MARCH 2017 Director’S Introduction
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JANUARY – MARCH 2017 Director’s Introduction ©Frances Marshall Photography Receptive to life and death, and aware of the spiritual depths of both, Schubert probed the heart of the human condition in his unsurpassed, and almost certainly unsurpassable, output of 600-plus songs. Wigmore Hall’s Schubert: The Complete Songs series offers audiences the chance to experience the full range of this extraordinary creative achievement as it continues through 2017. Grammy-nominated pianist, bandleader and composer Vijay Iyer starts his Jazz Residency at Wigmore Hall. The American musician, born in 1971 in New York, has been described by Los Angeles Weekly as ‘a boundless and deeply important young star’ and by the Guardian as being ‘at a dizzying pinnacle of contemporary jazz multitasking’, verdicts reinforced by a string of awards and five-star reviews. Patricia Kopatchinskaja, our Artist in Residence, launches her Wigmore Hall series with the first of three concerts crafted to show the versatility, curiosity and wide musical passions of a true pioneer among today’s performers. The Moldovan-Austrian violinist is equally at home with period performance styles as she is when bringing contemporary compositions to life or casting fresh interpretative light on the most familiar of chamber works. Spread over the course of four seasons, Angela Hewitt: The Bach Odyssey gathers momentum with a concert devoted to Bach’s six French Suites. Angela Hewitt’s affinity for Bach flows naturally from Peter Dazeley her strong connection with the composer’s dance rhythms and from Paul Lewis’s pianism, eloquent and fully alive, is the result of a harmonious her exquisite feeling for lyrical phrasing, contrapuntal clarity and marriage between deep thinking about music and unrestrained physical sensitive articulation. expression in performance. His all-Beethoven programme at Wigmore Hall last season, repeated twice on the same evening, was hailed by the Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a pianist with ‘unlimited capacity’ Guardian in a five-star review for its ‘display of pianistic depth’. Lewis and widely regarded to be among the finest artists of his generation, turns to Beethoven again, pairing the composer’s bold Op. 7 with the Igor Levit continues his season-long exploration of Beethoven’s 32 Piano lyrical grace of Bach’s Partita No. 1 before exploring a second half of Sonatas at Wigmore Hall. The Beethoven Cycle: Igor Levit series is set heart-on-sleeve passions. to reinforce the Russian-born pianist’s credentials as a Beethovenian of supreme perception and boundless imagination. Expect high-octane, inspirational music-making from the partnership of Ekaterina Semenchuk, one of the leading soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre, Janine Jansen, recently described by The Telegraph as ‘breathtakingly and Helmut Deutsch, a consummate artist with a profound feeling for the supreme’ and praised for her ‘dazzling dexterity’ by The Australian, is a multiple shades, textures and expressive nuances of the human voice. frequent visitor to London this season. She continues her Perspectives The Minsk-born mezzo’s performances at the Royal Opera House in programme at Wigmore Hall and also gives concerts as part of her Eugene Onegin and most recently as Azucena in Il trovatore have garnered LSO Artist Portrait series, underlining her star status among today’s audience ovations, underlining her status among the foremost artists of her finest musicians. generation. Her arresting vocal richness and gravitas are matched by a compelling stage presence and total mastery of the art of beautiful singing. Jörg Widmann’s passions include the works of Schubert and Schumann, composers with whom he shares an affinity for lyricism, poetic shading American mandolinist, singer and songwriter Chris Thile made his name and dramatic contrasts. The German clarinettist and composer joins forces with Grammy Award-winning progressive acoustic music group Nickel with Mitsuko Uchida for a programme rooted in their shared musical Creek before striking out with Punch Brothers and a series of fresh values, spanning everything from the expressive miniatures of Berg’s creative projects in the mid-2000s. Following many years as a guest on Op. 5 to the shifting moods of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke of 1849. the radio show A Prairie Home Companion, Chris succeeds Garrison Keillor as the popular radio show’s host in October 2016. Chris returns Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov have developed an uncanny to Wigmore Hall with an eclectic programme drawing on his considerable mutual understanding and empathy as duo partners, refined over the repertoire of original compositions, as well as contemporary, traditional past decade in the recording studio and in recital. Their