The Barbican’s Associate Orchestra bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra

Season

Box Office 0845 120 7596 (bkg fee) www.barbican.org.uk Reduced booking fee online Welcome to the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s 2008–09 Barbican season. Chief Conductor Jiˇrí Beˇlohlávek launches the season with Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, joined by a stellar quartet of soloists and the superb BBC Symphony Chorus. Jiˇrí continues his highly praised explorations of the symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler and returns to the music of his homeland for a concert staging of Martinu’s° glorious opera Julietta.We explore the music of France and Spain, with a month devoted to French music and musicians and a Spanish-themed concert featuring FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER De Falla’s El amor brujo (Love, the Magician). 7.00PM In December, we celebrate the 100th birthday of Elliott Carter and early Beethoven in 2009 we introduce a trio of events – our ‘Total Immersion’ series Missa solemnis of Composer Days in which we delve into the extraordinary musical worlds of Karlheinz Stockhausen,Tristan Murail and . Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek conductor In addition, there is a heady mix of premieres and commissions, an Christine Brewer soprano exciting list of soloists including Christine Brewer, Nelson Freire, Soile Ekaterina Semenchuk mezzo-soprano Isokoski and Gil Shaham, while conductors making a welcome return Paul Groves tenor Stephen Milling bass to the Orchestra include Edward Gardner and Andrew Litton. BBC Symphony Chorus All of our concerts are broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and streamed online and, this season a number will be broadcast live. Look out for these live ‘From the heart – may it go to the heart.’ Beethoven’s inscription on the score of his concerts, which will begin at 7.00pm. ‘Solemn Mass’ stands as a profound wish for I look forward to seeing you at the Barbican. ‘This was singing of one of the greatest works of Western sacred art.The composer’s visionary interpretation of Paul Hughes rare charm and divine glory and sinful mankind’s insignificance, General Manager versatility, at both forged against a background of personal turmoil and creative uncertainty, reveals the sublime. ends of a vast Prepare for an unforgettable spiritual and emotional spectrum.’ emotional journey under the inspired care The Observer of Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek and a great solo team, on Christine Brewer led by the incomparable Christine Brewer.

Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm Barbican Hall An introduction to tonight’s concert.

Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8

bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 3 FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER 7.30PM 7.00PM Musorgsky Spanish Scenes Night on the Bare Mountain (original version) Turina Matthias Pintscher Danzas fantásticas New work Benet Casablancas (BBC co-commission: world premiere) Siete escenas de Hamlet (UK premiere) Tchaikovsky Ravel Manfred Rapsodie espagnole Kazushi Ono conductor Apollo Voices De Falla El amor brujo

In 1884 Tchaikovsky visited a dying friend in Josep Pons conductor Switzerland, carrying with him a copy of Lord Byron’s Flamenco singer to be announced ‘Gothic’ verse-drama Manfred and reading it while Actor to be announced deep in Alpine country.The combination of poetry and natural imagery fired Tchaikovsky’s imagination Spain’s musical past includes compelling meetings between and fuelled tireless work on his Manfred symphony. high and popular culture, vividly captured in Manuel de Falla’s ‘It seems to me, that it is the best of my compositions,’ so-called ‘gypsy revel’, El amor brujo (Love, the Magician). he wrote.Tonight’s concert includes the first Delicate contrasts of sound and richly woven textures lie performance of acclaimed young German at the musical heart of Benet Casablancas’s Siete escenes de composer Matthias Pintscher’s latest score, based Hamlet (Seven Scenes from Hamlet), written in the late 1980s. Kazushi Ono Herbie Yamaguchi on his evocative music-theatre piece L’espace dernier. Thanks to his Basque maternal family, Ravel’s connections with Iberian culture ran deep. His Rapsodie espagnole evokes the Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm effervescent, exotic spirit of Spain. ‘Filled with a Barbican Hall musical energy Matthias Pintscher in conversation. Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm Barbican Hall narrowed BBC Music Intro Concert An introduction to tonight’s concert. and pinpointed An introduction to concert-going for families. See page 28 for details. BBC Music Intro Concert by elegant An introduction to concert-going for families. technique’ Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 See page 28 for details. New York Times on Kazushi Ono Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8

