2018/19 Season April - July 2019 2 • Join us for a fascinating celebration on 8 June; leading oboist Nicholas Daniel consecrates an entire day to an instrument relatively rarely featured in chamber works but whose contemporary repertoire he has expanded significantly with commissions from leading composers. In 2016, Igor Levit simultaneously won (among others) Director’s two Gramophone Awards – the Instrumental Award as well as Recording of the Year – for his three-CD set of variations, the works he will revisit with us in May Introduction alongside Ronald Stevenson’s Passacaglia on DSCH. The American jazz pianist, composer and multimedia performer, Jason Moran, has recorded some 40 albums to date, as a soloist and member of numerous ensembles. Presenting original compositions and jazz standards, he will announce his eclectic May programme from the stage. Founded as long ago as 1975 in Budapest but resident at the University of Boulder, Colorado, since 1983, the long-revered Takács Quartet has maintained a close connection with Wigmore Hall as Associate Artists. They perform two concerts in May including works by Elgar, Haydn, Bartók and Amy Beach. On 10 and 14 May, Sir András Schiff, unquestionably one of today’s leading Bach interpreters, takes on a group of the composer’s keyboard suites published between 1726 and 1730. Students from the Royal Academy of Music’s Song Circle present a recital in April devoted entirely to the songs of Carl Loewe. Loewe performed his songs throughout Germany to great acclaim and was known as the North German Schubert, composing over 500 songs in a great variety of genres. Inspired by the heart-breaking stories of refugees which are never far from the news, vocal ensemble Stile Antico and Dartington Arts commissioned poet Peter Oswald to create texts for Dowland’s instrumental Lachrimae pavans. Based on testimonies from today’s refugees and migrants, these new poems about displacement and exile present a contemporary and deeply moving counterpoint to this exquisite music in a concert in June, all interspersed by improvised oud music from London-based Syrian musician Rihab Azar. The Armenian-American pianist Sergei Babayan offers an all-Chopin programme in June, featuring the characteristically Polish form of the mazurka in the second half and the first consisting of popular individual pieces. Hervé Niquet, the founder-director of Le Concert Spirituel, one of Europe’s most durable and expert period-instrument ensembles, leads a programme in July that simulates the musical experience of the Mass in the time of Mozart and Haydn. Solomon’s Knot makes its debut at Wigmore Hall in April with a rarely heard version of a familiar favourite; fans of the Bach Johannes-Passion unfamiliar with the 1725 version will have the pleasure of seeing (or hearing!) an old friend in a new light. Please join us for two celebrations, with the JACK Quartet performing the complete Elliot Carter quartets in April and the Jerusalem Quartet presenting the complete Bella Bartók quartets the following month, both bound to be highlights of the season as it comes to an end. • 3 Contents At a Glance 4 Calendar 8 April 10 May 33 June 59 July 85 Contemporary Music Series 104 Booking