Classical Music and Opera at Edinburgh International Festival 2012

CLASSICAL MUSIC AND OPERA AT FESTIVAL 2012 THE MAGIC OF THE NUTCRACKER EVERYONE HAS A FAVOURITE TUNE GLAMOUR AND MYSTERY JANÁČEK’S THE MAKROPULOS CASE THE BELLS, THE BELLS! RUSSIAN BELLS AND EDGAR ALLAN POE VIOLINS IN THE SPOTLIGHT NICOLA BENEDETTI AND FELLOW VIOLINISTS

8

Contents

9

18

20

Photo credits: Simon Fowler, Neil Pugh, Felix Broede, Robert Perry, Vadim Shults, Chris Christodoulou, Rafa Martin, Natascha Thiara Rydvald, Opera North, Claudine Quinn, Roger Mastroianni, Marco Borggreve, Christian Steiner, Kürti Ákos, Yannis Bournias, Stephen Cummiskey, Roberto Marano, South African National Youth Orchestra Foundation, Nikolaus Karlinsky, Richard Haughton, Jen Turner, Riita Ince, Michel Garnier, Dario Acosta, Tomasz Ogrodowczyk, Thomas Kurek, Wattie Cheung

2

Welcome to a world of music and opera in Edinburgh this summer.

3 Josep Pons on conducting The Nutcracker

13 Harry Bicket and David Daniels

4 The Makropulos Case

14 David et Jonathas

6 Steven Osborne on The Queen’s Hall

16 Period Bruckner from Philippe Herreweghe

7 The Cleveland Orchestra play Má Vlast

17 Deborah Voigt

8 Violin concertos in the spotlight

18 European Union Youth Orchestra & Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

9 Scottish Opera’s four new works

19 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons

10 London Symphony Orchestra residency

20 London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Russian bells concert

12 Roger Norrington on conducting Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

21 Greyfriars series 22 Full classical and opera listings

A world of dreams Conductor Josep Pons explains his passion for Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker

T

chaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is intimately associated with many people’s earliest childhood memories, and this is also the case with me. I can’t remember my exact first memory of the piece – it was probably the “Dance of the Mirlitons”, the “Waltz of the Flowers” or the famous celesta in the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”. I most enjoy its huge variety of musical themes. But even without seeing the dance, we shouldn’t forget that The Nutcracker is a story, and we have to recreate and share the tale with the audience.’

‘It’s important to remember that Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker at the end of his life. When I approach the piece, I always feel the composer’s maturity, and his great understanding of the orchestra. Everything in the piece has a meaning and a purpose, and it’s a work that allows the orchestra to show off so many of its different capabilities.

Performing the complete ballet rather than the suite, you have to build up its whole dramatic structure, and we’ll aim to bring the audience into the fantasy of the piece’s dreamlike world.’

The Nutcracker Saturday 25 August 7.30pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/nutcracker Sponsored by

emprise

3

Glamour and mystery Conductor Richard Farnes is excited to be premiering a new production of Janáček’s operatic thriller The Makropulos Case at the Festival

J

anáček is a fascinating composer, and a brilliant, dramatic stage writer. He didn’t compose many operas, but they’re all blockbusters in their own way, partly because he chose very unusual subjects – and The Makropulos Case is a good example of that. It revolves around a mysterious opera singer, Emilia Marty, who confuses everyone around her – how can she know all the details of a court case that happened 100 years previously?

At the end, though, she has a glorious monologue where she unravels the whole strange story. Janáček as always gets to the emotional core of the tale – he shows real sympathy for the central character, and reveals her emotional state under her extraordinary circumstances.

‘I think Ylva Kihlberg is perfectly suited to the central role. She’s young,

glamorous and sophisticated, and she can both be tender and brush everybody aside when she walks on stage. She has just the right qualities for the magnetic character of Emilia Marty – whenever she’s on stage, everybody is buzzing like bees around her. Ylva has a very focused voice, and her text is extremely clear.

She’s also got lots of energy, which she’ll certainly need in this role.

