www.list.co.uk/music Friday 18
Glasgow Brodsky Quartet: Music of the Americas RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £10.50 (£7.50). Music from both American continents including Gershwin’s Lullaby and Tenebrae by the Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov.
✽✽ FREE Scottish Opera: Orlando 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. Edinburgh FREE Christian Wilson Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh University Bristo Square, 650 2427. 1.10pm. Reincken’s tricky Toccata in G leads this performance followed by Scheidemann’s Jesus Christus unser Heiland, Byrd’s Fantasia in D Minor and the Canonic Variations on ‘Von Himmel hoch, da kom ich her’ by JS Bach. RSNO: Great Symphonies – Sibelius Six and Seven Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £10–£32 (under 16s free). See Thu 17. Cherchez la Femme Cramond Kirk, 16 Cramond Glebe Road, Cramond, 336 2036. £8. 7.30pm. Cameo presents an evening of words and music all about women. Excerpts from Jane Austen, Dickens, Flanders & Swann, Kurt Weill and Victoria Wood, and music from Ian Macpherson on piano and sopranos Ann Heavens and Hilary Neville- Towle.
Saturday 19
Glasgow Grasp the Nettle The Glasgow Art Club, 185 Bath Street, 07816 219450. 2–4pm. £6 (£4). An ensemble of some of Scotland’s finest emerging musicians (soprano, piano, brass and classical guitar) performs works by Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini and others.
✽✽ Scottish Opera: Orlando Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871
7647. 2.15pm. £17–£49 (concessions available). Handel’s tale of convoluted romance is rarely performed in the UK. Featuring the vocal skills of Sally Silver, who won critical plaudits for her role in I puritani in 2008, and conducted by the award-winning Paul Goodwin. RSNO: Great Symphonies - Sibelius Six and Seven Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£32 (concessions available). See Thu 17. Edinburgh ESO Recital with Gordon Stewart Merchiston Castle School, 294 Colinton Road, 478 8446. 12.30pm. £20. Luncheon
and organ recital with the Edinburgh Society of Organists. FREE David Goodenough St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road, 229 1142. 1.30pm. Organ recital. Bach Players: Lully and Corelli St Cecilia’s Hall, Niddry Street, 668 2019. 7.45pm. £16 (OAPs £13; students and jobseekers £5). An evening of French and Italian baroque music exploring the vexed relationship between the two composers and the so-called ‘battle of the styles’ they represented. Featuring pieces by Corelli, Muffat, Lully, Rebel and Couperin. Perth Perth Symphony Orchestra Spring Concert Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, 01738 621031. 7.30pm. £10 (£8; children free). Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll tops the billing for this feast of continental greats, along with Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto with soloist Lawrence O’Donnell and the Symphony No 6 by Dvo_ák.
Sunday 20
Glasgow RSNO – The 10:11 Season Strings and Brass St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, 300 Great Western Road, 337 2862. 2.30pm. £12. Intimate concert from members of the RSNO featuring Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and excerpts from Rachmaninov’s Vespers. Edinburgh St Giles’ at Six St Giles’ Cathedral, Royal Mile, 226 0673. 6pm. Retiring collection. Heriot-Watt University Orchestra performs two symphonic greats – Haydn’s famously ponderous Clock Symphony and Mozart’s Paris Symphony. FREE Boom and Hush Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh University, Bristo Square, 650 2427. 7.30pm. Honours music students from Edinburgh University perform new compositions.
Haddington Gould Piano Trio Town House, Haddington, 01620 826725. 7.30pm. £10 (£8). Contrasting trios from three centuries start with Haydn’s enlightenment optimism, move on to the romanticism of Dvo_ák and finish up with Shostakovich’s wartime masterpiece, the Trio No 2 in E minor, Op 67.
Monday 21 Glasgow RSAMD Brass Department RSAMD, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 1pm. £6.50 (£4.50). A lunchtime concert by the RSAMD’s trombones and tubas and so forth. NYOS Futures: Vanishing Boundaries The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, 565 1000. 8pm. £9 (£6). Cross-media project combining new compositions with film, storytelling and live performance. Conducted by Ken Dempster. Part of the Glasgow Music and Film Festival.
