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New Music Concert Listings - United Kingdom

Welcome to the Composition:Today New Music Concert Listings.
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13 Nov



United Kingdom
 Friday, April 13, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
BBC Symphony Orchestra Sibelius
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing

Tickets: £10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30
BBC Symphony Orchestra
John Storgårds conductor
Truls Mørk cello

Not many pieces evoke a walk to a pub, but Delius's lovely
heat-drenched orchestral rhapsody is one. Frank Bridge's
The Sea blows the languor away with its evocation of salt-
spray and wind, and the Second Cello Concerto Towards the
Horizon by the Finnish composer Rautavaara also passes
through stormy episodes, before the calm of a distant horizon
is glimpsed.


Einojuhani Rautavaara : Towards the Horizon
Frank Bridge : The Sea
Frederick Delius : The Walk to the Paradise Garden
Jean Sibelius : Symphony No 5

13 Nov



United Kingdom
 Friday, April 13, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
The Sinking of the Titanic
Town Hall, Birmingham
Victoria Square B3 3DQ
United Kingdom
0121 780 3333
http://www.thsh.co.uk/

Tickets: £15


On the centenary weekend of the Titanic disaster, we present a moving, evocative and timeless
experience. The Sinking of the Titanic, Gavin Bryars’ 20th century classic of experimental music,
is a 72-minute meditation inspired by reports that the Titanic’s string band continued to play the
hymn tune Autumn as the vessel went down. Themes from the hymn are woven into a timeless
soundscape that creates a beautiful sense of sound sinking through cavernous depths, of memory
and loss, and of history submerged in time. Turntablist Philip Jeck’s sample-based materials and
hazy archival film footage from artists Bill Morrison and Laurie Olinder overlay an extra layer of
ineffable nostalgia to this unique experience.
6.15pm Free pre-concert conversation with Gavin Bryars, writer and broadcaster Brian Morton,
and Andy Lound, Titanic expert and Curator of the Avery Historical Museum.
On the night of the concert there will be a small display of Titanic memorabilia in the Town Hall
foyer, courtesy of the Avery Historical Museum.
Ticket holders can benefit from free entry to 1912: A Titanic Odyssey, an exhibition being staged
by the Avery Historical Museum at Soho Foundry, Smethwick. Entry by advance booking only,
email alound@awtxglobal.com or call 0121 568 1667 for opening times and to book.


Gavin Bryars : The sinking of the Titanic

14 Nov 
 
15 Nov 
 
16 Nov 
 
17 Nov



United Kingdom
 Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Jakob Lenz, An ENO/Hampstead Theatre co-production
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre Eton Avenue Swiss Cottage NW3 3EU
United Kingdom
020 7722 9301
http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/
mailto:boxoffice@hampsteadtheatre.com

Tickets: £45
ENO

Where does genius end and madness begin? How does it feel to cross the borderline between
imagination and insanity?
To celebrate the 60th birthday of leading German composer Wolfgang Rihm, ENO presents the first
ever English-language production of his most widely performed opera, a starkly Expressionist sonic
‘psychogram’ charting the mental disintegration of the real-life Sturm und Drang poet Jakob Lenz.
Staged by the dynamic young British director Sam Brown (winner of the 2011 European Opera-
Directing Prize) and starring the extraordinary ‘chameleon’ actor/singer Andrew Shore – whose tour
de force performance as Birtwistle’s Mr Punch launched ENO’s award-winning collaboration with the
Young Vic – this pioneering co-production with the Hampstead Theatre inaugurates a brand-new
relationship between ENO and North London’s long-established home of new writing.

