RE-DEFINING THE STRING ORCHESTRA 2015/16 WELCOME 2015 2016 How does classical music fit into our lives today? How can we make it vital and relevant to everyone who AUGUST JANUARY experiences it live? Mull Sweden SE has always strived to probe these questions not only SEPTEMBER FEBRUARY in its programming, through which we aim to create Bucharest Sweden new connections and perspectives, but also in opening Sweden Perth up the music to people who may not be familiar with it. Shetland Musselburgh Glasgow In our second large-scale, cross-artform adventure, OCTOBER Shetland we’ve collaborated with Swedish contemporary dance Glasgow Aberdeen company Andersson Dance to blend music and Dundee movement in new and unexpected ways. If you’ve Inverness MARCH ever wanted to see a musician really sweat, now’s your Edinburgh Linlithgow chance (!). London Inverness We’ve also asked two writers and a filmmaker to join the team to help us share our Dundee stories and journeys with you. They will illuminate the programmes with visual and NOVEMBER Glasgow written content, contextualising and positioning the music even further within today’s Glasgow London world. And we do mean the whole world - this year we extend our reach even wider as Dundee we travel to new places in Scotland as well as prestigious international stages. Inverness APRIL Aberdeen Shetland Around me is, of course, a group of outstanding string players who are passionate about Newcastle MAY making every performance powerful and meaningful - and if you come to any of the concerts this season you’ll witness that for yourself. We hope you’ll join us for a concert DECEMBER Edinburgh or two and help us re-define and re-imagine just what the string orchestra can be. Dundee Aix-en-Provence Edinburgh Istanbul Glasgow Dumfries Aberdeen Glasgow Inverness Perth 3 SE with SE+RCS PATRICIA KOPATCHINSKAJA ENSEMBLE WEEK Enescu Octet for Strings in C major, Op.7 [arr. string orchestra] Silvestri Three Pieces for Strings Brahms Three Chorale Preludes from Op. 122 (with Kopatchinskaja, leader) Mansurian Four Serious Songs (with Kopatchinskaja, soloist) Fri 9 Oct 2015 Stevenson Hall, RCS, Glasgow 1pm rcs.ac.uk 0141 332 5057 Enescu Two Intermezzi for Strings, Op. 12 Ravel Petite symphonie à cordes [arr. Barshai] Take one professional string orchestra. Build another one, from students at the start of their careers. Put in one intensive week of coaching. Showcase the result. Wed 2 Sep 2015 Enescu Festival, The Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest Following a dedicated week of practice and coaching, 12 young musicians from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland join forces with SE’s principal players to create a veritable “Perfection, which is the passion of so many people, is irrelevant to me. What is important in art is to strings supergroup featuring the musicians of today and tomorrow. vibrate and make others vibrate.” George Enescu “Working with Scottish Ensemble has been a hugely rewarding experience. The rehearsals are funny, serious, SE is thrilled to be invited to perform alongside Moldovan-Austrian violinist Patricia passionate, bonded, open minded… From the word go you’re treated like a professional musician. There’s no Kopatchinskaja, named the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year in special dispensation for being a student; you’re one of the team and this has an incredible effect on the way 2014, at this prestigious festival celebrating Romanian composer George Enescu. Enescu’s you play. You find confidence and energy that you hadn’t found before; you try to match the amazing quality mission to make people ‘vibrate’ is honoured by a programme which draws out a range of of playing you are surrounded by; you try and contribute something worthy of the music making going on moods, most notably the solemnity of Brahms’ chorale preludes, for which Kopatchinskaja around you. It’s a sink or swim situation and it’s so, so encouraging to know that the players believe you are joins us as leader, and Mansurian’s Concerto No. 2 – nicknamed Four Serious Songs due to its capable of swimming.” Alice Allen, a cellist on the SE Young Artist scheme allusions to Brahms’ work of the same title. 4 5 16-25 OCT 2015 “the warmth of Rysanov’s viola [leaves] you wondering why composers bother with the violin...” London Evening Standard Something old: Schubert’s rich, prolific genius, only really recognised in the decades after his death. Something new: Two contemporary composers’ take on Schubert’s mastery of romantic, tuneful melody. Something borrowed: His Arpeggione Sonata, originally written for bowed guitar, now transformed into a IN SCHUBERT’S work of melodic joy for string orchestra, and virtuosic viola prowess. And something blue: Death and The Maiden, Schubert’s testament to death in the form of his fourteenth string company quartet, written in the long stretch of months as the composer knew he was dying, penniless and without hope. WITH MAXIM RYSANOV (VIOLA) Together with Grammy-nominated