2018/19 Season September - December 2018 2 • I am very much looking forward to focusing on a beloved composer in 2018/19. Our Schumann Song Series will explore in depth the great composer’s extraordinary output, which is amongst the most rewarding within the entire Lieder tradition. I am very pleased to welcome Florian Boesch who, with Malcolm Martineau, will open the series. As the season progresses, we will be focusing on Robert Schumann’s highly personal art with the Elias String Quartet interpreting his great string quartets. Whether as classical violinist or improviser, composer or orchestral director, Pekka Kuusisto certainly Director’s enlivens the musical scene with levels of energy and engagement few can match. As he continues to refresh the classics, he proves equally able to enthuse Introduction audiences for new music conceived in a variety of genres. He joins us in residence throughout the season. Mozart made Vienna his home for the last decade of his life, and now Viennese pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja will be presenting a series which brings his music together with works from the school founded by Arnold Schoenberg, whose impact on the course of musical history would be profound. With his interest in period instruments and historically-informed performance practice, Alexander Melnikov is one of the most stimulating musicians of our time. You will have a chance to experience just how seamlessly he can move between different repertoires when, in the opening concert of his residency, he offers Prokofiev’s wispy but characterful collection of 20 miniature ‘fleeting visions’. He will follow this by joining the Cuarteto Casals in Brahms’s grandly impassioned Piano Quintet, a cornerstone of the Romantic chamber repertory. Another pianist of special qualities, Christian Blackshaw turns 70 during the course of this season, when his unique artistry will be celebrated in a series of concerts in which he is partnered by distinguished colleagues. ‘Of all the great composers’, said Sir András Schiff, ‘Schubert touches me the most’. In his concert on 10 October we have the enviable opportunity to hear him present three major works, including the ambitious sonata composed in the spa of Bad Gastein in 1825 and the freely-flowing Fantasie-Sonate of the following year. Although founded just nine years ago, Ensemble Correspondances has won an international reputation for its historically-informed performances of music from the French Baroque period. I am delighted they are returning to Wigmore with programmes which focus on Charpentier, Purcell and de Lalande. The Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis has also acquired a wide reputation for its specialist programming and I am very pleased to welcome them in residence this season. Dame Sarah Connolly has maintained a standard of excellence in the opera house as in concert and recital halls. She joins us throughout the 18/19 season offering a truly eclectic repertoire ranging from the Baroque masters through bel canto, Wagner and Elgar to new works. I look forward to welcoming you to the Hall this season. • 3 Contents At a Glance 4 Calendar 6 September 8 October 28 November 52 December 73 Contemporary Music Series 