All performances:

Tue 17 Apr 2012 19:30
Thu 19 Apr 2012 19:30
Sat 21 Apr 2012 19:30
Tue 24 Apr 2012 19:30
Thu 26 Apr 2012 19:30
Fri 27 Apr 2012 19:30


Wolfgang Rihm : Jakob Lenz

18 Nov



United Kingdom
 Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Calefax reed quintet; Lenneke Ruiten soprano
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: £12 concs £10
Calefax
reed quintet
Lenneke Ruiten
soprano



Hans Abrahamsen : Walden
Matthew Shlomowitz : Line and length
J.S Bach : Die Kunst der Fuge BWV1080 (arr. Raaf Hekkema)
Nico Muhly : Hymns for Private Use
Steve Reich : New York Counterpoint

19 Nov 
 
20 Nov



United Kingdom
 Friday, April 20, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
BBC Symphony Orchestra Sibelius
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing

Tickets: £10/15/20/25/30
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi conductor
Vadim Gluzman violin

This concert throws a light on the rich and still little-known
musical culture around the Baltic Sea. The Lithuanian Balys
Dvarionas's Violin Concerto is a defiantly unashamedly
romantic outpouring, while the Estonian Erkki-Sven Tüür and
the Finn Einar Englund pay hommage to the giant figure that
both inspired and intimidated them – Jean Sibelius.


Erkki-Sven Tüür : Searching For Roots: Hommage to Sibelius
Jean Sibelius : Symphony No 2

20 Nov



United Kingdom
 Friday, April 20, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Mahler's Fourth Symphony with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the BBC National Chorus of Wales
St David's Hall
Cardiff
United Kingdom

Tickets: £10-£26
Conductor Thierry Fischer
Soprano Lisa Milne
BBC National Chorus of Wales

Mahler's Fourth Symphony is one of his most
relaxed works - classical, song-like and
culminates
in a representation of a child's view of
heaven. An early commentator remarked,
"Mahler's
Symphony is a work for children and those who will become children." Simon Holt's The Yellow
Wallpaper is a dramatic piece for soprano and orchestra (with sopranos placed within the
orchestra!). It sets to music the story of obsession caused by living in a room with yellow
wallpaper by the early feminist writer Charlotte Perkins Gillman.
Please note - Schumann's Requiem for Mignon will no longer be performed in this concert.


Simon Holt : The Yellow Wallpaper
Gustav Mahler : Symphony No 4

21 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Reflections on Debussy
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Lower Mosley Road
United Kingdom
44 (0) 161 907 9000
http://www.halle.co.uk/publishedSite/aidsdayconcert.asp
box@bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Tickets: £10.00 - £33.50
Juanjo Mena conductor
Noriko Ogawa piano

Debussy's La mer is one of the most gorgeous seascapes ever painted by an orchestra. As Juanjo Mena
approaches the finale of our anniversary tribute to Debussy, we celebrate with a whole concert devoted to the
musical life aquatic.
Antonin Dvorak re-tells a sinister Czech fairytale in irresistibly tuneful style. Benjamin Britten’s foam-lashed musical
portrait of the North Sea captures the human drama of a Suffolk fishing community. And the exquisite riverrun by
the Japanese master Toru Takemitsu is a dream-like piano concerto, inspired by both James Joyce and Debussy
himself, and played tonight by the wonderful Noriko Ogawa.
Post-concert 'le chat noir': nostalgic popular melodies from Japan and chansons by Toru Takemitsu performed by
soprano, Yumiko Samejima and Noriko Ogawa.


Benjamin Britten : Four Sea Interludes
Antonin Dvorak : Water Sprites
Toru Takemitsu : riverrun
Claude Debussy : La Mer

21 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 4 pm 
Reflections on Debussy
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Lower Mosley Road
United Kingdom
44 (0) 161 907 9000
http://www.halle.co.uk/publishedSite/aidsdayconcert.asp
box@bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Tickets: £7.50
Clare Hammond

Barbirolli Room. Debussy loved the fluidity of water, and pianist
Clare Hammond plays Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau from Images,
Book 1, and five specially commissioned pieces on a watery theme.


Franz Liszt : Au bord d’une source and Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este
Oliver Knussen : Prayer Bell (in memoriam Takemitsu)
Claude Debussy : Images, Book 1

21 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
Impossible Brilliance: the music of Conlon Nancarrow
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
South Bank, London SE1
United Kingdom
08700 606 096
http://www.rfh.org.uk

Tickets: £22, £15, £9 concessions available
Baldur Brönnimann conductor
Ben Gernon conductor
Rex Lawson pianola
David Hockings percussion
Iain Farrington harpsichord
Sound Intermedia electronics
Netia Jones (for lightmap)projection design

The London Sinfonietta celebrates the works of 20th-century musical maverick
Conlon Nancarrow. A former soldier in the Spanish Civil War, Nancarrow spent most
of his life in Mexico exploring intricate rhythmic designs only playable by mechanical
instruments. This event highlights existing and new arrangements of his jazzy and
hyperkinetically energetic music and incorporates live projection depicting the
character of Conlon Nancarrow by designer Netia Jones.