latest Wigmore and classical works. Hall programme mines a deep vein of poetry in music, opening with a work written during the First World War’s initial phase. They explore the Recognised by The New York Times as ‘one of the most accomplished Sonata for violin, piano and drums by the self-styled ‘bad boy of music’, and complete musicians of his generation’, Thomas Adès has created an the American avant-gardist George Antheil. entire universe of new music, spanning everything from large symphonic scores and sparklingly inventive operas to a great treasure-house of Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, composed in 1680, forms a cycle of chamber works, ensemble pieces, songs and solo scores. Wigmore Hall’s seven cantatas addressed to different parts of the crucified Christ’s body. Thomas Adès Day presents a representative showcase of his work set in Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have lived with this unique work for a wider musical context. many years, exploring its meditations on the saviour’s feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart and face in concert and on disc. They are joined by The legendary Alfred Brendel makes a welcome return to Wigmore Hall Fretwork for their latest interpretation of music that casts light on the with a series of lectures exploring the last sonatas of Schubert and nature of suffering, devotion and spiritual transcendence. Beethoven, as well as the life and works of Mozart. Comparisons and contrasts occupy Sir András Schiff in his series of I hope you enjoy reading through the brochure yourself, and I look forward concerts devoted to the music of four great composers. Sir András Schiff: to welcoming you to Wigmore Hall during our Spring Series. Bach, Schumann, Janácˇek and Bartók unfolds with the second of three recitals and related evening masterclass sessions, connecting audiences with one of the most perceptive and inspirational musical minds of our time. SERIES ATA GLANCE JANUARY – MARCH 2017 See pages 6–72for full details of these concerts and page 75 for booking information. Series and Events to look out for… BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts Sun 12 Feb Belcea Quartet Page 34 Tue 14 Feb Razumovsky Ensemble 34 Vijay Iyer Jazz Residency Page 7 Mon 9 Jan Richard Egarr Page 10 Sat 18 Feb Scottish Ensemble/Alina Ibragimova 37 Alfred Brendel Lectures 8 Mon 16 Jan Beatrice Rana 13 Sun 19 Feb Isabelle Faust/Alexander Melnikov 38 Introduction to Music 11 Mon 23 Jan Roderick Williams/Roger Vignoles 21 Thu 23 Feb Artemis Quartet/Maria João Pires 41 Arcangelo: Baroque Ensemble in Residence 11 Mon 30 Jan Peter Moore/James Baillieu 25 Sat 25 Feb Xenakis Day: JACK Quartet 45 IMS Prussia Cove Celebration Concert 13 Mon 6 Feb Isabelle Faust/Andreas Staier 30 Sat 25 Feb Xenakis Day: JACK Quartet 45 Les Arts Florissants 14 Mon 13 Feb Kathryn Rudge/James Baillieu 34 Pavel Kolesnikov Schubert: The Complete Songs 16–17, 27, 35, 52 Gary Pomeroy Wed 1 Mar Carducci String Quartet 46 Julia Fischer: Ysaÿe Sonatas 15 Mon 20 Feb Van Kuijk Quartet 39 Fri 3 Mar Birmingham Contemporary Music Group 46 Angela Hewitt: The Bach Odyssey 18–19 Mon 27 Feb David Greilsammer 43 Huw Watkins/Oliver Knussen Nash Ensemble: Vienna and its Empire 20, 29, 33, 57 Mon 6 Mar Carolyn Sampson/Matthew Wadsworth 48 Tue 7 Mar Alisa Weilerstein/Inon Barnatan 48 European Chamber Music Academy Showcase 23 Mon 13 Mar Kungsbacka Piano Trio 52 Wed 8 Mar The Endellion String Quartet 49 Focus on Nico Muhly 24 Mon 20 Mar 56 Fri 10 Mar Pacifica Quartet 49 Stéphane Degout & Cédric Tiberghien 25 Annelien Van Wauwe/Nino Gvetadze Thu 16 Mar Hilary Hahn/Robert Levin 54 Beethoven Cycle: Igor Levit 26, 43, 54 Mon 27 Mar Gallicantus 62 Takács Quartet Beethoven Cycle 28,30 Tue 21 Mar Nash Ensemble/Martyn Brabbins 57 Adrian Brendel/Roderick Williams Takács Quartet Masterclass 29 Chamber Music Season Fri 24 Mar Chris Thile 59 Janine Jansen Perspectives 31 Sat 25 Mar Thomas Adès Day: Calder Quartet 61 Jörg Widmann & Mitsuko Uchida 32 Sat 7 Jan Cuarteto Casals 6 Thomas Adès/Nicolas Hodges Matthew Rose & Gary Matthewman 35 Sun 8 Jan Cuarteto Casals 9 Sat 25 Mar Thomas Adès Day: BCMG 61 Mauro Peter & Helmut Deutsch 36 Mon 9 Jan Danish String Quartet 10 Timothy Redmond/Calder Quartet Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov 38 Sat 14 Jan Vienna Piano Trio 12 Thomas Adès 12, 39, 68 The Sixteen Sun 15 Jan IMS Prussia Cove Celebration 13 Mon 27 Mar Patricia Kopatchinskaja 63 Sir András Schiff: Bach, Schumann, Janácˇek and Bartók 40 Polina Leschenko Thu 19 Jan Julia Fischer 15 Maria João Pires & Artemis Quartet 41 Fri 31 Mar Eggner Trio 64 Sat 21 Jan Nash Ensemble/Lucy Crowe 20 Matthias Goerne & Markus Hinterhäuser 42 Martyn Brabbins Xenakis Day 44–45 Mon 23 Jan Philip Higham/Alasdair Beatson 21 Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts Paul Lewis 47 Wed 25 Jan Signum Quartet 22 Helen Grime World Première 46