MUSIC | Classical

FREE Kevin Bowyer Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, University Avenue, 330 5419. 1.05–1.50pm. Organ recital featuring Widor’s Symphony No 4. Tuesday 13

Edinburgh Emerging Artists Series: StringSound Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 11am. £3 (students and schoolchildren free). Trio of violin, cello and double bass. Wednesday 14

Glasgow BBC SSO Discovering Music Hans Gál’s Cello Concerto City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 2pm. Free but limited to two tickets per application. Andrew McGregor introduces Gál’s music and Grant Llewellyn conducts the Cello Concerto, featuring Raphael Wallfisch.

Thursday 15

Glasgow New Zealand Chamber Soloists Merchants House of Glasgow, 7 West George Street, 221 1876. 12.45pm. £8 (£7; students & children £4). Distinguished trio of Katherine Austin (piano), James Tennant (cello) and Lara Hall (violin) playing Dvorák’s Trio in F and music by NZ-based composer John Psathas, with guest violinist Amalia Hall. FREE Alasdair Beatson Glasgow University Concert Hall, University Avenue, 330 4092. 1.10–2pm. Solo recital from outstanding young pianist. Edinburgh Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Beethoven Piano Concerto No 2 The Queen’s Hall, 87–89 Clerk Street, 668 2019. 7.30pm. £13–£22. Alexander Janiczek (violin) directs Stravinsky’s Concerto in Re; Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante featuring Jane Atkins (viola) and Symphony No 31 ‘Paris’, plus Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 2 with the redoubtable Llyr Williams.

Friday 16

Glasgow Wind Orchestra: The Scottish Connection Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. 5.30pm. £8.50–£11.00. New music by young Scottish composers, featuring emerging clarinettist Emma Barnett. Alasdair Beatson Cairns Church, 11 Buchanan Street, Milngavie, alasdairbeatson.com 7.30pm. £12 (full- time students £5; schoolchildren free). Works for piano by Kurtag, Schubert, Ravel and Beethoven. Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Beethoven Piano Concerto No 2 City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £14.50–£28.50. See Thu 15. Saturday 17

Glasgow BBC SSO: Hear and Now Hans Abrahamsen City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. Times tbc. Free with booking fee. A chance to hear the work of the Danish composer: Double Concerto, featuring Latvian virtuosi Baiba Skride (violin) and Lauma Skride (piano), for whom it was written; String Quartet No 1 featuring the Danish String Quartet; Ten Sinfonias, a reworking of the same piece for orchestra, and his adaptation of Debussy’s Children’s Corner.

Tuesday 20 Thursday 22

Edinburgh Emerging Artists Series: Emma Versteeg and Maryam Sherhan Usher Hall, Lothian Road, 228 1155. 11am. £3 (students and schoolchildren Glasgow Scottish Opera: Ines de Castro Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. 7.15pm. £10–£76. James MacMillan’s 1996 work has everything

112 THE LIST 11 Dec 2014–5 Feb 2015

SPANISH OPERA TALE INÉS DE CASTRO Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 22, Sat 24 Jan; Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Thu 29, Sat 31 Jan

First seen in 1996, James MacMillan’s first large-scale opera, Inés de Castro, makes a welcome return to the Scottish Opera stage. Based on the play by Jo Clifford, it tells of the horrific fate of Inés, the Spanish lover of the 14th-century crown prince who became King Peter I of Portugal. This time round, MacMillan himself is conducting. ‘It’s a great opportunity to revisit the opera,’ he says, ‘and I am delighted it is in a brand-new production and that I was invited to conduct.’ Over the almost 20 years since it was originally seen, MacMillan has had time to reflect on Inés. ‘I’ve taken the revival as an opportunity to do things to the score which had been on my mind anyway. There are a couple of cuts, tidying up and I’ve reset some vocal lines,’ he says. ‘I’ve come back to it with a different perspective and think it’s a better piece now. The experience of writing other pieces has allowed me to see things through an older composer’s eyes. I still love the piece and am very pleased with it.’

Director Olivia Fuchs’ new production sets the opera in more recent times than those in which Inés was tragically caught up in the political tensions between Spain and Portugal. Taking inspiration from the 1970s dictatorships of South America, the production looks to the torture, oppression and civil rights abuse which characterised what was going on then. ‘It’s making a statement of the timeless nature of the story,’ says MacMillan. ‘It is a love story, with a human drama at the centre of what is a huge political mess. The story resonates today because it is timeless. It will seem like a modern tale.’ (Carol Main) 

free). Versteeg (soprano) and Sherhan (piano) in recital. Wednesday 21

Glasgow FREE Michael Harris Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, University Avenue, 330 5419. 7.30–8.40pm. Organ recital.

you need from a night at the opera: love, politics, treachery, heads in bags and an exhumed corpse being crowned queen. Olivia Fuchs directs; the composer conducts. See preview, above. BBC SSO: Walton’s Henry V City Halls, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 7.30pm. £11.50–£24.50. Richard Farnes conducts William Walton’s score from Henry V; Delius’ ‘The Walk to the Paradise Garden’, and John Foulds’ mind-blowing concerto Dynamic Triptych with Ashley Wass (piano.) Edinburgh FREE Live Music Now: Fraser Langton and Juliette Philogene Scottish National Gallery, The Mound,

624 6200. 6–6.30pm. Langton (clarinet) and Philogene (piano) in recital. Perth Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Nielsen and Sibelius 150 Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, 01738 621031. 7.30pm. £10.50–£24.50. Joint birthday celebration for the Big Finn and the Great Dane, featuring Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto, with Maximiliano Martin, and Sibelius’ Symphony No 4. For listings from 23 Jan, see list.co.uk