Conlon Nancarrow : Study No. 21 (new arr. Murcott)
Conlon Nancarrow : Piece No. 2 for Small Orchestra
Conlon Nancarrow : Study No. 6 (arr. Mikhashoff)
John Cage : Five
Conlon Nancarrow : Study No. 5 (arr. Mikhashoff)
Conlon Nancarrow : Study No. 26 (new arr. Rogers)
James Tenney : Spectral Canon for Conlon Nancarrow
Conlon Nancarrow : Toccata for violin and player piano
Conlon Nancarrow : Tango? (arr. Mikhashoff)
Conlon Nancarrow : Piece No.1 for Small Orchestra
Conlon Nancarrow : Piece for Tape (arr. Murcott)
Gyorgy Ligeti : Continuum for solo harpsichord
Conlon Nancarrow : Study for Player Piano No. 49a
Conlon Nancarrow : Study No. 49 a,b,c (new arr. Thomas)

22 Nov 
 
23 Nov 
 
24 Nov 
 
25 Nov



United Kingdom
 Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7:30pm 
Spotlight on Elena Firsova
The Forge
3-7 Delancey Street, London, NW1 7NL
United Kingdom
http://www.forgevenue.org/whats-on/
contact@forgevenue.org

Tickets: £10/8 online, £12/10 on the door

Marsyas Trio
Helen Vidovich - flute
Val Welbanks - cello
Fei Ren - piano

Ligeti Quartet
Mandhira de Saram - violin
Patrick Dawkins - violin
Richard Jones - viola
Val Welbanks - cello



The Marsyas Trio will be presenting a programme of chamber works by Russian-born composer Elena Firsova. The featured work is a world premiere of the new composition commissioned by the Marsyas Trio, A Triple Portrait, which has generously been funded by the PRS for Music Foundation. The Marsyas Trio is joined by the Ligeti Quartet in a varied programme of solo, duo and larger chamber ensemble works. Also featured is the UK premiere of Tender is the Sorrow and a short concert talk by Elena. This concert is in celebration of Elena Firsova’s twenty-year contribution to new music in the UK.


Elena Firsova : A Triple Portrait (Marsyas Trio)
Elena Firsova : The Night Demons, Op. 62 (1993) (Cello & Piano)
Elena Firsova : Tender is the Sorrow, Op. 130 (2011) (Flute, String Trio & Piano) (UK premiere)
Elena Firsova : Meditation in the Japanese Garden, Op. 54 (1992) (Marsyas Trio)
Elena Firsova : Spring Sonata, Op. 27 (1982) (Flute & Piano)
Elena Firsova : String Quartet No. 8 ‘The Stone Guest’ (1995) (Ligeti Quartet)
Elena Firsova : Hymn to Spring, Op. 64 (1993) (Solo Piano)

26 Nov



United Kingdom
 Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
The Hallé
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Lower Mosley Road
United Kingdom
44 (0) 161 907 9000
http://www.halle.co.uk/publishedSite/aidsdayconcert.asp
box@bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Tickets: £9.50 - £35.00
Markus Stenz conductor
Alban Gerhardt cello

Markus Stenz conducts Chabrier’s sensuous Espana, a delightful orchestral vignette replete with Spanish dance
rhythms and vibrant local colour. The Hallé welcomes back Alban Gerhardt – one of the world’s leading cellists –
for Dutilleux’s equally luminous Tout un monde lontain. Inspired by the symbolist poetry of Baudelaire, it is an
astonishing work that truly takes us to ‘A whole remote world’. Alban Gerhardt then reappears in the guise of Don
Quixote for Richard Strauss’s charming take on Cervantes’s classic novel. Commotion ensues as ‘the knight of the
woeful countenance’ tilts his lance at windmills, assails a flock of sheep and generally gets it wrong.
Pre-concert event at 6:30pm (free to concert ticket holders): Michael Kennedy, celebrated for his studies of both
Richard Strauss and Edward Elgar talks about Don Quixote and previews The Apostles, which will be performed on
Saturday 5 May.