Information 108 April - July 2019 At a Glance See pages 10-103 for full details of these concerts and page 108 for booking information. Series and Events to look out for… Emanuel Ax 70th birthday concert 82 Chamber Music Season Benjamin Beilman/Narek Hakhnazaryan/ 10 La Nuova Musica/Christine Rice 83 Sat 6 Apr JACK Quartet 16 Louis Schwizgebel Evgeny Kissin 84 Tue 9 Apr The Chamber Music 17 Royal Academy of Music Song Circle 12 Mahan Esfahani: Bach Harpsichord Works 91 Society of Lincoln Center London Handel Orchestra 14 Max Emanuel Cenčić/ 92 Wed 10 Apr Escher String Quartet 17 JACK Quartet: Complete Elliot Carter 16 Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu/ Fri 12 Apr Nash Ensemble: 18 String Quartets Franck-Emmanuel Comte Nash Inventions Christina Landshamer/Gerold Huber 15 Vox Luminis Residency 95 Tue 23 Apr Steven Isserlis/ 26 Janine Jansen/Arisa Fujita American Series: Escher String Quartet 17 Mozart and the 2nd Viennese School 94 Amihai Grosz/Connie Shih Sally Matthews/Simon Lepper 17 Alexi Kenney/Orion Weiss 96 Sat 27 Apr Patricia Kopatchinskaja/ 30 Kian Soltani/Aaron Pilsan 97 Nash Inventions – Focus on 18 Reto Bieri/Polina Leschenko Sir Harrison Birtwistle Brahms Plus Series 99 Mon 29 Apr Hagen Quartet 32 Ian Bostridge: Schubert Cycles 19, 23, 86, 87 Lana Trotovsek/Maria Canyigueral 101 Wed 1 May Pekka Kuusisto/ 33 Solomon's Knot 20 Mark Padmore/Paul Lewis 100 Prof Dr Erik Scherder/ The Sixteen 22 Sir Simon Keenlyside/Howard McGill/ 103 Jukka Huitila Angela Hewitt: The Bach Odyssey 25 Gordon Campbell/Richard Pryce/ Thu 2 May Notos Quartett 34 Pavel Haas Quartet 27 Matthew Regan/Mike Smith Sat 4 May In Focus: 38 Ensemble Correspondances Residency 27 Le Concert Spirituel 102 Sir George Benjamin Fauré/Schumann Project 26, 73, 74 Final concert of the season: 103 Wed 8 May Jerusalem Quartet 44 Chiaroscuro Quartet Schumann Song Series 28 Thu 9 May Jerusalem Quartet 44 The Orlando Consort 29 Sat 11 May Steven Osborne/ 41 Alban Gerhardt Patricia Kopatchinskaja/Reto Bieri/ 30 BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts Mon 13 May Håkan Hardenberger/ 43 Polina Leschenko Mon 1 Apr Benjamin Beilman/ 10 Roland Pöntinen Louis Lortie 31 Narek Hakhnazaryan/ Louis Schwizgebel Wed 15 May Takács Quartet 48 Pekka Kuusisto Residency 33 Mon 8 Apr Katarina Karnéus/ 15 Thu 16 May YCAT Public Final 45 Piotr Anderszewski 34 Julius Drake Auditions 2019 In Focus: Sir George Benjamin 38 Mon 15 Apr Tabea Zimmermann/ 23 Fri 17 May Takács Quartet/ 48 Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin 40 Adam Walker/ Garrick Ohlsson Ravel Song Series 42 Agnès Clément Sun 19 May Royal Academy of Music 49 Jerusalem Quartet: The Complete 44 Mon 22 Apr Pavel Haas Quartet 27 Soloists/Thomas Gould Bartók String Quartets Mon 29 Apr Julian Prégardien/ 32 Mon 20 May Henning Kraggerud/ 51 Sir András Schiff 45, 46 Eric Le Sage Adrian Brendel/ Imogen Cooper Sumi Jo 41 Mon 6 May The King's Singers 39 Tue 21 May Castalian Quartet/ 51 Håkan Hardenberger/Roland Pöntinen 43 Mon 13 May Gould Piano Trio 43 Anthony Marwood/ Takács Quartet Associate Artists 48 Mon 20 May Andreas Haefliger 49 Aleksandar Madžar Igor Levit: Variations 52, 53, 54, 56 Mon 27 May Kuss Quartet 56 Thu 23 May Elias String