4 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 5 FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER David Crookes 7.00PM Carmina burana Svatopluk Havelka Hommage à Hieronymous Bosch Sally Matthews (UK premiere) ‘Sally Matthews gave Hindemith the performance Symphonic Metamorphosis after Themes by Carl Maria von Weber an extra touch of class, singing with Orff a beauty of tone Carmina burana and an ability to WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER shape phrases in 7.30PM Jakub Hru˚sˇa conductor Sally Matthews soprano a personal way John Graham-Hall tenor that made her Bruckner William Dazeley baritone outstanding.’ Symphony No. 5 in B flat major Trinity Boys’ Choir Financial Times BBC Symphony Chorus Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek conductor Svatopluk Havelka, a central composer of the Czech ‘New Wave’ The BBC Symphony Orchestra and its Chief school of film music, now in his early eighties, attracted worldwide Conductor, Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek, have garnered rave acclaim following the premiere of his Homage to Hieronymus Bosch reviews for their Bruckner performances, drawing in 1974.The work’s striking evocations of Bosch’s paintings of late- critical superlatives last year after a searing account medieval life, debauchery and death provide the ideal preface to of the Austrian composer’s Seventh Symphony. Carl Orff’s Carmina burana. Ale-swilling monks, pompous abbots, ‘My life has lost all joy and enthusiasm,’ wrote flagrant lovers and assorted gluttons here take their turn on Bruckner around the time he was working on Fortune’s wheel, with Orff imparting unstoppable momentum the transcendent slow movement of his to a score bristling with energy. monumental Fifth Symphony in 1875. His testing personal and emotional circumstances, however, Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm take second place to the expression of defiant Fountain Room optimism and ultimate triumph. An introduction to tonight’s concert.

Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm Post-concert talk Fountain Room Fountain Room An introduction to tonight’s concert Meet the BBC Symphony Chorus. A chance to find out about life in the BBC Symphony Chorus. Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8

6 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 7 Boyd Hagen MONDAY 8 DECEMBER TUESDAY 16 DECEMBER 7.30PM 7.30PM Focus on Gil Shaham Elliott Carter Centenary Concert Sam Hayden Substratum Elliott Carter (BBC commission: world premiere Soundings of complete work) Cello Concerto Mozart Sound Fields Gil Shaham Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major Horn Concerto Messiaen Boston Concerto ‘Shaham’s playing Un sourire Oliver Knussen conductor had a searing Anssi Karttunen cello intensity, but it was Stravinsky Martin Owen horn the irrepressible Violin Concerto Elliott Carter’s global influence since the 1940s – as a composer, energy he exuded writer and teacher – has been the result of his constant exploration David Robertson conductor of new ideas and his lucid confrontation of tired conventions. that brought every Gil Shaham violin The native New Yorker, born on 11 December 1908, has long note so vividly enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Oliver Knussen, and with the to life.’ Gil Shaham’s place among today’s great BBC Symphony Orchestra, which mounted a weekend-long festival violinists rests secure on foundations of insightful of Carter’s music in 2006.Tonight’s celebration features four recent The Guardian musicianship, breathtakingly beautiful sound works – three of them written only in the past four years. Carter’s and irresistible panache, qualities guaranteed to concertos for horn and for cello explore the wide possibilities illuminate Mozart’s joyful Second Violin Concerto available to those instruments, while the inventive Soundings makes and the witty elegance of Stravinsky’s Violin a feature of the interplay between a solo piano and the orchestra. Concerto. He joins forces with David Robertson, Composed only last year, the brief string orchestra piece Sound the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Guest Fields focuses on a dramatic contrast of textures, while Conductor, for tonight’s concert.The programme the loudness and tone-colour remain constant. opens with the world premiere of the complete version of the multi-layered Substratum, created Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm for the BBC SO by Sam Hayden as a constantly Barbican Hall evolving construction of kaleidoscopic sounds The Music of Elliott Carter. and orchestral textures. Tickets Post-concert talk, 6.00pm £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Fountain Room Sam Hayden in conversation.

Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8

8 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 9 THURSDAY 8 JANUARY 7.00PM Smetana Libusˇe–overture Total Immersion: Suk Three Composer Days Fantasy in G for Violin and Orchestra Mahler Stockhausen Saturday 17 January Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Tristan Murail Saturday 7 February Xenakis Saturday 7 March Dvorˇák Symphony No. 9, Prepare to be transported to thrilling new worlds of sound ‘From the New World’ and imagination in the company of three extraordinary composers.The creative artists chosen to launch the BBC Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek conductor Symphony Orchestra’s unmissable days of Total Immersion Dagmarˇ Pecková mezzo-soprano stand for the marriage of music, thought and emotion, inventors Ivan Zenat≥ violin of abundantly eloquent musical languages with the power to Tonight’s profusely Romantic programme celebrates the vibrancy provoke, captivate and inspire. of Czech music, the strength of which influenced the young Mahler and soared to sublime creative heights in Dvorˇák’s ‘New World’ Obituary notices for Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007), Symphony. Mahler, who grew up in a town today located within following his death, spoke of the composer’s lifelong devotion the Czech Republic, was entranced as a lad by the piquant flavour to innovation and his place among the greats of contemporary of local folk music.The Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, performed music.The same spirit guided the work of Iannis Xenakis here by the wonderful Czech mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková, (1922–2001), wartime resistance fighter, musician, architect draw deeply on the composer’s memory banks of folksong, natural wonders and rural life. and mathematician, an original thinker whose compositions bury deep into the listener’s soul and leave lasting traces of beauty Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm and truth. Frenchman Tristan Murail (b. 1947), now at the height Fountain Room of his creative powers, completes the trio of modern greats. An introduction to tonight’s concert. His work has refined the techniques of spectral music, in which Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 the raw materials of sound and silence, texture and timbre, are transformed into compositions of astonishing richness. Concert in association with the Czech Embassy to mark the Czech Republic’s Presidency of the Council of the Get ready to enter the unique sound-worlds of Stockhausen, European Union. Xenakis and Murail for three days of concerts, films, talks and discussions, events guaranteed to engage curious minds and transport audiences far from the mundane.