Emmanuel Chabrier : Rhapsody: Espana
Henri Dutilleux : Tout un monde lontain – Concerto for cello and orchestra
Richard Strauss : Don Quixote

26 Nov



United Kingdom
 Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 7.30pm 
The Importance of Being Earnest
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing

Tickets: £10/ £17.50/ £25
Conductor: Thomas Adès

Cast
Barbara Hannigan: Cecily Cardew
Peter Tantsits: John Worthing
Joshua Bloom: Algernon Moncrieff
Katalin Karolyi: Gwendolen Fairfax
Hilary Summers: Miss Prism
Stephen Richardson: Lady Bracknell

Opera in Three Acts (Concert Performance)
by Gerald Barry
Libretto by the composer based on the text by Oscar Wilde

‘I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital importance of being Earnest’

Oscar Wilde’s most enduringly popular play – The Importance of Being Earnest – has long been a staple of theatre and screen; now, a brilliant new operatic version gives voice to Lady Bracknell’s "A hand-bag?!"

Ernest Worthing (aka John) wants to marry Gwendolen. Algernon (aka Ernest) has an imaginary friend called Bunbury. Lady Bracknell only wants the best for her daughter Gwendolen and she just wants to marry someone with the name Ernest.

Thomas Adès conducts Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and a stellar cast of singers in the European premiere performances of Gerald Barry’s new opera in Birmingham and London.

Irish composer Gerald Barry has enjoyed a long and successful association with BCMG, including acclaimed performances of his opera The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit with Thomas Adès in Birmingham, London, Paris and New York, and three commissions through the Group’s Sound Investment scheme.

‘My favourite living composer finds the hilarious musical equivalent for Oscar Wilde’s perfect absurdist paradoxes in his riotously outrageous and funny new opera.’
Thomas Adès

'The opera is hysterically funny. The score is highly sophisticated and indescribably zany… The world now has something rare: a new genuinely comic opera…’
Los Angeles Times


Gerard Barry : The Importance of Being Earnest

27 Nov 
 
28 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 7.00pm 
The Importance of Being Earnest
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: £20
Conductor: Thomas Adès

Cast
Barbara Hannigan: Cecily Cardew
Peter Tantsits: John Worthing
Joshua Bloom: Algernon Moncrieff
Katalin Karolyi: Gwendolen Fairfax
Hilary Summers: Miss Prism
Stephen Richardson: Lady Bracknell

Opera in Three Acts (Concert Performance)
by Gerald Barry
Libretto by the composer based on the text by Oscar Wilde

‘I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital importance of being Earnest’

Oscar Wilde’s most enduringly popular play – The Importance of Being Earnest – has long been a staple of theatre and screen; now, a brilliant new operatic version gives voice to Lady Bracknell’s "A hand-bag?!"

Ernest Worthing (aka John) wants to marry Gwendolen. Algernon (aka Ernest) has an imaginary friend called Bunbury. Lady Bracknell only wants the best for her daughter Gwendolen and she just wants to marry someone with the name Ernest.

Thomas Adès conducts Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and a stellar cast of singers in the European premiere performances of Gerald Barry’s new opera in Birmingham and London.

Irish composer Gerald Barry has enjoyed a long and successful association with BCMG, including acclaimed performances of his opera The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit with Thomas Adès in Birmingham, London, Paris and New York, and three commissions through the Group’s Sound Investment scheme.

‘My favourite living composer finds the hilarious musical equivalent for Oscar Wilde’s perfect absurdist paradoxes in his riotously outrageous and funny new opera.’
Thomas Adès

'The opera is hysterically funny. The score is highly sophisticated and indescribably zany… The world now has something rare: a new genuinely comic opera…’
Los Angeles Times

The Birmingham performance of The Importance of Being Earnest is included in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s 2011/12 Season and standard CBSO discounts apply. See www.cbso.co.uk for further details, or enquire when booking.


