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New Music Concert Listings - United Kingdom
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| 5 Oct |
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| 6 Oct |
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| 7 Oct |
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| 8 Oct |
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| 9 Oct |
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10 Oct
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Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 19:30
BBC Symphony Orchestra Sibelius Symphonies
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing
Tickets: £10/15/20/35/30
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Vedernikov conductor
Jorgen van Rijen trombone
The BBC SO's Sibelius season comes to an end with the First Symphony, where you'll hear echoes of Tchaikovsky next to thrilling signs of the 'real' Sibelius. Alongside it is the latest concerto from Sibelius's compatriot Kalevi Aho, and Shostakovich's brilliant and witty ballet suite The Bolt, which mingles parodies of 1920s popular music with evocations of the Machine Age.
From the complete Sibelius Symphonies, to Dvorak’s neglected masterpiece The Jacobin and thrilling premieres by today’s most exciting composers, there is something for everyone in the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s 2011-12 season.
Dmitri Shostakovich : The Bolt - Suite
Kalevi Aho : Trombone Concerto
Jean Sibelius : Symphony No 1
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11 Oct
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Friday, May 11, 2012 at 19:30
London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing
Tickets: £10 / 15 / 19.50 / 27 / 35
Valery Gergiev conductor
Leonidas Kavakos violin
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
Stravinsky said of the Credo, the longest movement of his Mass setting, that just as ‘one composes a march to facilitate marching men, so with my Credo I hope to provide an aid to the text … There is much to believe’. Stravinsky began work on his Violin Concerto by sketching out its first chord on a napkin to which its violinist, Samuel Dushkin, hailed the concerto’s theme. The Firebird follows Prince Ivan’s quest to win his princess with the help of the Firebird who aids Ivan by bewitching his opponents into performing increasingly elaborate dances.
Igor Stravinsky : Mass
Igor Stravinsky : Violin Concerto in D major
Igor Stravinsky : The Firebird – complete ballet
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12 Oct
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Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 7.30 pm
In Portrait: George Benjamin
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
South Bank, London SE1
United Kingdom
08700 606 096
http://www.rfh.org.uk
Tickets: £22, £15, £9
Nicholass Collon conductor
Tamara Stefanovich piano
Michael Thompson horn
Michael Cox flute
Helen Keen flute
Sound Intermedia sound projection and live electronics
The London Sinfonietta and Southbank Centre explore the music of George Benjamin, showcasing his wide range of influences from electronics through to new acoustic techniques. Antara, composed after studies at IRCAM, the music technology research centre in Paris, is a meshing of the electronic sounds of Peruvian panpipes, accompanied by an unlikely instrumental ensemble of flutes, trombones, strings and two anvils.
Gyorgy Ligeti : Melodien
George Benjamin : Flight
George Benjamin : Antara
Gyorgy Ligeti : Hamburg Concerto
George Benjamin : Duet
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13 Oct
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Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 19:30
LSO Chamber Orchestra/Valery Gergiev
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing
Tickets: £10 £15 £19.50 £27
Valery Gergiev conductor
Alexander Timchanko tenor
Dmitry Voropaev tenor
Ilya Bannik bass
Andrey Serov bass
Simon Callow narrator
LSO Chamber Ensemble
Stravinsky’s Renard tells the tale of a fox who makes his career from tricking the other farm dwellers, the cock, cat and ram, but whose pride eventually gets the better of him – needless to add, the fox gets his comeuppance. The Soldier’s Tale recounts the story of a soldier who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for his greatest worldly desires: riches, power, youth and wisdom. In an unsettling finale, the devil returns to claim his prize accompanied by the sounds of mechanistic, incessant drumming.