10 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 11 SATURDAY 17 JANUARY Clive Barda/Arenapal STOCKHAUSEN TOTAL IMMERSION

Even Wagner’s mighty Ring cycle falls short in scale and philosophical reach of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s seven-part operatic adventure, Licht. The project was typical of a composer nourished by the great traditions of 20th-century art and music. Stockhausen connected with the works of Schoenberg, Berg,Webern, Stravinsky and Bartók.‘At the same time,’he observed,‘I look towards the future.’His visionary ideas and fierce commitment to innovation inspired a cult following, while infuriating conservative opinion. Expect the unexpected from this avant-garde master.

4.30PM TALK, MOZART ROOM, LEVEL 4 9.00PM CONCERT, How our brains listen to, understand and BARBICAN HALL STOCKHAUSEN remember music. Stockhausen 10.30AM FILM AND TALK 1.00PM CONCERT Hymnen 6.30PM FREE EVENT CINEMA 2, LEVEL 4 JERWOOD HALL, LSO ST LUKE’S With its collage techniques, synthesis BARBICAN FREESTAGE Tuning In of ‘found’ national anthems and use UK, 1980, Dir. Barrie Gavin 50mins Stockhausen The culmination of a BBC SO Learning project of electronic sound modification, Programme to include: inspired by the music of Stockhausen. Stockhausen’s Hymnen remains a Barrie Gavin’s documentary on the Klavierstücke seminal work more than four decades music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, after its completion.The two-hour placing it in its musical and social Choral 7.00PM CONCERT, BARBICAN HALL tape composition, presented here context.The film will be preceded by Chöre für Doris in its four-track tape only version of a short introduction to Stockhausen Litanei 97 Stockhausen 1966–7, has influenced everyone and his music. from German electronic group Kontra-Punkte Inori Tickets £6 Kraftwerk to Icelandic singer Björk Plus works for chamber ensemble BBC Symphony Orchestra with its unifying ideal of universal David Robertson conductor harmony and global humanism. Guildhall New Music Ensemble Kathinka Pasveer singer-mime Please note that this concert will end Conductor to be announced Alain Louafi singer-mime Nicolas Hodges piano at approximately 11.30pm BBC Singers Prayer-like gestures interpreted in performance Tickets £10 by a mime and dancer, lie at Inori’s core.‘Dance Choral and chamber music including the amazing is everything that a human being is able to do Save money and guarantee entry to Litanei 97 which instructs the singers to process musically with any part of the body,’ the all events with a Stockhausen Total on- and off-stage, stamp their feet and dress in composer observed. Inori celebrates the Immersion Day Pass.There is a floor-length pale blue robes and Japanese socks. meditative potential of expressive movements, choice of pass, reflecting the range BBC SO regular Nicolas Hodges will perform a presented in fine detail by the two soloists and of ticket prices for concerts in the selection from the Klavierstücke, written for the mirrored in the response of two orchestral Barbican Hall.Available by telephone composer’s first wife, who also served as groups. Inori will be introduced from the stage or in person only. See page 31 for inspiration for his exquisite settings of Verlaine, by David Robertson. details of telephone booking. Chöre für Doris. Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Day Passes £40 £37 £34 £30 £27 Tickets £10 (unreserved seating) 12 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 13 SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY TRISTAN MURAIL TOTAL IMMERSION TRISTAN MURAIL

