianist in concertos by Dvorák, Tubin, Weber and Prokofiev respectively. FREE Organ Recital Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, The Square, off University Avenue, 7.30pm. Organist Emeritus of Gloucester Cathedral, David Briggs, gives a recital. Programme tbc.
Edinburgh ■ Verdi’s Macbeth Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, 248 4848. 7.30pm. £10–£25 (concessions available). Edinburgh Grand Opera performs Verdi’s powerful setting of the Shakespeare tragedy. With Phil Gault/Ivor Klayman as Macbeth and Susan McNaught/Christina Dunwoodie as Lady Macbeth. Dundee ■ Mr McFall’s Chamber & Michael Marra Caird Hall, City Square, 01382 434940. 7.30pm. £12.50 (£10). See Tue 18.
Thursday 27
Glasgow ■ The Priests Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £20–£45. Christian song from this trio of singing Priests. Edinburgh ■ Verdi’s Macbeth Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, 248 4848. 7.30pm. £10–£25 (concessions available). See Wed 26.