‘It’s a completely new production by Opera North, which we’re unveiling for the first time in Edinburgh before we take it back to Leeds in the autumn. It’s really exciting for us to be performing at the Festival, and great to work in the Festival Theatre – it’s the ideal opera to stage in a large space like that, and the huge pit is perfect for the very large orchestra that Janáček calls for.’

The Makropulos Case Saturday 11 August & Monday 13 August 7.15pm Festival Theatre, Edinburgh eif.co.uk/makropulos Supported by

Dunard Fund

4

5

Ideal and intimate Pianist Steven Osborne explains what makes The Queen’s Hall such a special place for performances

T

he Queen’s Hall has a very special place in my affections. The reasons are partly sentimental – I grew up going to concerts there – but it’s also a fabulous place to play. It’s one of those spaces which through some indefinable combination of acoustic and physical shape creates an intense focus on what is happening on stage. It’s the perfect size for a recital hall, intimate but not cramped, and it allows a performer to forget about the practicalities of communicating (“How much do I need to project?”) and simply play.

I’m delighted to be returning this year with baritone Dietrich Henschel, one of the most intensely communicative singers on the planet.’

6

Dietrich Henschel and Steven Osborne Monday 27 August 11.00am The Queen’s Hall eif.co.uk/henschel-osborne For details of the full Queen’s Hall programme see pages 22-23 or visit eif.co.uk/queenshall The Queen’s Hall Series is supported

by Edinburgh International Festival Benefactors

A country in sound With Má Vlast, the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst immerses Festival listeners in the drama and colour of Smetana’s Bohemia

T

he Cleveland Orchestra doesn’t always go for the easy touring piece,’ claimed its music director Franz Welser-Möst when they made the last of their acclaimed visits to Edinburgh. What the legendary American orchestra does go for is a quality of sound that is distinctive and refined, and which comes to us this year via the sparkling European music of Lutoslawski and Shostakovich.

But don’t think that Smetana’s complete Má Vlast – serialised across the Cleveland’s two concerts – is commonplace touring repertoire. Its famous river epic ‘Vltava’ (also known at ‘The Moldau’) might come with a tune most people could sing in their sleep. But presented as an entity, this monumental set of six symphonic poems is nothing less than a complete musical travelogue to the composer’s colourful Bohemia and its dramatic history.

It’s the perfect vehicle for Welser-Möst, who once stated that his one wish, in terms of stamping his own mark on the famous Cleveland sound, was ‘that it becomes more singing’. Ken Walton

Cleveland Orchestra Tuesday 21 August 8.00pm & Wednesday 22 August 8.00pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/cleveland1 eif.co.uk/cleveland2 Supported by Edinburgh International Festival Friends and Patrons Performance of Lutoslawski supported by

7

Violinists in the spotlight String players flock to the Festival for a wealth of compelling performances

T

here’s no doubt that it’s a rich year for violin concertos, from the opulence of the two by Szymanowski, played by Nicola Benedetti and Leonidas Kavakos (see page 10), to an authentically Hungarian Bartók First Violin Concerto from flamboyant Magyar violinist József Lendvay (26 Aug), who’s as at home in the hot-blooded folk music of his native country as he is in its classical works.

Authenticity continues in the much-loved Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (31 Aug), played by the young Russian-born violinist Alina Pogostkina, winner of the prestigious Sibelius Competition in 2005. And staying in the east, Latvian-born violinist Baiba Skride takes on the haunting, mystical meditations of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Offertorium (28 Aug).

German violinist Viviane Hagner has a strong personal connection with Unsuk Chin’s glittering Violin Concerto, which she performs with the Philharmonia Orchestra (30 Aug). ‘Unsuk and I both live in Berlin, and while she was writing it I regularly got passages to try out and comment on – she was very open to considering my technical advice,’ says the violinist. ‘The world of colours and sounds that Unsuk creates in her Violin Concerto is really fascinating – and beautiful. It’s such a rewarding and enjoyable piece to play, and the effect on an audience is amazing – it really captures people.’ David Kettle

8

New opera quartet Four new works are unveiled by Scottish Opera at the Festival, including an Ibsen adaptation from Glasgow composer Craig Armstrong

C

elebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Scotland’s national opera company is marking the milestone with four striking new works at the Festival. A double-bill of contrasting short operas – Huw Watkins’s Hardyinspired In the Locked Room and Stuart MacRae’s war-themed Ghost Patrol – is a co-production with Music Theatre Wales, and James MacMillan’s haunting Clemency, a contemporary take on a Biblical tale, has already made an impact at London’s Royal Opera House.