90 Spring Preview 92 Summer Preview 96 Booking Information 104 September – December 2018 At a Glance See pages 8 – 89 for full details of these concerts and page 104 for booking information. Series and Events to look out for… Andreas Scholl 84 Sat 3 Nov Music in the Round 53 Schumann Song Series 8 Avi Avital 86 Wed 7 Nov Takács Quartet 56 La Serenissima 9 Brenda Rae 87 Fri 9 Nov Takács Quartet 59 Joshua Redman 10 Dunedin Consort 89 Sun 11 Nov Academy of St Martin in the 60 Fields/Joshua Bell Dorothea Röschmann 11 Contemporary Music Series 90-91 Tue 13 Nov Artemis Quartet 61 Pekka Kuusisto Residency 12 Wed 14 Nov Baiba Skride/Lauma Skride/ 62 Mozart & the 2nd Viennese School: 14 BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts Trio Palladio/Antonina Suhanova Elisabeth Leonskaja Mon 10 Sep Ilker Arcayürek/ 9 Ammiel Bushakevitz Thu 15 Nov Belcea Quartet 61 Dame Sarah Connolly Residency 15, 48 Mon 17 Sep Trio Mediæval 15 Sat 17 Nov Isabelle Faust/Steven 64 Ravel Song Series 16, 63 Mon 24 Sep Lucy Crowe/Joseph Middleton 21 Isserlis/Alexander Melnikov/ Schubert Cycles 17, 18 Rachel Roberts/Katharine Gowers Mon 1 Oct Chiaroscuro Quartet/ 28 James Ehnes/Andrew Armstrong 17 Wed 21 Nov 66 Annelien Van Wauwe Britten Sinfonia Parry Focus 19 Thu 22 Nov 67 Mon 8 Oct Catriona Morison/Yuka Beppu 35 Hagen Quartet Alexander Melnikov Residency 20 Sat 24 Nov 67, 69 Mon 15 Oct Nicholas Daniel/Charles Owen 38 Nash Ensemble Christian Blackshaw Focus 21, 87 Sun 25 Nov 69 Mon 22 Oct Karina Gauvin/Maciej Pikulski 45 Anthony Marwood/ Russian Song Series 22, 73 Susan Tomes/Aleksandar Mon 29 Oct Thibaut Garcia 50 Madžar/Richard Lester/ Manuel Walser 25 Mon 5 Nov Aleksey Semenenko/ 55 Doric String Quartet Schumann String Quartet Series 26 Inna Firsova Mon 26 Nov Arditti Quartet/Paul Cannon 70 Composers and Their Muses 27 Mon 12 Nov Jonathan Biss 60 Fri 30 Nov Alina Ibragimova/ 73 Mahan Esfahani 28, 82 Mon 19 Nov Roberta Invernizzi/ 65 Cédric Tiberghien Robin Tritschler 30 Craig Marchitelli/ Mon 3 Dec Escher String Quartet 76 Franco Pavan/Rodney Prada Angela Hewitt: The Bach Odyssey 32 Wed 5 Dec Benedetti Elschenbroich 77 Mon 26 Nov Silke Avenhaus/Tai Murray 71 Marlis Petersen Residency 34, 73 Grynyuk Trio Mon 3 Dec Lara Melda 75 Benjamin Appl 35 Sat 8 Dec Nash Ensemble/ 80 Mon 10 Dec Augustin Hadelich/ 81 Sophie Bevan/Roderick Williams Sir András Schiff 36, 37 Charles Owen Mon 10 Dec Pavel Haas Quartet 79 Jeremy Denk 41 Mon 17 Dec Ensemble Zefiro 83 Wed 12 Dec Quatuor Ebène 81 Nash Ensemble 42-43, 67, 69, 80 ‘German Romantics’ Mon 17 Dec Steven Isserlis 85 Chamber Music Season 60th Birthday Concert Ensemble Correspondances 44 Wed 12 Se Schumann String Quartet 11 Residency Sat 29 Dec Trio Wanderer 88 Thu 13 Sep Pekka Kuusisto/Additional 12 Piotr Beczała 46 Sun 30 Dec Castalian Quartet 89 Artists TBC Martin Helmchen 47 Thu 20 Sep Alexander Melnikov/ 20 Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts Michaela Schuster 47 Cuarteto Casals Sun 9 Sep Doric String Quartet 9 Yaniv d’Or/Ensemble NAYA 49 Fri 21 Sep James Ehnes/ 17 Sun 16 Sep Wihan Quartet 13 René Pape 54 Andrew Armstrong Sun 23 Sep Natalie Clein/Yeol Eum Son 19 Takács Quartet: 56, 59 Sun 23 Sep Heath Quartet 19 Sun 30 Sep 25 Associate Artists Mon 24 Sep