Born in Le Havre in 1947, Tristan Murail came to composition relatively late, as a mature student in Oliver Messiaen’s legendary Paris Conservatoire class. Searching intellect, creative energy and an acute 5.00PM TALK 7.30PM CONCERT, BARBICAN HALL sensibility for sound swiftly secured Murail’s place in the front rank of MOZART ROOM, LEVEL 4 French composers. His international reputation soared thanks to a series Tristan Murail Music and Acoustics – Tristan Murail of experimental scores for orchestra and electronics, the unmissable Gondwana Gondwana seminal among them. Sound’s beauty,diverse complexity in conversation. and infinite nuances continue to provide the compelling substance Time and Again of Murail’s work. 7.00PM FREE EVENT ... amaribus et dulcis aquis ... BARBICAN FOYER Terre d’ombre 11.00AM FILM AND TALK, CINEMA 2, LEVEL 4 The culmination of a BBC SO Tristan Murail talks about his life and work, followed Learning project inspired by the BBC Symphony Orchestra by a film to be announced. music of Tristan Murail. Pascal Rophé conductor BBC Singers Tickets £6 Gondawana’s complex blend of acoustic and 2.00PM CONCERT electronic sounds opens ears to fresh, unimagined JERWOOD HALL, LSO ST LUKE’S sonorities. Elemental energy explodes from the depths of Time and Again, another Murail Tristan Murail masterpiece of sonic invention and striking Winter Fragments originality.Total immersion in Murail’s art draws to an awe-inspiring close with his Terre d’ombre, Territoires de l’oubli a monumental score for orchestra and electronics Hommage à Charles Nègre completed in 2005. Treize couleurs du soleil couchant Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Pour adoucir le cours du temps Save money and guarantee entry to all events (UK premiere) with a Tristan Murail Total Immersion Day Pass. There is a choice of pass, reflecting the range of Guildhall Ensemble ticket prices for concerts in the Barbican Hall. Conductor to be announced Available by telephone or in person only. Rolf Hind piano See page 31 for details of telephone booking.

Murail’s pioneering explorations of sound and its Day Passes £32 £29 £26 £22 £19 perception can be traced through this essential programme of ‘spectral’ music, from the early breakthrough work, Treize couleurs du soleil couchant, to Pour adoucir le cours du temps, written in 2005 for 18 instruments, MIDI keyboard and computer. Part of the BBC SO’s month featuring French music and musicians. Tickets £10 (unreserved seating) T.Martinot/Lebrecht

14 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 15 SATURDAY 7 MARCH XENAKIS TOTAL IMMERSION Marion Kalter/Lebrecht

In 1942 the British Ministry of Information released a photograph of proud civilians captioned ‘Greece undaunted and defiant!’ Iannis Xenakis was among those pictured in the front row, marching in protest at his nation’s occupation by Axis forces. The handsome young engineering student faced death as a resistance activist, while his post-war idealism was strengthened as an assistant to the famous architect .As a composer he never ceased to experiment, working tirelessly to construct extraordinary, often exquisitely beautiful new sound-worlds. XENAKIS

10.30AM FILM 1.00PM CONCERT, BARBICAN HALL 6.30PM FREE EVENT, BARBICAN FOYER CINEMA 2, LEVEL 4 The culmination of a BBC SO Learning project Xenakis inspired by the music of Iannis Xenakis. Something Rich and Strange:The Life and Music of Iannis Xenakis UK, 1991, Dir. Mark Kidel 50mins 7.00PM CONCERT Described by as ‘a hero A BBC documentary profile of Iannis unlike any other’, Iannis Xenakis produced Guildhall New Music Ensemble BARBICAN HALL Xenakis, his music and influences. works of extraordinary originality, spun director Richard Benjafield Xenakis from his questing imagination to form Building Sights Europe: complex structures of rhythmic patterns, Iannis Xenakis Persephassa, first performed at the historic Iranian Tracées desert site of Persepolis in 1969, vividly evokes the polyphonic melodies and remarkable UK, 1992, Dir. Kim Flitcroft 10mins life-changing power of the goddess Persephone. Six instrumental and vocal textures.The Iannis Xenakis returns to the percussionists bring Xenakis’s miraculous score to life Sea-Nymphs composer’s tireless search for new Dominican monastery Le Couvent from separate positions among the audience. Rebonds expressive means, which drew on Mists Sainte Marie de La Tourette near and Okho illuminate the composer’s insatiable quest his training as an architect and his work Lyon, on which he collaborated for new sounds, propelled by a pulsating mix of African Nuits as assistant to Le Corbusier, led to such with Le Corbusier. instruments and breathtaking rhythmic patterns. coruscatingly beautiful pieces as Nuits, Troorkh in which voices explore the phonetic The films will be preceded by a Tickets £10 (unreserved seating) sounds of Sumerian and ancient Persian. talk on the music of Iannis Xenakis. Antikhthon Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Tickets £6 4.00PM FILM, CINEMA 2, LEVEL 4 BBC Symphony Orchestra Martyn Brabbins conductor Save money and guarantee entry to all Charisma X Christian Lindberg trombone events with a Xenakis Total Immersion 2.30PM TALK Greece, 2008–09, Dir. Efi Xirou 60–90 mins (to be confirmed) Rolf Hind piano Day Pass.There is a choice of pass, MOZART ROOM, LEVEL 4 Abrand-new documentary from the Greek Film BBC Singers reflecting the range of ticket prices for Music and Architecture Center including interviews with the composer’s concerts in the Barbican Hall.Available by widow and daughter, Françoise and Makhi Xenakis, telephone or in person only. See page 31 long-time friend Sharon Kanach, composer Curtis for details of telephone booking. Roads and others. Day Passes £37 £34 £30 £27 £24 Tickets £6