Scottish composer Craig Armstrong, widely acclaimed for his film scores (including Moulin Rouge! and Love Actually), as well as for his theatre music and collaborations with performers including U2 and Massive Attack, has turned to Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea for his new opera, working with Glasgow-based writer Zoë Strachan. ‘I remember first seeing Vanessa Redgrave

in the play in the late 1970s, and I never forgot it,’ says Armstrong. It’s an intense tale of repressed longing, with Ellida, the daughter of a lighthouse-keeper, tempted away from her family by the arrival of a former lover. ‘Zoë and I wanted to create a slow burn throughout the opera, where things slowly go out of focus for Ellida,’ explains Armstrong. ‘It’s not strictly set in the time period when it was written, but we haven’t gone completely contemporary either. There’s also going to be a filmic element to the production.’

How do writing for the screen and writing opera compare? ‘You’ve got to be able to feel something from both of them – it’s about trying to explore the characters, and allow the audience to feel empathy for them. The exciting thing about an opera, though, is that it’s real people live on stage, and it’s happening right in front of you.’ David Kettle

The Lady from the Sea Wednesday 29 August 8.00pm & Saturday 1 September 9.00pm King’s Theatre, Edinburgh eif.co.uk/ladyfromthesea Clemency Friday 31 August 8.00pm & Saturday 1 September 4.00pm King’s Theatre, Edinburgh eif.co.uk/clemency In the Locked Room & Ghost Patrol Thursday 30 August 8.00pm, Saturday 1 September 12 noon & Sunday 2 September 3.00pm Traverse Theatre eif.co.uk/lockedroomghostpatrol Supported through the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund

9

A study in contrasts Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra’s residency brings together the rich music of Brahms and Szymanowski

I

t was a bold but inspired move by conductor Valery Gergiev, the Edinburgh International Festival’s Honorary President, to contrast Brahms and Szymanowski in the London Symphony Orchestra’s four-concert residency. Brahms the mellow Romantic and Szymanowski the exotic dreamer make a thrilling, revelatory pairing, one that takes full advantage of the orchestra’s sparkling virtuosity and the powerful intensity of Gergiev’s conducting.

To hear both composers’ second symphonies (17 August) is to experience a study in contrasts: tender, cheerful Brahms alongside dramatic, passionate Szymanowski. The concerts also offer the rare chance to take in both of Szymanowski’s striking violin concertos.

Greek-born violinist Leonidas Kavakos brings his muscular physicality and subtle intensity to bear on the earthy Violin Concerto No 2 (19 August), which draws on the Polish folk music of the Tatra Mountains.

And Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti clearly has deep affection for the earlier piece, which she plays on 16 August. ‘The Szymanowski First Violin Concerto should be more famous than it is,’ she says. ‘It is one of the most colourful, imaginative and spectacular works I have had the fortune of getting to know. I cannot wait to perform it again, in the company of the phenomenal LSO and the extraordinary Valery Gergiev.’ David Kettle

10

London Symphony Orchestra Thursday 16 August 8.00pm, Friday 17 August 8.00pm, Saturday 18 August 7.30pm, Sunday 19 August 7.30pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/lso Sponsored by

Supported by

11

Shakespearean summer nights A historical approach to glittering masterpieces

by Mendelssohn and Berlioz can be revelatory, says Sir Roger Norrington

S

ir Roger Norrington is a conductor famed for his immersion in period-performance practice, and he brings his historically appropriate expertise to the Shakespeare-inspired music of sultry summer nights – as depicted in Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hector Berlioz’s song cycle Les nuits d’été, which he performs with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and acclaimed mezzo soprano Angelika Kirchschlager.