Gerald Barry : The Importance of Being Earnest

28 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 7.00 pm 
The Importance of Being Earnest
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: £20
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Thomas Adès conductor
Barbara Hannigan Cecily Cardew
Peter Tantsits John Worthing
Joshua Bloom Algernon Moncrieff
Katalin Karolyi Gwendolen Fairfax
Hilary Summers Miss Prism
Alan Ewing Lady Bracknell
Benjamin Bevan Lane / Merriman

“A Handbag?!” Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is surely the single wittiest play
in the English language. Thomas Adès conducts Birmingham’s world-renowned BCMG and a
stellar cast in this definitive concert performance of Irish composer Gerald Barry’s brilliant new
opera.


Gerald Barry : The Importance of Being Earnest

28 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 6 pm 
Total Immersion: Arvo Pärt
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing

BBC Singers



Arvo Pärt : Beatitudes
Arvo Pärt : Summa
Arvo Pärt : Seven Magnificat Antiphons

28 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 12:15pm 
Colin Matthews Study Day
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: Day Ticket £10/£3
Musicians From Royal Northern
College of Music; Clark Rundell
conductor



Colin Matthews : Three Enigmas for cello and piano

28 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 10:00am 
Colin Matthews Study Day
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: Day Ticket £10
Musicians From Royal Northern
College of Music; Clark Rundell
conductor



Colin Matthews : Oboe Quartet No. 2

28 Nov



United Kingdom
 Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 11.00 am 
Innocence & Experience
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Lower Mosley Road
United Kingdom
44 (0) 161 907 9000
http://www.halle.co.uk/publishedSite/aidsdayconcert.asp
box@bridgewater-hall.co.uk

Tickets: £15.00 - £20.00
Noriko Ogawa piano
Natalie Clein cello
Kyoko Takezawa violin
Emily Beynon flute
Nobuko Imai viola
Godelieve Schrama harp

Part of a day of events where East mirrors West: join us during the afternoon for a close-up look at Japanese
texts, or have fun with the children at one of our art workshops, along with a family concert featuring Noriko
Ogawa playing Debussy's Children's Corner and Clair de lune. Follow the links on the right to find out more about
all the events happening during the day.
Reflections on Debussy has been created in partnership with the BBC Philharmonic who perform Debussy’s major
orchestral works, as well as works for piano and orchestra by Takemitsu, across four themed concerts. The series
is completed by four recitals by Noriko Ogawa, with a varied programme of supporting events.


Claude Debussy : Sonata for flute, viola and harp
Toru Takemitsu : From far beyond Chrysanthemums and November fog for violin and piano
Claude Debussy : Sonata for cello and piano
Toru Takemitsu : A bird came down the walk for viola and piano

29 Nov



United Kingdom
 Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 7.30 pm 
London Symphony Orchestra / Peter
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
Peter Eotvos conductor
Christian Tetzlaff violin
Ladies of the London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra

Inspired by the Nocturnes of Impressionist painter James
Whistler, Debussy wrote that his Three Nocturnes should be
understood in terms of ‘all the various impressions and the
special effects of light that the word suggests’.
Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No 1 draws inspiration from
the Polish poem, Noc Majowa (Night Gathering) which reads:
‘And now we stand by the lake in crimson blossom / in
flowing tears of joy, with rapture and fear’. Novelist and
painter Henry Miller described listening to Scrabin’s
Symphony No 4 as ‘like a bath of ice, cocaine and rainbows
…Like an étude gliding off a glacier’.