Igor Stravinsky : Renard
Igor Stravinsky : The Soldier’s Tale
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| 14 Oct |
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15 Oct
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 19:30
London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing
Tickets: £10 / 15 / 19.50 / 27 / 35
Valery Gergiev conductor
Zlata Bulycheva Jocasta
Sergei Semishkur Oedipus
Evgeny Nikitin Creon
Alexei Tanovitsky Tiresias
Alexander Timchenko Shepherd
Simon Callow narrator
Gentlemen of the London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
The premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring has gone down in history as sparking the greatest audience scandal ever known because of its controversial dissonances and intensely driving rhythms. Leonard Bernstein described the piece rather more favourably as containing ‘the best dissonances anyone ever thought up, and the best asymmetries … and whatever else you care to name’. Oedipus Rex is based on Sophocles’ tragedy in which Oedipus unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother, the discovery of which leaves him so distraught that he gouges out his own eyes.
Igor Stravinsky : The Rite of Spring
Igor Stravinsky : Oedipus Rex
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| 16 Oct |
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17 Oct
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17 Oct
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Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 6:00PM
Harrison Birtwistle's Bow Down at Brighton Festival
Old Municipal Market
Brighton
United Kingdom
Tickets: £10
The Opera Group
Frederic Wake-Walker Director
Tony Harrison Libretto
A macabre folktale is brought to percussive and visceral life in this interdisciplinary performance. When The Fair Sister is courted by The Suitor, The Dark Sister commits a terrible act of betrayal. But as her crime echoes through the land and across the ages will she finally receive retribution?
Bow Down is an ancient murder ballad reimagined by young performers and players.
Harrison Birtwistle : Bow Down
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| 18 Oct |
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| 19 Oct |
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| 20 Oct |
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| 21 Oct |
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| 22 Oct |
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| 23 Oct |
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24 Oct
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Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 19:45
Onyx Brass with Mark Stone (Baritone)
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
SE1 8XX
United Kingdom
0844 875 0073
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/
Tickets: £10-22
Onyx Brass
Mark Stone
Nearly 20-years-old, Onyx Brass present an intriguing and uplifting programme with music from their latest CDs Time to Time and Fugue, as well as new commissions by Andrew Hamilton and Dan Jenkins. The concert also includes the UK premiere of Hans Abrahamsen's Round and In Between.
They are joined by internationally renowned baritone Mark Stone, whose rich voice adds a gleam to the evening's entertainment, performing new arrangements of classic works by Ives and Barber
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24 Oct
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Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 7.30 pm
In Portrait: Harrison Birtwistle
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
South Bank, London SE1
United Kingdom
08700 606 096
http://www.rfh.org.uk
Tickets: £22, £15, £9
David Atherton conductor
Tom Service presenter
Sir Harrison Birtwistle in conversation
The London Sinfonietta’s long association with British composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle continues with an event which will uncover his musical language, featuring examples from earlier works and including the UK premiere of his latest composition for the ensemble, In Broken Images based on a poem by Robert Graves of the same name. The first half will be an on-stage introduction to the music led by music writer Tom Service in conversation with Sir Harrison Birtwistle and illustrated with musical extracts played live by the London Sinfonietta. Once you’ve gained an insight into how the legendary composer thinks about his music, the London Sinfonietta will then perform a selection of compelling works which encapsulate some of the most important elements of his compositional style.
Harrison Birtwistle : Cortege
Harrison Birtwistle : Carmen arcadiae mechanicae perpetuum
Harrison Birtwistle : 5 Distances for 5 Instruments
Harrison Birtwistle : In Broken Images
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24 Oct
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Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 7.30 pm
CBSO The Year 1912: Ives and Prokofiev
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Broad Street,
Birmingham,
West Midlands,
B1 2EA
United Kingdom
0121 200 2000
symphonyhall@necgroup.co.uk
http://boxoffice.necgroup.co.uk/iccsym.asp
Tickets: £10 - £39.50
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Litton conductor
Lise de la Salle piano
1912: and as Charles Ives imagined what it would sound like if two marching bands collided, the student Prokofiev threw his feisty First Piano Concerto straight in the faces of his outraged professors. Andrew Litton turns up the voltage for this high-octane programme, and then goes even further, with the symphony that threw a stick of dynamite under British music. Walton’s volcanic First Symphony is always a gripping ride – hold on to your hats!
