February 2017 The Sixteen INSIDE: Artemis Quartet & Maria João Pires | Belcea Quartet Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov | Fretwork Matthias Goerne | Janine Jansen | Igor Levit Matthew Rose | Sir András Schiff | Takács Quartet Jörg Widmann & Mitsuko Uchida And many more Box Office 020 7935 2141 Online Booking www.wigmore-hall.org.uk How to Book Wigmore Hall Box Office 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP In Person 7 days a week: 10 am – 8.30 pm. Days without an evening concert 10 am – 5 pm. No advance booking in the half hour prior to a concert. By Telephone: 020 7935 2141 7 days a week: 10 am – 7 pm. Days without an evening concert 10 am – 5 pm. There is a non-refundable £3.00 administration fee for each transaction, which includes the return of your tickets by post if time permits. Online: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk 7 days a week; 24 hours a day. There is a non-refundable £2.00 administration charge. Standby Tickets Standby tickets for students, senior citizens and the unemployed are available from one hour before the performance (subject to availability) with best available seats sold at the lowest price. NB standby tickets are not available for Lunchtime and Coffee Concerts. Group Discounts Discounts of 10% are available for groups of 12 or more, subject to availability. Latecomers Latecomers will only be admitted during a suitable pause in the performance. Disabled Access and Facilities full details available from 020 7935 2141 or [email protected] Wigmore Hall has been awarded the Bronze Charter Mark from Attitude is Everything TICKETS Unless otherwise stated, tickets are A–D divided into five prices ranges: BALCONY Stalls C – M W–X Highest price T–V Stalls A – B, N – P Q–S 2nd highest price Balcony A – D N–P 2nd highest price STALLS Stalls BB, CC, Q – S C–M 3rd highest price A–B Stalls AA, T – V CC CC 4th highest price BB BB PLATFORM Stalls W – X AAAA AAAA Lowest price This brochure is available in alternative formats. Please contact the Box Office if this would be of assistance to you. Telephone: 020 7935 2141, or Email: [email protected]. The right is reserved to substitute artists and vary programmes if necessary. Wigmore Hall • HRH The Duke of Kent, KG Royal Patron The Wigmore Hall Trust • Registered Charity No.1024838 Cover: The Sixteen © Molina Visuals Peter Dazeley 2 Thursday 2 February 11.00 am – 11.45 am (repeated 12.30 pm – 1.15 pm) 2 For Crying Out Loud! Cavendish Winds Hear outstanding performances by musicians from the Royal Academy of Music, presented in a relaxed environment for parents or carers and their babies under one to enjoy together. Adults £7.50 (babies come free) In partnership with the Royal Academy of Music Wigmore Hall Learning Event Thursday 2 February 4.45 pm – 6.00 pm Introduction to Music 4 THE 48 Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier The idea of two books of preludes and fugues, each moving through all the keys, both major and minor, may sound unpromising at first but begin to listen or play and you encounter a universe of wonders. Bach achieves in this music a wonderful synthesis of highly cultivated technique and direct emotional utterance, the variety of styles and expression is simply breathtaking. Join Roy Stratford on 12, 19 & 26 January and 2 February to explore the techniques of Bach’s extraordinary craft, from double and triple fugue to invertible counterpoint, and unlock this musical treasure that will never cease to delight. Series ticket price £30 Wigmore Hall Learning Event Portrait of J S Bach by Elias Gottlob Haussmann Thursday 2 February 7.30 pm Elizabeth Watts soprano Malcolm Martineau piano Russell Duncan Schubert Nähe des Geliebten; Vergebliche Liebe; Marco Borggreve Liebe schwärmt auf allen Wegen; Das Rosenband; Lambertine; Die verfehlte Stunde; Gott im Frühlinge; Aus Diego Manzanares (Almerine); Pflicht und Liebe; Der Sänger am Felsen; Die Blumensprache; La pastorella al prato; Heiß mich nicht reden (D726); So laßt mich scheinen (D727); Der Blumen Schmerz; Nachtviolen; Du bist die Ruh; Auf dem Wasser zu singen; Im Frühling; Über Wildemann; Heimliches Lieben; Frühlingslied (D919) Aspects of love, nature imagery and the regenerative Elizabeth Watts Malcolm Martineau promise of spring run through Elizabeth Watts’s delightful programme. The soprano and her regular duo partner Malcolm Martineau close their recital with ‘Frühlingslied’, a remarkable song written in March 1826 in which springtime warmth and uplifting optimism clash with dark, disturbing mid-winter memories. £37 £32 £26 £20 £15 Part of the Chamber Zone scheme: Free tickets for schools and 8–25 year olds at selected concerts, supported by John Lyon’s Charity. To book, please contact the Box Office and quote ‘CHAMBER ZONE’ Song Recital Series/Schubert: The Complete Songs 3 Friday 3 February 