Claude Debussy : Three Nocturnes
Karol Szymanowski : Violin Concerto No 1
Alexander Scriabin : Symphony No 4 (‘Poem of Ecstasy’)

30 Nov 
 
1 Dec 
 
2 Dec 
 
3 Dec



United Kingdom
 Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 7:30pm 
Schubert, Bach, Dorman, Milone and Sarasate
Wigmore Hall, London
36 Wigmore St, London W1
United Kingdom
02079352141
http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

Tickets: £15 £20 £25 £30
Gil Shaham
violin

Akira Eguchi
piano



A distinguished Israeli-American violinist and Japanese- American pianist, Gil Shaham and Akira Eguchi offer an unusual programme here, with a Sarasate show-piece, a sonata by young Israeli composer Avner Dorman, dedicated to Gil Shaham, and the world première of a new work by British violinist/composer Julian Milone.



Franz Schubert : Violin sonata (Sonatina) in A minor D385
J.S. Bach : Sonata No. 3 in C for solo violin BWV1005
Avner Dorman : Sonate für Violine und Klavier No. 3
Julian Milone : In the country of lost things…
Pablo de Sarasate : Carmen Fantasy Op. 25

3 Dec



United Kingdom
 Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 7:30pm 
CBSO The Year 1912: Berg and Ravel
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
Oliver Knussen conductor
Claire Booth soprano
CBSO Youth Chorus



‘One of Britain’s greatest living artists,’ says The Guardian of Oliver Knussen, ‘he has added beauty to the world.’ Now, in his 60th birthday year, we’re delighted to welcome him back to Birmingham for a concert that tingles with colour. Ravel’s sumptuous homage to Schubert and Berg’s Klimt-like Altenberg-Lieder (both written in 1912), together with Debussy’s gorgeous Nocturnes, provide a stunning setting for Knussen’s own extraordinary Whitman Settings, sung by the magnificent Claire Booth. Join us in celebrating a true living legend.



Maurice Ravel : Valses nobles et sentimentales
Oliver Knussen : Whitman Settings
Alban Berg : Altenberg-Lieder
Claude Debussy : Nocturnes

4 Dec



United Kingdom
 Friday, May 4, 2012 at 4 - 13 May 2012 / 18:00, 17:30, 16:00 
Einstein on the Beach
Barbican Hall, London
Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
United Kingdom
020 7638 8891
http://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing

Tickets: £35 - 125


Widely credited as one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century, this rarely performed work launched its director Robert Wilson and composer Philip Glass to international success when it was first produced at the Metropolitan Opera in 1976.

It is still recognised as one of their greatest masterpieces. Now, nearly four decades after it was first performed and twenty years since its last production, Einstein on the Beach will be reconstructed bringing this ground-breaking work to new audiences and an entirely new generation.

Einstein on the Beach breaks all of the rules of conventional opera. Instead of a traditional orchestral arrangement, Glass chose to compose the work for the synthesisers, woodwinds and voices of the Philip Glass Ensemble. Non-narrative in form, the work uses a series of powerful recurrent images as its main storytelling device shown in juxtaposition with abstract dance sequences created by American choreographer Lucinda Childs. It is structured in four interconnected acts and divided by a series of short scenes or “knee plays”. Taking place over five hours, there is no intermission, however the audience is invited to enter and exit at liberty during the performance


Philip Glass : Einstein on the Beach

4 Dec



United Kingdom
 Friday, May 4, 2012 at 7:30PM 
London Sinfonietta at Sounds New
Augustine Hall
Canterbury
United Kingdom

London Sinfonietta
Conductor to be confirmed


London Sinfonietta perform an all-British programme, including Peter Maxwell Davies' 1977 classic A Mirror of Whitening Light , the title of which refers to both the alchemical purification process of turning a base metal into gold, and the point where the Atlantic and North seas meet, which the composer considers to be a huge alchemical crucible.

The programme will also include George Benjamin's At First Light , commissioned and premiered by the London Sinfonietta in 1982. The work was inspired by Turner's oil painting, Norham Castle, Sunrise which depicts the 12th century castle silhouetted against a huge, golden sun.

Frame/Refrain by Edmund Finnis, a London Sinfonietta Writing the Future 2011 composer, and Momentum by Benjamin Oliver, will also feature.




Oliver Knussen : Coursing
George Benjamin : At First Light
Edmund Finnis : At First Light
Simon Bainbridge : Concertante in moto perpetuo
Benjamin Oliver : Momentum
Peter Maxwell Davies : Mirrror of Whitening Light

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