British-Ukranian violist Maxim Rysanov, we explore the shifting shades of Schubert which have rippled across two centuries. Acting as a nimble showcase of the instrument’s low, velvet tones against the rarely-heard burnt Sergey Akhunov 6.36 in Schubert’s company caramel of its higher register, Rysanov’s performances are a welcome reminder of just Sergey Akhunov Der Erlkönig how distinctive the viola can sound. Schubert Arpeggione Sonata [arr. D. Tabakova] Dobrinka Tabakova Fantasy Homage to Schubert Fri 16 Oct Caird Hall, Dundee 7.30pm* dundeebox.co.uk 01382 434 940 Schubert String Quartet No. 14 in D minor Tue 20 Oct Eden Court, Inverness 7.30pm* eden-court.co.uk 01463 234 234 “Death and The Maiden” [arr. Mahler] Wed 21 Oct Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh 7.30pm* assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk 0131 220 4348 Sat 24 Oct Wigmore Hall, London 7.30pm wigmore-hall.org.uk 0207 935 2141 * With SE BLETHER at 6.45pm: Fiona Elliott on Schubert’s cultural landscape. See p23 for details. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. SE RESIDENCIES: Dundee ‘Immersion Day’ on Fri 16 Oct 2015 | Inverness Residency on 17-20 Oct 2015 Go to p23 for event listings. Sun 25 Oct Mozart, Madrigals and Mavericks, Wigmore Hall, London 11.30am SE Director Emeritus and current leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Clio Gould, joins Jonathan Morton for a handpicked selection of violin and viola duos from Mozart to Martinů. 7 SEP/NOV 2015 + JAN/FEB 2016 Musicians and dancers are choreographed in a performance which challenges the static nature of the classical concert. It started life as a study for harpsichord; a simple aria, and a set of 30 variations. Today, it’s not only one of the most well-known of Bach’s works – it’s one of the most interpreted. From theories that its structure deliberately mirrors the ascent of the nine spheres of Ptolemaic cosmology, to the claim that the whole thing is a cleverly coded rebuke to a critic who had snubbed the composer, there is clearly something about this GOLDBERG sprawling, complex piece which invites interpretation. Now, in 2015, Jonathan Morton and Örjan Andersson have come together to create their own. With 12 musicians and 5 dancers moving together as equal partners, the audience is given the singular experience of musician and dancer performing as one, casting a 21st-century light on the notes and the spaces between them. Should we simply VARIATIONS listen to the music, or can we move? ternary patterns for insomnia CHOREOGRAPHY: ÖRJAN ANDERSSON SET & LIGHT DESIGN: SUTODA COSTUME DESIGN: BENTE ROLANDSDOTTER PRODUCTION: ANDERSSON DANCE & SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE CO-PRODUCTION: REGIONTEATERN BLEKINGE KRONOBERG & RIKSTEATERN WITH ANDERSSON DANCE UK TOUR: 13-21 Nov 2015 Fri 13 - Sat 14 Nov Tramway, Glasgow 8pm tramway.org 0845 330 3501 12 musicians. 5 dancers. One stunning new interpretation. Sun 15 Nov Caird Hall, Dundee 7.30pm dundeebox.co.uk 01382 434 940 Tue 17 Nov Eden Court, Inverness 8pm eden-court.co.uk 01463 234 234 Thu 19 Nov Music Hall, Aberdeen 8pm aberdeenperformingarts.com 01224 641 122 Fri 20 - Sat 21 Nov Dance City, Newcastle 7.30pm (Fri) / 8pm (Sat) dancecity.co.uk 0191 261 0505 SWEDISH PREMIERE: DANCENET SWEDEN TOUR: 17-20 Sep 2015 27 Jan – 6 Feb 2016 Stockholm and Växjö Gävle, Västerås, Kungsbacka, Vara, Malmö, Umeå 7-12 DEC 2015 Set in churches and cathedrals across Scotland, our much-loved candlelit concerts are given a new lease of light. The meditative, cyclic, cascading notes of Bach hold a subtle power. As musicians begin to play by the soft light of candles, as well as other specially-created lighting touches designed to add to the mesmeric effect, they will fill and transform the space. Add to THREE PÄRTS BACH this slices of spiritual calm, in the form of Arvo Pärt’s cinematic violins, as well as the surprise of Sofia Gubaidulina’s eerie homage to the Baroque master, and the overall concerts by candlelight effect is one of meditation, reflection and immersion. With his specialist knowledge and passion for period instrument performance, we are thrilled to welcome Matthew Truscott as guest director and solo violinist in two Bach Pärt Fratres concerti. Matthew regularly leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Bach Violin Concerto in A minor, BMW 1041 Magdalena Consort; his engagements as concertmaster include the Mahler Chamber Bach Chorale: Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein Orchestra and English National Opera. (from Art of Fugue, BWV 1080) Gubaidulina Meditation über der Bach Chorale: Vor deinen Thron tret ich hier mit Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043 Pärt Collage über Bach – Toccata Bach Contrapunctus XIX (from Art of Fugue, BWV 1080) Mon 7 Dec Pärt Summa Caird Hall, Dundee 7.30pm dundeebox.co.uk 01382 434 940 Tue 8 Dec Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh 7.30pm thequeenshall.net 0131 668 2019 Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.