16 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 17 Gianni Ugolini WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY 7.00PM 7.00PM Isokoski sings Strauss Poulenc Stabat Mater Vic Hoyland Poulenc ‘To hear the Phoenix Stabat Mater ravishing (BBC commission: world premiere) Finnish soprano Guillaume Connesson Soile Isokoski R. Strauss Supernova Drei Hymnen singing Strauss’s Debussy Four Last Songs R. Strauss Danse sacrée et danse profane made one glad Ein Heldenleben to be alive.’ Andrew Litton conductor Ravel The Daily Telegraph Soile Isokoski soprano Daphnis et Chloé – Suite No. 2 Annick Massis

Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski’s quintessentially Stéphane Denève conductor Romantic Richard Strauss interpretations are Annick Massis soprano Heikki Tuuli always characterful and heartfelt. She turns here Sioned Williams harp to Strauss’s rarely heard 1921 settings of Friedrich BBC Symphony Chorus Hölderlin’s exultant love lyrics, grouped collectively as Drei Hymnen – lyrical outpourings dating from After total immersion in the work of Tristan Murail, the BBC a time of civil strife in Germany.Tonight’s concert Symphony Orchestra and Stéphane Denève pursue the French opens with Phoenix, the final part of an orchestral connection in a month of French-influenced concerts with a triptych specially commissioned from Yorkshire- spellbinding programme of works spanning the 20th century. born composer Vic Hoyland. Andrew Litton Debussy’s Danse sacrée et danse profane and the Second Suite crowns his return to the BBC Symphony from Ravel’s ballet score Daphnis et Chloé, evoke the seductive Orchestra with Strauss’s immense tone-poem, decadence of early 1900s Paris. Conceived in 1997 to accompany Ein Heldenleben. a classic silent film by F.W. Murnau, Guillaume Connesson’s Supernova has since gained independence as a pulsating concert piece. Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm Fountain Room Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm Vic Hoyland in conversation. Fountain Room An introduction to tonight’s concert. Soile Isokoski Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 ‘Annick Massis, the audience favourite, is simply dazzling.’ The Times

Part of the BBC SO’s month featuring French music and musicians.

18 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 19 FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY 6.30PM Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s

FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY Mark-Anthony Turnage Nelson Freire Calmo 8.00PM Please note start time

Bernat Vivancos Barbican Hall ‘Freire played Messe aux sons des cloches with a master’s Debussy R. Strauss touch, drawing Images, Book 2 – Cloches à travers les feuilles Salome – from the piano Dance of the Seven Veils a dazzling palette Préludes, Book 1 – La cathédrale engloutie of orchestral Masques Chopin colours, the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor Ravel subtle variations Miroirs – La vallée des cloches Ravel reflecting his La valse boundless Poulenc musical Figure humaine Schmitt imagination.’ La tragédie de Salomé – suite The Guardian Stephen Jackson conductor Cédric Tiberghien piano Lionel Bringuier conductor BBC Symphony Chorus Nelson Freire piano

A concert in LSO St Luke’s featuring the BBC Symphony Chorus French symbolism and the writings of Stéphane Mallarmé heavily and young French pianist Cédric Tiberghien. Figure humaine, with its influence Oscar Wilde’s lyric drama, Salomé. Strauss’s operatic tender, heartfelt hymn to freedom, explores mankind’s ability to setting, complete with its provocative ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’, overcome oppressive adversity, qualities ideally reflected in Poulenc’s dodged the censor to make headway in the opera house long exquisite cantata of 1944.Wartime destruction and loss are central to before Wilde’s play was permitted on stage.The ‘Salome craze’, Turnage’s Calmo, a moving response to the Iraq War.Turnage conveys which swept like wildfire across fin-de-siècle Europe, inspired his despair through the words ‘Dona nobis pacem’ – ‘Grant us peace’. everything from Isadora Duncan’s erotic dancing to Florent Catalan composer Bernat Vivancos’s unique blend of women’s voices Schmitt’s ballet La tragédie de Salomé, a resounding pre-echo and percussion is another ‘must hear’, as bells resound from the balcony of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. of St Luke’s.The sound of bells can also be heard in music for solo piano by Debussy and Ravel, performed by Cédric Tiberghien. BBC Music Intro Concert Part of the BBC SO’s An introduction to concert-going for families. month featuring French Tickets £9 (unreserved seating), See page 28 for details. music and musicians. or £5 to ticket-holders for the 8.00pm concert in the Barbican Hall. Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Part of the BBC SO’s month featuring French music and musicians.

