2018/19 Season preview 2 • SEASON PREVIEW Each season is the result of your collective giving and for that we are very grateful. Wigmore Hall © Benjamin Ealovega www.wigmore-hall.org.uk SEASON PREVIEW • 3 First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters for their generous and loyal support of Wigmore Hall’s work. The last year has, financially, beenthe most successful ever for Wigmore Hall, and has enabled us to share truly exceptional performances with the widest possible audience, both in the Hall and around the world thanks to our new digital capabilities. Each season is the result of your collective giving – without your friendship, donations to the Annual Fund and legacy gifts, we would be unable to plan a season as ambitious or as wide-ranging as 2018/19, and for that we are very grateful. The vast majority of concerts in our 2018/19 Season have been built by us and are promoted by the Hall. That gives strength to our artistic identity and means that we can set the highest standards of quality and creativity across the season. Putting this season together has been a source of great joy for me. I am particularly thrilled by the scope of our focus on Schumann’s songs and string quartets, and by our ever-expanding Early Music and Baroque Series. Other highlights include a series of standout performances in our Jazz Series, and the high number of outstanding singers and string quartets that we will hear throughout the season. There is a new generation of singers, dedicated to Lieder and art song, stepping forward now, and I am eager for our audience to discover their work and follow their careers as they develop. This brochure gives you an overview of what we are planning for 2018/19. I hope you enjoy reading it and marking some key dates in your diary, and I look forward to sharing this wonderful programme with you over the course of the season. John Gilhooly © Kaupo Kikkas 4 • SEASON PREVIEW MAJOR THEMES Schumann We will explore Schumann’s extensive chamber music output with Steven Isserlis (cello) together with world-renowned soloists, as well as presenting all three of Schumann’s string quartets with the Elias String Quartet. Alongside this, the season will also feature the first year of our in-depth two-year focus on Schumann’s songs, featuring performances by Florian Boesch (baritone), Christiane Karg (soprano), Anne Schwanewilms (soprano), Robin Tritschler (tenor) and Paula Murrihy (mezzo-soprano), all in the company of Malcolm Martineau (piano). © Tall Wall Media Wall © Tall Iain Burnside Russian Song Series Pianist Iain Burnside leads our celebration of Russian song at the Hall, joined by a multitude of guest singers including Olena Tokar (soprano), Dmytro Popov (tenor), Pavel Kolgatin (tenor) and Andrey Steven Isserlis © Kevin Davis Zhilikhovsky (baritone) amongst others. www.wigmore-hall.org.uk SEASON PREVIEW • 5 1 2 Sir George Benjamin A focus on the work of one of the outstanding composers of our © Ben McKee, generation, including a performance of his chamber opera Into the © Benjamin Ealovega Little Hill and an exciting collaboration with the Roundhouse in Camden, James Newby in partnership with Ensemble Modern. 3 4 Roderick Williams Roderick © Monika Rittershaus, © JM Bielsa, Miah Persson Miah Persson Mouriz Clara 1 Miah Persson 2 James Newby 3 Clara Mouriz 4 Roderick Williams Ravel Song Series A fresh focus on Ravel’s songs in varied programmes, juxtaposing the composer’s works with those of his contemporaries and influences. The series will feature performances from Miah Persson (soprano), Henk Neven (baritone), James Newby © Matthew Lloyd (baritone), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo- soprano), Clara Mouriz (mezzo-soprano) and Roderick Williams (baritone), all in the Sir George Benjamin George Sir company of pianist Joseph Middleton. Elliott Carter and an American Series This season will feature an American retrospective including the JACK Quartet performing the complete string quartets by Elliott Carter alongside an American Series with the Escher String Quartet, featuring works by Charles Ives, Andrew Norman, Philip Glass © Shervin Lainez and Samuel Barber amongst other repertoire inspired by America. Quartet JACK 6 • SEASON PREVIEW RESIDENCIES Every season, John Gilhooly invites the world’s finest artists for special residencies at Wigmore Hall. These collaborations on artistic projects inject a new energy into our programming, and attract new audiences across multiple appearances in a season. We are delighted to celebrate the following artists in residence during 2018/19: © Peter Warren © Molina Visuals © Ola Renska Dame Sarah Connolly Connolly Dame Sarah Luminis Vox Melnikov Alexander Dame Sarah Connolly Vox Luminis Alexander Melnikov Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly The Belgian early music vocal