Christian Blackshaw/ 21 Hermès Quartet Vox Luminis Residency 58 Soloists of the Berliner Sun 7 Oct Adrian Brendel/ 31 Philharmoniker Christian Ihle Hadland Joshua Bell/Academy of 60 St Martin in the Fields Tue 25 Sep Pavel Haas Quartet 23 Sun 14 Oct Jennifer Pike/Petr Limonov 37 100th Anniversary of the 62 Wed 26 Sep Elena Bashkirova/ 23 Sun 21 Oct Quatuor Voce 45 Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia Jerusalem Chamber Music Sun 28 Oct Emma Johnson/ 50 Festival Ensemble Faure/Schumann Project 64 Finghin Collins Fri 28 Sep Elias String Quartet/ 26 Arditti Quartet/Paul Cannon 70 Sun 4 Nov Music in the Round 53 Jonathan Biss Christian Gerhaher/Gerold Huber 72 Sun 11 Nov Daniel Lebhardt 60 Sat 29 Sep Steven Isserlis/Connie Shih 27 Brahms Plus: 74 Sun 18 Nov Parker String Quartet 63 Tue 2 Oct Narek Hakhnazaryan/ 29 Jonathan Plowright Pavel Kolesnikov Sun 25 Nov Aquinas Piano Trio 69 Soile Isokoski 75 Fri 5 Oct IMS Prussia Cove 29 Sun 2 Dec Vadym Kholodenko 75 Escher String Quartet: 76 Sat 6 Oct Pieter Wispelwey 31 Sun 9 Dec Benjamin Baker/ 80 American Series Daniel Lebhardt Sat 13 Oct Veronika Eberle/Dénes Várjon 37 Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen 77 Sun 16 Dec Novus String Quartet 83 Tue 16 Oct Danish String Quartet 39 Janáček Focus 78, 79 Sun 23 Dec Quatuor Arod 87 Sat 20 Oct Nash Ensemble 42-43 Bertrand Chamayou 82 Sun 30 Dec RTÉ Contempo Quartet/ 89 Fri 26 Oct The Endellion String Quartet 49 Richard Goode 83 Arcadia Quartet www.wigmore-hall.org.uk • 5 Early Music and Baroque Series Mon 17 Sep Ian Bostridge/Thomas Adès 18 Mon 15 Oct Nicholas Daniel/Charles Owen 38 Sun 9 Sep La Serenissima/ 9 Wed 19 Sep Ian Bostridge/Thomas Adès 17 Thu 18 Oct Jeremy Denk 41 Adrian Chandler Sat 22 Sep Olena Tokar/Pavel Kolgatin/ Sun 21 Oct Quatuor Voce 45 Nikolay Didenko/Iain Burnside 22 Tue 18 Sep Classical Opera/The Mozartists 15 Fri 26 Oct Andrew Watts/Iain Burnside 47 Sun 23 Sep Mary Bevan/Nicky Spence/ 19 Thu 27 Sep The Cardinall’s Musick 23 Mon 29 Oct 50 William Vann Thibaut Garcia Mon 1 Oct Mahan Esfahani 28 Sun 30 Sep Manuel Walser/Anano Gokieli 25 Tue 30 Oct Nicolas Hodges 51 Mon 8 Oct Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/ 35 Wed 3 Oct Robin Tritschler/ 30 Tue 13 Nov Artemis Quartet 61 Sandrine Piau Malcolm Martineau Wed 14 Nov Baiba Skride/Lauma Skride/ 62 Mon 15 Oct Richard Egarr 38 Sun 7 Oct ENO Harewood Artists 33 Trio Palladio/Antonina Suhanova Sun 21 Oct Ensemble Correspondances 44 Tue 9 Oct Marlis Petersen/ 34 Thu 15 Nov Belcea Quartet 61 Wed 24 Oct Dame Sarah Connolly/ 48 Matthias Lademann Sun 25 Nov Anthony Marwood/Susan 69 Tenebrae/Nigel Short/ Thu 11 Oct Benjamin Appl/ 35 Tomes/Aleksandar Madžar/ Eugene Asti Graham Johnson Richard Lester/ Sat 27 Oct Yaniv d’Or/Ensemble NAYA 49 Fri 19 Oct Independent Opera Scholars’ Doric String Quartet Sun 28 Oct The English Concert 50 Recital 2018 41 Mon 26 Nov Silke Avenhaus/Tai Murray 71 Wed 31 Oct L’Arpeggiata 51 Sun 21 Oct Tareq Nazmi/Gerold Huber 45 Mon 26 Nov Arditti Quartet/Paul Cannon 70 Mon 5 Nov Florilegium 55 Mon 22 Oct Piotr Beczała/Helmut Deutsch 46 Fri 30 Nov Alina Ibragimova/ 73 Cédric Tiberghien Thu 8 Nov Vox Luminis 58 Thu 25 Oct Michaela Schuster/ 47 Matthias Veit Mon 10 Dec Augustin Hadelich/