Quartet 53 Schumann String Quartet Series 53 Mon 3 Jun Ilya Gringolts/ 61 Sat 25 May Piatti Quartet 54 Robin Tritschler The Seasons 55 Peter Laul Sat 25 May Narek Hakhnazaryan/ 54 Till Fellner 60 Mon 10 Jun Jean Rondeau 69 Pavel Kolesnikov Katya Apekisheva 64 Mon 17 Jun Nicolas Altstaedt 74 Wed 29 May The Endellion String Quartet 57 Nicholas Daniel Oboe Day 65, 66-67 Mon 24 Jun Christopher Maltman/ 81 Thu 30 May Hilary Hahn 59 Stile Antico/Rihab Azar 68 Graham Johnson Mon 3 Jun Doric String Quartet/ 61 Jonathan Biss Isabelle Faust/Jean-Guihen Queyras/ 71 Mon 1 Jul Colin Currie Quartet 85 Alexander Melnikov Mon 8 Jul Imogen Cooper 89 Sat 8 Jun Nicholas Daniel Oboe Day 66-67 Gerald Finley/Julius Drake 73 Mon 15 Jul István Várdai/ 96 Mon 10 Jun Pavel Haas Quartet/ 69 Enno Senft/Boris Giltburg Sergei Babayan 72 Sunwook Kim Fri 14 Jun Isabelle Faust/ 71 The Cardinall's Musick 79 Jean-Guihen Queyras/ Alexander Melnikov Residency 79 Alexander Melnikov Chineke! Orchestra 76 Sun 16 Jun Steven Isserlis/ 74 Franz-Josef Selig/Gerold Huber 78 Anthony Marwood/Irène Duval/ Matthias Goerne 80, 83 Eivind Holtsmark Ringstad/ Dénes Várjon/Izabella Simon Ensemble Marsyas 81 wigmore-hall.org.uk • 5 Mon 17 Jun Cuarteto Casals/ 74 Thu 25 Apr The Orlando Consort 29 Song Recital Series Alban Gerhardt Sat 4 May Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin 40 Mon 1 Apr Ekaterina Semenchuk/ 11 Fri 21 Jun Alexander Rudin/ 79 Tue 28 May L'Arpeggiata 56 Semyon Skigin Alexander Melnikov Fri 7 Jun Cinquecento/Nicholas Todd 65 Tue 2 Apr Royal Academy of Music 12 Tue 25 Jun Emanuel Ax/ 82 Song Circle Tue 11 Jun The English Concert 70 Sir Simon Keenlyside/ Thu 4 Apr Matthew Rose/Tom Poster 11 Dover Quartet Wed 12 Jun Stile Antico/Rihab Azar 68 Sun 7 Apr Milan Siljanov/ 13 Thu 20 Jun 79 Sat 6 Jul Xavier Phillips/ 88 The Cardinall's Musick Nino Chokhonelidze François-Frédéric Guy Mon 24 Jun Ensemble Marsyas 81 Mon 8 Apr Christina Landshamer/ 15 Sun 7 Jul Wihan Quartet 89 Thu 27 Jun La Nuova Musica/ 83 Gerold Huber Wed 10 Jul Benjamin Beilman/ 91 Christine Rice Thu 11 Apr Sally Matthews/Simon Lepper 17 Louis Schwizgebel Mon 1 Jul Rachel Podger/ 86 Sat 13 Apr Ian Bostridge/Saskia Giorgini 19 Fri 12 Jul Silesian String Quartet 93 Brecon Baroque/ Sun 14 Apr Gavan Ring/Simon Lepper 21 Marcin Świątkiewicz/ Wed 17 Jul Alexi Kenney/Orion Weiss 96 Mon 15 Apr Ian Bostridge/Saskia Giorgini 23 Daniele Caminiti Fri 19 Jul Kian Soltani/Aaron Pilsan 97 Wed 24 Apr Kathleen Ferrier Awards 29 Mon 8 Jul The Mozartists/ 89 Mon 22 Jul Lana Trotovsek/ 101 Semi-Final Ian Page/Louise Alder/ Maria Canyigueral Wed 24 Apr Dame Sarah Connolly/ 28 Katy Bircher/Oliver Wass/ Robin Tritschler/Malcolm Martineau Gavin Edwards Fri 26 Apr Kathleen Ferrier Awards Final 29 Sunday Morning Concerts Tue 9 Jul Mahan Esfahani 91 Tue 30 Apr Marcus Farnsworth/ 33 Sun 7 Apr Tesla Quartet 13 Thu 11 Jul Max Emanuel Cenčić/ 92 James Baillieu Sun 14 Apr 21 Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu/ Alexandra Dariescu Sun 5 May Paula Murrihy/ 35 Franck-Emmanuel Comte Sun 21 Apr Kelemen Quartet 25 Malcolm Martineau Sun 28 Apr Ning Feng/Yukako Morikawa 31 Sat 13 Jul Vox Luminis 95 Mon 6 May Clara Mouriz/ 42 Sun 5 May Jan Vogler/Antti Siirala 35 Sat 27 Jul