ensemble, Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov has been a firm favourite with Wigmore led by Lionel Meunier, will start its makes a welcome return to Wigmore Hall audiences for almost two decades. three-concert residency in November Hall with a residency featuring Her residency this season includes a with a performance of Heinrich Schütz’s Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor daytime masterclass, a performance Musicalische Exequien and some of the with Cuarteto Casals, a solo recital, with award-winning choir Tenebrae, composer’s other funeral motets. The and a programme of Mozart with and a programme featuring Argento’s residency will also feature works by Teunis van der Zwart (horn), Lorenzo From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. Bach and Charpentier. Coppola (clarinet), Javier Zafra (bassoon) and Marcel Ponseele (oboe). www.wigmore-hall.org.uk SEASON PREVIEW • 7 © Benjamin Ealovega © Yiorgos Mavropoulos © Kaapo Kamu Pekka Kuusisto Kuusisto Pekka Christian Blackshaw Marlis Petersen Pekka Kuusisto Christian Blackshaw Marlis Petersen Virtuoso Finnish violin star Pekka We are delighted that renowned pianist, The enchanting soprano’s residency Kuusisto will feature throughout the Christian Blackshaw, will celebrate will include performances of Telemann 2018/19 Season, with performances his 70th birthday on the Wigmore with Die Kölner Akademie, and of Bach, Bartók, and a new piece by Hall stage in a special gala concert, Brahms’s Liebeslieder-Walzer with Anke Finnish composer Perttu Haapanen. including Mozart’s Fantasia in C minor Vondung (alto), Werner Güra (tenor), and Schumann’s Humoreske in B flat Paul Armin Edelmann (baritone), Op. 20. His residency also includes a Christoph Berner (piano) and Camillo recital with musicians from the Berlin Radicke (piano). Philharmonic and a programme of Mahler, Brahms and Schubert with mezzo-soprano Alice Coote. 8 • SEASON PREVIEW ARTISTS IN FOCUS The 2018/19 Season features appearances from many internationally acclaimed artists. Performances to look out for include: The return of firm audience favourite,Igor Levit (piano), performing a series of concerts on variations including Bach’s ‘Goldberg’, Beethoven’s ‘Diabelli’, and Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated, his recording of which won Gramophone’s 2016 Recording of the Year Award, alongside new commissions. Ian Bostridge (tenor) returns to Wigmore Hall to perform Schubert’s three great song cycles with pianists Thomas Adès, Sir Antonio Pappano and Lars Vogt. He also joins us for the première of a new song cycle written by star jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, which has been specially commissioned by Wigmore Hall. Headline appearances from internationally acclaimed artists include Christian Gerhaher (baritone), René Pape (bass), Sir András Schiff (piano), Richard Goode (piano), Emmanuel Ax (piano), Evgeny Kissin (piano) and Simon Keenlyside (baritone) amongst many others, as well as a whole day dedicated to Nicholas Daniel and the oboe. www.wigmore-hall.org.uk SEASON PREVIEW • 9 BIG BIRTHDAYS AT THE HALL! We are delighted that so many wonderful artists have chosen to celebrate their big birthdays this season at the Hall. Special concerts include: • Christian Blackshaw’s 70th birthday • Emmanuel Ax’s 70th birthday • Dame Emma Kirkby’s 70th birthday • Steven Isserlis’s 60th birthday, including a rare guest appearance from Radu Lupu • Piotr Anderszewski’s 50th birthday EMERGING VOCAL TALENT As a champion of emerging talent, Wigmore Hall is proud to support and provide a platform for artists as they begin their careers. During the 2018/19 Season, look out for recitals by the following new voices: • Catriona Morison (mezzo-soprano) • Louise Alder (soprano) • Milan Siljanov (bass-baritone) • Ilker Arcayürek (tenor) • Christina Landshamer (soprano) • Nicky Spence (tenor) • Benjamin Appl (baritone) • Manuel Walser (baritone) • Andrè Schuen (baritone) Igor Levit © Felix Broede • Maximilian Schmitt (tenor) 10 • SEASON PREVIEW SONG, CHAMBER MUSIC & PIANO Song Alongside our season-long features on Schumann, Russian song and Ravel, the 2018/19 Season will also include three programmes inspired by the changing seasons from tenor Robin Tritschler, as well as a glittering array of other vocal highlights: Dorothea Röschmann © Felix Broede (soprano), Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Véronique Gens (soprano), Mark Padmore (tenor), Ekaterina Jerusalem Quartet Semenchuk (mezzo-soprano), Andreas Scholl (countertenor) and Michaela Schuster (mezzo-soprano). Chamber Music Alongside his exploration of Schumann, Steven Isserlis will also focus on the chamber music of Fauré, featuring performances with a wide variety of guest artists. The 2018/19 Season will also include a complete Bartók cycle from the Jerusalem Quartet,