Charles Ives : Three Places in New England
Sergei Prokofiev : Piano Concerto No 1
Julian Wachner : Symphony No 1
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25 Oct
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Friday, May 25, 2012 at 7.30pm
Oliver Knussen 60th Birthday Concert
CBSO Centre, Birmingham
Berkley Street, Birmingham
United Kingdom
Tickets: In advance: £14 full price / £8 concession / £5 under 16s
Conductor: Oliver Knussen
Piano: Huw Watkins
‘No figure in British contemporary music is more respected than Oliver Knussen’
The Guardian
In his 60th birthday year, BCMG Artist-in-Association Oliver Knussen is widely regarded as a profoundly influential composer and one of Britain’s finest conductors. How better way to end our 2011/12 season than with a celebratory concert featuring his most recent composition and music by young composers championed by Knussen.
Energy, dance, darkness, glistening surfaces, collisions and juxtapositions, jolting rhythms and a slow-burning lyricism; all are present in Tansy Davies’ music. Amongst her works are striking concerti for saxophone (Iris, which BCMG recorded with Simon Haram in December 2010) and trumpet (Spiral House, inspired by the architecture of Zaha Hadid). Tansy’s new concerto for pianist Huw Watkins is inspired partly by the writings of Carlos Castaneda on sorcery and in particular on the symbolism of moths.
Sean Shepherd is one of America’s leading young composers. Oliver Knussen premiered his 2009 orchestral work Wanderlust with the Cleveland Orchestra, and now conducts the UK premiere of These Particular Circumstances, a sequence of uninterrupted episodes titled Floating, Circling, Spinning, Grinding, Sinking, Teetering, Soaring.
The second UK premiere in the programme comes from Magnus Lindberg - one of the most talented European composers of his generation. Souvenir is the latest commission linked to his residency with the New York Philharmonic and is a 25-minute, three movement work for 18 players.
In 1975 Oliver Knussen wrote Ophelia Dances for nine players, always intending to add to it; 35 years later comes Ophelia’s Last Dance for solo piano. Premiered in 2010 and revised in 2011, this ten-minute work continues a dance begun all those years ago.
Sean Shepherd : These particular Circumstances
Tansy Davies : Nature
Oliver Knussen : Ophelia Dances
Oliver Knussen : Ophelia’s Last Dance
Magnus Lindberg : Souvenir
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25 Oct
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Friday, May 25, 2012 at 19:30
Caligula
English National Opera
London Coliseum
United Kingdom
6th May-14th May
ENO
New Production
When his adored sister’s death awakes him to a realisation of life’s essential absurdity, the Roman emperor Caligula embarks upon an orgy of sexual depravity and sadistic cruelty in an apparently insane attempt to free himself from the shackles of mortality and morality.
Based upon Albert Camus’s existentialist response to the rise of Hitler and Stalin, but as topical as ever in the era of Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi, Detlev Glanert’s 2006 opera – ‘perhaps the finest German opera of the 21st century’ (Tempo) – offers a disturbing insight into the self-destructive logic driving a decadent and dangerous dictatorship.
Audacious young Australian director Benedict Andrews highlights the timeliness of the opera’s themes by setting his UK premiere production in a football stadium, the kind of vast public arena within which dictators habitually play out their political games.
Detlev Glanert : Caligula
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25 Oct
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Friday, May 25, 2012 at 7.30pm
Debussy & Shostakovich
St David's Hall
Cardiff
United Kingdom
Tickets: £10-£26
BBCNOW
Conductor François-Xavier Roth
Violin Daniel Hope
The vibrant orchestral colours of Debussy's Images conjure the heat, dancing crowds, and intoxicating fragrance of Spain, including the atmospheric sun-drenched Iberia. Shostakovich's troubled and searingly urgent First Violin Concerto is one of his greatest works. It is preceded by a contemporary piece, Philippe Manoury's Sound and Fury, based on the title of William Faulkner's novel.