20 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 21 FRIDAY 13 MARCH SATURDAY 21 MARCH FRIDAY 27 MARCH 7.00PM 7.30PM 7.00PM Please note start time Tan Dun’s The Map Bartók ° Four Orchestral Pieces Martinu Tan Dun Julietta Ligeti The Map: Concerto for Violin Concerto Cello,Video and Orchestra Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek conductor Cast to include: soprano Tan Dun conductor Michèle Lagrange mezzo-soprano Tchaikovsky Anssi Karttunen cello Magdalena Kozena Symphony No. 4 in F minor William Burden tenor Tan Dun’s ten-movement, 55-minute Andreas Jäggi tenor Edward Gardner conductor concerto for cello, video and orchestra BBC Singers Alina Ibragimova violin created a compelling new genre, blending live instrumental music with onscreen Another unmissable evening at the opera with Tchaikovsky likened the process of creating his images. The Map, first performed in 2002, Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek and the BBC Symphony Orchestra! ∂ Fourth Symphony to ‘the musical confession of connects traditional Chinese singing and Their performance last year of Janá ek’s ∂ a soul in which many things have welled up’. dance with the rituals and gestures of the The Excursions of Mr Brou ek seized its audience Fate, melancholy, recollections of things past and solo concerto, uniting different cultures and scored an instant critical hit. Expect the ≤’s unrestrained joy permeate Tchaikovsky’s score, by their shared passion and spontaneity. same for Martin Julietta. The Czech composer’s providing fertile ground for regular BBC Symphony Anssi Karttunen’s long collaboration compelling work, subtitled ‘The Book of Dreams’, Orchestra guest conductor Edward Gardner’s with Tan Dun continues with their latest has not been heard in London for over 30 years. interpretation. Alina Ibragimova takes centre exploration of the composer-conductor’s Its Surrealist libretto, ever-shifting action and stage in Ligeti’s five-movement Violin Concerto, multimedia masterpiece. dreamscapes are subtly etched in a score an astonishing work that slips the chains of packed with fantasy and psychological insight. expectation in hot pursuit of new sounds Part of the Barbican’s Concert staging. Sung in French with English surtitles. and expressive gestures. Beyond the Wall Festival. Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm barbican.org.uk/beyondthewall Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm Barbican Hall

Martin≤’s opera Julietta. Sheila Rock/Deutsche Grammophon Fountain Room Tickets £35 £28 £22.50 £17 £13 £9 Magdalena Kozena An introduction to tonight’s concert. Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8

22 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 23 Stefan Bremer FRIDAY 3 APRIL THURSDAY 30 APRIL 7.30PM 7.00PM Magnus Lindberg Bruckner Mass in F minor Ottoni (UK premiere) Wagner Britten Parsiful – Prelude to Act 1 and Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge Good Friday Music Jukka Tiensuu Bruckner Missa, Clarinet Concerto No. 2 ‘It isn’t just her Mass No. 3 in F minor (London premiere) flawless diction or Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek conductor the silvery timbre of Katherine Broderick soprano Walton her gleaming soprano. Karen Cargill mezzo-soprano Partita for Orchestra What impresses most Robert Murray tenor Matthew Rose bass John Storgårds conductor about this 24-year-old Kari Kriikku clarinet is her uncommon Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek’s standout interpretation of Tristan Kari Kriikku und Isolde for Glyndebourne Festival underlined Finnish and English creative minds meet in a programme of maturity of expression.’ the great Czech conductor’s sheer class both scintillating contrasts. Magnus Lindberg’s enduring relationship The Times of Katherine as a Wagnerian and as an artist committed to with the BBC Symphony Orchestra continues with the UK Broderick, in 2007 exploring the spiritual depths of the German ‘Kari Kriikku premiere of his Ottoni, a musical and emotional tour de force composer’s music.Tonight’s programme opens is one of for orchestral brass. Lindberg’s older colleague, Jukka Tiensuu, with two orchestral pieces from Parsifal, mystical has observed that,‘In our time every emerging work must and contemplative in mood. Bruckner’s exultant the great have its own special reason for emerging’. His Second Clarinet Third Mass, completed in 1868, gradually unfolds clarinettists Concerto emerged fully formed in 2007 thanks to Kari Kriikku’s from a state of gentle meditation to project an of today.’ jaw-dropping virtuosity and massive musical personality. ecstatic outpouring of faith and sense of comfort in eternal salvation. The Guardian Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm Mozart Room Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm An introduction to tonight’s concert. Fountain Room An introduction to tonight’s concert. BBC Music Intro Concert An introduction to concert-going for families. Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 See page 28 for details.

Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8

Katherine Broderick Chris Christodoulou

24 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra 25 SATURDAY 16 MAY SATURDAY 23 MAY 7.30PM 7.30PM Haydn Cello Concertos I Haydn Cello Concertos II Brian Elias Haydn New work Cello Concerto in D major (BBC commission: world premiere) Mahler Haydn Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek conductor Cello Concerto in C major Alvaro Yañez Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek Jean-Guihen Queyras cello Tchaikovsky In the two centuries since Haydn’s death, music- Symphony No. 6 in B minor, making has moved from a largely private affair ‘Pathétique’ to the public sphere. As in so many areas, the Austrian composer helped pioneer the change. Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek conductor His second Cello Concerto, another sparkling Jean-Guihen Queyras cello product of the composer’s years at the Esterházy court. Haydn’s graceful Classicism is worlds Rising star French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras’s apart from the searing emotions, vivid contrasts partnership with Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek has already delivered of mood and passages of transcendent beauty sensational results in their critically acclaimed recording harnessed by Mahler in his Fifth Symphony. of Dvorˇák’s Cello Concerto.They turn here to Haydn’s ‘Everything is said in purely musical terms,’ observed Cello Concerto in C major, written for Prince Esterházy’s the composer about his life-enhancing score. court orchestra and its virtuoso principal cellist, composition lost for two centuries until its rediscovery Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm in 1961.This irresistibly tuneful work is prefaced by a Fountain Room new composition from Brian Elias, a master of orchestral An introduction to tonight’s concert. colour and expressive lyricism. Jean-Guihen Queyras performs Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D major Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 on Saturday 23 May. Pre-concert talk, 6.00pm ‘a musician of rare Barbican Hall An introduction to tonight’s concert. subtlety and radiance’ The Daily Telegraph BBC Music Intro Concert on Jean-Guihen Queyras An introduction to concert-going for families. See page 28 for details.

Tickets £24 £20 £16 £12 £8 Yoshinori Mido Jean-Guihen Queyras

26 BBC Symphony Orchestra 2008–09 27 BBC SO Learning STUDENT ZONE Join the BBC Student Zone and keep up to date with student offers for our Barbican concerts.Visit bbc.co.uk/learning to find The BBC Symphony Orchestra is committed to adventurous out more. and innovative education work.With an ongoing series of local, national and international activities, we aim to open up the Orchestra, DIVERSE ORCHESTRAS: TURKEY 2008 and the distinctive music it plays, to the broadest range of participants. Once a year, the BBC SO clears its schedule to explore and celebrate the music of a different culture.This year the BBC SO Learning activities across London and the South East fall into Orchestra turns to the music of Turkey – a country where East four categories: really does meet West. Join the BBC SO for a week of free events, concerts, workshops, open rehearsals and collaborations • Young People and discover more about the diversity of Turkish culture. • Fostering Talent 17–21 November 2008 • Access and Participation • International Collaboration COMPOSER DAYS: TOTAL IMMERSION BBC SO Learning will be at the forefront of the BBC SO’s three Composer Days with innovative, creative and collaborative EVENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR INCLUDE: performances at the Barbican. Saturday17 January, Saturday 7 February, Saturday 7 March BBC MUSIC INTRO Experience the best of live classical music for only £5 a ticket. bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra/learning Involve the whole family and bring them to a classical music Contact BBC SO Learning at

concert at the Barbican performed by the BBC Symphony Simon Jay Price [email protected] Orchestra. Each event starts at 6.00pm with a Meet the or 020 7765 2956 Musicians Family Event in the Fountain Room to which everyone is invited to bring their own musical instruments if they have them, and try things out for themselves before the main concert. Come along and find out for yourselves, but be quick:Tickets are limited and sell out fast! To apply for Music Intro tickets, at least one member of your group must be aged 16 or under. Friday 10 October, Friday 24 October, Friday 27 February, Friday 3 April, Saturday 16 May