Tuesday 22
Edinburgh FREE The Edinburgh Quartet Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh University Bristo Square, 650 2427. 1.10pm. The busiest bees of the capital’s chamber orchestra scene perform a trio of pieces: Schubert’s String Quartet in C Minor, Beethoven’s Quartet in G Major Op 18 No 2 and Tavener’s magical Ikon of Joy/Sorrow. Cascades St Andrew’s & St George’s, 13 George Street, www.artisantrio.org.uk 6pm. £10 (£5). The Artisan Piano Trio reach the penultimate concert in their inaugural season with Ring Out, Wild Bells by Scottish/American composer Thea Musgrave, who was born in Edinburgh and has close connections to the university. With Brahms as her bedfellow, his Clarinet Trio Op 114, will be in complementary contrast.
Wednesday 23 Perth Roderick Williams Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, 01738 621031. 7.30pm. £10–£20 (£8–£18). Roderick Williams gives his rich baritone voice an outing and performs songs by Korngold and Schumann, including the latter’s Kerner Lieder.
Thursday 24
Glasgow Edinburgh Quartet with Catherine Earnshaw Westbourne Music, 7 West George St. 12.45pm. £7 (£6; students/children £3). The quartet performs the first of two concerts at Westbourne Music, collaborating with Catherine Earnshaw for Mozart’s Oboe Quartet in F Major K370 and Schubert’s Quartet in A Minor Op 29. FREE Hebrides Ensemble – John Cage Series Glasgow University Concert Hall, University Avenue, 330 4092. 1.10–2pm. A lunchtime concert featuring John Cage’s Water Music and James MacMillan’s 14 Little Pictures. BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Sacred and Profane 3 City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£23 (concessions available). The BBC SSO’s new Artist in Association, Matthias Pintscher, conducts this concert, which opens with Messiaen’s tribute to Mozart’s musical sense of humour, Un Sourire. Mozart’s Symphony No 38 (‘Prague’) follows, with Stravinsky’s engagingly playful Pulcinella last on the bill and featuring the vocal skills of soprano Ingila Bohlin, tenor Thomas Walker and bass Andrew Foster-Williams.
✽✽ RSNO Great Concertos: Dvorak Cello Concerto Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £10–£32. The impassioned piece sometimes dubbed the ‘ultimate cello concerto’ is given an airing by Argentinean bowsmith Sol Gabetta alongside other pieces by Brahms and Schumann.
...or for a free taste of the action try Orlando Unwrapped where the orchestra, singers and backstage crew introduce you to the plot, characters and music and let you in on some behind-the-scenes secrets.
Glasgow 18 Feb | Edinburgh 2 Mar
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CLASSICAL Music
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✽✽ RSNO Great Concertos: Dvorák Cello Concerto Irresistible combination of Dvorák’s tuneful and passionate Cello Concerto and stunning cellist Sol Gabetta (pictured) from Argentina. Teamed up with the less often heard two choral gems, Song of Destiny and Nänie by Dvorák fan Johannes Brahms, featuring the RSNO Chorus. Thu 24 Feb, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall; Fri 25 Feb, Usher Hall, Edinburgh ✽✽ Orlando One of Handel’s greatest achievements but not often performed, Orlando is an adaptation from the 16th century romantic epic, Orlando Furioso. In this new Scottish Opera production, updated by director Harry Fehr to 1940, Orlando is a RAF pilot and war hero being treated in a private hospital. See Big Pic, page 9. Sat 19 (free pre-show talk at 1pm), Sat 26 Feb Theatre Royal, Glasgow; Thu 3, Sat 5 Mar (free pre-show talk at 6pm), Festival Theatre, Edinburgh. ✽✽ The International Classical Season: Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields As part of a tour taking them from Dublin to Istanbul, the leading London ensemble make their only Scottish stop in Edinburgh. With superstar violinist Joshua Bell at the helm and also in the solo spot with Steven Isserlis for Brahms’ double concerto for violin and cello. Thu 3 Mar, Usher Hall, Edinburgh
17 Feb–3 Mar 2011 THE LIST 79