7.30 pm 3 Wigmore Hall Associate Artists Takács Quartet Beethoven String Quartet in G Op. 18 No. 2; String Quartet in F minor Op. 95 ‘Serioso’; String Quartet in Bb Op. 130 Beethoven originally created a fugal finale for the String Quartet in B flat Op. 130 before developing it separately as his ‘Great Fugue’. The revised quartet deals in what Vincent d’Indy famously described as ‘open war … between careless merriment and serious thought’. It is prefaced here by the intense concentration of Op. 95 and the graceful elegance of Op. 18 No. 2. Returns only Chamber Music Season/Takács Quartet Beethoven Cycle Robert Torres Takács Quartet Saturday 4 February 10.30 am – 3.30 pm 4 Handel and Hendrix FAMILY DAY For ages 5 plus Explore the musical worlds of Handel and Jimi Hendrix with the www.benjaminharte.co.uk help of Handel & Hendrix in London Composer in Residence Hunter Coblentz, and guitarist Jack Ross. Visit the former homes of these great musicians and discover what inspired them before creating your own music to perform on the Wigmore Hall stage at the end of the day. Children £10 Adults £15 In partnership with Handel & Hendrix in London Wigmore Hall Learning Event 4 Saturday 4 February 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Associate Artists Takács Quartet Keith Saunders Beethoven String Quartet in F Op. 18 No. 1; String Quartet in Eb Op. 74 ‘Harp’; String Quartet in C# minor Op. 131 The Takács Quartet begins with the first of Beethoven’s Op. 18 pieces, a mighty four-movement work that contributed to the composer’s emergence as a master of the string quartet. Beethoven’s determination to explore and experiment is also present in the ‘Harp’ Quartet, while the meditative stillness and serenity of Op. 131 reflect the mature artist’s profound sense of wonder about the nature of existence. Takács Quartet Returns only Chamber Music Season/Takács Quartet Beethoven Cycle Sunday 5 February 11.30 am 5 Wigmore Hall Chamber Ensemble in Residence Nash Ensemble Clive Barda Katie van Dyke Ian Brown piano Philippa Davies flute Dvorˇák Sonatina in G Op.100 (arr. for flute and piano) Smetana Piano Trio in G minor Op. 15 Dvorˇák String Quintet in Eb Op. 97 Two works from Dvorˇák’s fertile American period, the tuneful Sonatina originally written for violin and piano and the String Quintet with two violas, created during the idyllic summer the composer spent in Spillville, Ian Brown Philippa Davies Iowa, surround the heartfelt Piano Trio that Smetana wrote in memory of his musically talented infant daughter following her death from scarlet fever. £13 concs £11 incl. programme and coffee/sherry/juice Sunday Morning Coffee Concert/Nash Ensemble: Vienna and its Empire Sunday 5 February 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Associate Artists Takács Quartet MASTERCLASS In his book about Beethoven’s sixteen string quartets, the Takács Quartet’s first violinist Edward Dusinberre describes the exhilaration and spiritual rewards of performing these great works. He and his colleagues pass on their experience and insights into Beethoven’s art to two postgraduate student ensembles in a masterclass certain to enlighten and inspire. This event will be approximately 2 hours in duration, including an interval £30 £25 £20 £15 £10 Supported by The Hargreaves and Ball Trust Wigmore Hall Learning Event/Takács Quartet Beethoven Cycle 5 Monday 6 February 1.00 pm 6 Isabelle Faust violin Andreas Staier piano CPE Bach Fantasie in F# minor Wq. 80 (arr. of Fantasia for keyboard solo Wq. 67) Schumann Fantasy in C Op. 131 Brahms Violin Sonata in Eb Op. 120 No. 2 (arr. of Viola Sonata) Against the scientific revolution’s backdrop, many eighteenth-century writers, artists and composers turned to fantasy as an antidote to the dictates of realism and rationality. CPE Bach’s influential fantasies helped establish a style of rhapsodic composition that was extensively developed in the following century. Isabelle Faust and Andreas Staier explore fantasy pieces by Bach and Schumann in company with the genial lyricism of Brahms’s late Sonata Op. 120 No. 2. All seats £15 BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert Molina Visuals Molina Visuals Isabelle Faust Andreas Staier Monday 6 February 7.30 pm Wigmore Hall Associate Artists Takács Quartet Ellen Appel Beethoven String Quartet in A Op. 18 No. 5; String Quartet in C minor Op. 18 No. 4; String Quartet in A minor Op. 132 While shades of Mozart fleet over the surface of Beethoven’s Op. 18 No. 5, the work’s deep originality is never in doubt. Its companion piece, Op. 18 No. 4, inhabits emotional territory comparable to another contemporary C minor masterwork, the ‘Pathétique’ Sonata. The Takács Quartet also mines the infinite possibilities of the String Quartet in A minor Op. 132, complete with its prayer and thanksgiving for the recovery ‘by a convalescent’.