BBC SO FAMILY ORCHESTRA BBC SO Family Orchestra Rapidly becoming BBC SO Learning’s flagship project, the BBC SO Family Orchestra invites the entire family to make music together! Families of all shapes and sizes are welcome, and no previous experience is necessary.The BBC SO Family Orchestra has performed at Maida Vale Studios and the Barbican, as well as on BBC Radio 3. Many more Family Orchestra projects are coming up – the first one during the BBC SO’s Diverse Orchestras week in November 2008,

where the orchestra will take on a distinctly Turkish theme. Simon Jay Price

28 29 PRE-CONCERT TALKS HOW TO BOOK FAMILIES Most of our concerts are preceded by a pre-concert talk Tickets are half price for people aged 16 and offering an introduction to the music you will hear in that ONLINE BOOKING under. See page 28 for details of BBC Music evening’s concert, sometimes including an interview with www.barbican.org.uk Intro discounts. the composer. Secure online booking 24 hours a day. Choose your exact seating location GROUP DISCOUNTS Talks are free to ticket-holders for the evening concert. and benefit from a reduced booking fee Groups of 10 or more save 20% on selected Please note that the capacity of the Fountain and Mozart of £1.50 per transaction. concerts. Call 020 7382 7211 10am–5pm Rooms is limited though, so please arrive early for talks in Monday–Friday.Tickets for BBC Symphony these venues in order to avoid disappointment. BY PHONE Orchestra concerts at the Barbican are sold 0845 120 7596* Open 9am–8pm in the following order: stalls, circle, balcony. STUDIO CONCERTS Monday–Saturay, 11am–8pm Sunday, Please note that discounts are subject to AT MAIDA VALE booking fee of £2.50 per transaction availability and cannot be combined applies. Calls may be monitored or The BBC Symphony Orchestra has a long tradition of free recorded for training purposes. DISABLED VISITORS studio recordings open to the public. Concerts take place at * Calls to 0845 numbers from a BT landline are Disabled visitors who have joined our Access the Orchestra’s home, the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in West charged at local rate. Mobile and other providers’ Membership scheme may purchase one half London, and programmes include a fascinating mixture of charges may vary. price ticket. If a companion is required their contemporary and rarely heard works alongside music at the ticket is also half price. As all discounted tickets Minicom (for deaf patrons) heart of the concert repertoire, often performed by BBC are limited in number and subject to availability, 020 7928 7297 New Generation Artists, the stars of tomorrow. you are advised to book early. Full details will Full details of Studio Concerts are available six weeks SMS Textphone be sent with your membership information. in advance of the concert on the BBC SO’s website 020 7256 9577 To join the scheme, visit www.barbican.org.uk and at bbc.co.uk/tickets. Free tickets are available online from for instant membership. If you wish to submit BY POST bbc.co.uk/tickets or by phone on 0870 901 1227* your application by post you can download Send a cheque payable to ‘Barbican Centre’ a form online by visiting www.barbican.org.uk *Calls from a BT landline cost up to 8p per minute (mobile and other providers’ or your credit card details. Please enclose charges may vary) and may be recorded for training purposes or call the Box Office to ask for an application an SAE, or add 50p to the total amount form to be posted to you. to cover postage, and send to: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. TICKET EXCHANGE Tickets can be exchanged for another BBC IN PERSON Symphony Orchestra concert (subject to Advance ticket desk at Silk Street entrance availability) or for a credit voucher valid for six open 9am–9pm Monday–Saturday. months, provided they are returned 24 hours 12pm–9pm Sunday and Bank Holidays. before the performance.There is an administration fee of £2 per ticket. MULTI-BUY DISCOUNTS Book the same number of seats for 3 The BBC Symphony Orchestra reserves the right to or more concerts in the Barbican Hall make changes to advertised programmes and artists. All details were correct at time of going to press. at the same time and save money. 6 or more concerts 20% discount DIRECTIONS TO LSO ST LUKE’S 3-5 concerts 15% discount 161 Old Street, London, EC1V 9NG From the Barbican:Turn left out of the Silk Street entrance and continue ahead into Whitecross Street.At the the far end of Whitecross Street you will see LSO St Luke’s on the other side of Old Street. From Old Street Underground Station: Leave the station by Exit 7 and walk straight ahead along Old Street, LSO St Luke’s is 400m on the right. 30 Chief Conductor The Barbican’s Associate Orchestra Jirˇí Beˇlohlávek bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra Principal Guest Conductor David Robertson Conductor Laureate Sir Andrew Davis Artist-in-Association John Adams

Brochure copy by Andrew Stewart Design by Premm Design Season Orchestra photography by www.marcuslyon.com

The Barbican Centre is provided by the City of London Corporation as part of its contribution to the cultural life of London and the nation.

Box Office 0845 120 7596 (bkg fee) www.barbican.org.uk Reduced booking fee online