Philippe Manoury : Sound and Fury
Dmitri Shostakovich : Violin Concerto No 1
Claude Debussy : Images
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25 Oct
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Friday, May 25, 2012 at 7.30pm
Oliver Knussen's 60th Birthday Concert
CBSO Centre
Berkley Street. B1 2LF
United Kingdom
http://www.bcmg.org.uk
info@bcmg.org.uk
Tickets: n advance: £14 full price / £8 concession / £5 under 16s // On the door: £16 full price / £10 conce
Conductor: Oliver Knussen
Piano: Huw Watkins
‘No figure in British contemporary music is more respected than Oliver Knussen’
The Guardian
In his 60th birthday year, BCMG Artist-in-Association Oliver Knussen is widely regarded as a profoundly influential composer and one of Britain’s finest conductors. How better way to end our 2011/12 season than with a celebratory concert featuring his most recent composition and music by young composers championed by Knussen.
Energy, dance, darkness, glistening surfaces, collisions and juxtapositions, jolting rhythms and a slow-burning lyricism; all are present in Tansy Davies’ music. Amongst her works are striking concerti for saxophone (Iris, which BCMG recorded with Simon Haram in December 2010) and trumpet (Spiral House, inspired by the architecture of Zaha Hadid). Tansy’s new concerto for pianist Huw Watkins is inspired partly by the writings of Carlos Castaneda on sorcery and in particular on the symbolism of moths.
Sean Shepherd is one of America’s leading young composers. Oliver Knussen premiered his 2009 orchestral work Wanderlust with the Cleveland Orchestra, and now conducts the UK premiere of These Particular Circumstances, a sequence of uninterrupted episodes titled Floating, Circling, Spinning, Grinding, Sinking, Teetering, Soaring.
In 1975 Oliver Knussen wrote Ophelia Dances for nine players, always intending to add to it; 35 years later comes Ophelia’s Last Dance for solo piano. Premiered in 2010 and revised in 2011, this ten-minute work continues a dance begun all those years ago.
There will be a pre-concert talk at 6.30pm with Tansy Davies, open to all ticket holders, lasting approx. 30 minutes.
Sean Shepherd : These particular Circumstances
Tansy Davies : new piece (BCMG commission/ world premiere)
Oliver Knussen : Orphelia's last dance
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| 26 Oct |
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| 27 Oct |
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28 Oct
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29 Oct
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30 Oct
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31 Oct
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| 1 Nov |
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| 2 Nov |
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| 3 Nov |
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4 Nov
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Monday, June 4, 2012 at 7.30 pm
Kirill Gerstein Recital/Oliver Knussen London Première
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
Tickets: £15 £20 £25 £30
Kirill Gerstein
piano
One of the great windfalls of classical music, the prestigious, valuable and happily maverick Gilmore Award is given every four years to a pianist who has no idea that he or she is in the running for it. Past recipients have included Leif Ove Andsnes and Piotr Anderszewski.
In 2010 it fell into the unsuspecting lap of Kirill Gerstein, acknowledging him as a musician who combines high calibre with curiosity and imagination. Born in Russia, he began his studies as a jazz pianist but switched to classical and contemporary. His programme here reflects wide-ranging interests, with a piece by Oliver Knussen that lays to rest an idée fixe of the composer’s scores through the past three decades.
J.S Bach : English Suite No. 6 in D minor BWV811
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Gigue, Bolero and Variations
Oliver Knussen : Ophelia’s Last Dance
Carl Maria von Weber : Invitation to the Dance: rondo brillant in Db
Franz Liszt : Soirées de Vienna No. 6 from Valses caprices d’après Schubert S427
Robert Schumann : Carnaval Op. 9
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4 Nov
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Monday, June 4, 2012 at 1:00pm
Thomas Adès and Schubert
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
Tickets: £12 concs £10
Louis Lortie
piano
Known to Wigmore audiences for a memorable Beethoven sonata cycle and to CD collectors for a sparkling exploration of Ravel’s complete piano music, Louis Lortie doesn’t do things by halves.
His enthusiasm for the work of Thomas Adès has been similarly probing, thorough, and persistent. Recently he gave the German première of Adès’s piano quintet. In this concert he plays an Adès score from the mid-90s inspired by the idea of angels rising heavenwards in shafts of light.
Thomas Ades : Traced Overhead
Franz Schubert : Piano Sonata in Bb D960
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