‘A historical approach to Mendelssohn and Berlioz pays great dividends,’ he says. ‘These are strictly early-Romantic composers, who do not

benefit from a late-Romantic approach. Played by smallish orchestras, in quietly moving tempos, with plenty of gesture but little or no vibrato, the music of both breathes that crucial, thrilling, optimistic air of the 1830s and 40s, before the dark doubts of the later 19th century set in.’

The composers, he adds, were good friends: ‘Two very different personalities, they met initially in Rome, and later in Leipzig where, as music director of the Gewandhaus, Felix helped Hector to put on some concerts,’ he says. ‘There is a charming letter from Felix in the British Library, in perfect French, talking about the details.’ Jessica Duchen

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Monday 13 August 8.00pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/sco1

12

Songs of love & longing Harry Bicket reveals how his collaborations with countertenor David Daniels bring an emotional depth to their Baroque performances

T

he programme I’m directing with The English Concert on 29 August is a celebration of the Italian vocal and instrumental music that so influenced Handel and Bach. Although on the surface the Vivaldi and Scarlatti cantatas we’re performing deal with the stereotypical woes of unrequited love, the music in both hints at a much deeper and more complex human psychology, where emotions are not so clear-cut or explicit. This is something that Handel made his own: using the simplest of gestures to evoke the deepest emotions.’

‘This ability is also apparent in the art of a singer like countertenor David Daniels, who performs with us. We first worked together in 1996 on Peter Sellars’s production of Handel’s Theodora, and since then we’ve been regular collaborators in Munich, the Met and Chicago, as well as making numerous recordings together. Our long history allows for a high level of trust and an understanding of how David’s voice works, as well as a mutual musical awareness that can only develop over time.’

The English Concert David Daniels Wednesday 29 August 7.30pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/englishconcert-daniels Supported by American Friends of the Edinburgh International Festival

Courtly intrigues T

here’s another treat for fans of early vocal music in The Sixteen’s performance of Purcell’s patriotic work King Arthur. A feast of lyrical and powerful music, it also marks the acclaimed ensemble’s fourth consecutive appearance at the Festival.

King Arthur The Sixteen Monday 27 August 7.30pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/sixteen Supported by

13

14

Biblical passions Les Arts Florissants’s new Charpentier staging looks set to put David et Jonathas on the operatic map

T

hose involved in the new production of Charpentier’s David et Jonathas, which opens at the Edinburgh International Festival shortly after its July unveiling at the 2012 Festival d’Aix-enProvence, are keeping mischievously tight-lipped about the show. But the word on the street suggests that some elaborate mechanical contraption of the kind that heightened the thrill factor at Baroque opera productions in the 17th century will delight and astound modern-day senses.

German director Andreas Homoki’s state-of-theart production places the Biblical action – a tragedy surrounding the friendship between David and Jonathas, son of King Saul – in a large wooden cube

that reconfigures so silently and slowly that the eye is hardly aware of its continuous, computer-generated metamorphoses.

It’s an important occasion for lovers of a composer whose colourful musical theatre works are an exquisite link in a richly scented French operatic chain stretching from Lully to Rameau. For William Christie, who has championed the work many times since it was rediscovered 30 years ago, and whose celebrated ensemble Les Arts Florissants performs the new production, this is his first experience of fully staging the opera. ‘It’s a most important production,’ he says, and one that will finally put David et Jonathas on the operatic map. Ken Walton

David et Jonathas Friday 17 August, Sunday 19 August & Monday 20 August 7.15pm Festival Theatre, Edinburgh eif.co.uk/davidetjonathas Supported by

Dunard Fund

15

Authentically Romantic Conductor Philippe Herreweghe explains why a period-instrument sensibility is good for Brahms and Bruckner

H

istorically informed performance has long made a mark on music from the 17th and 18th centuries, but what happens when it reaches the 19th century? The distinguished periodinstrument conductor Philippe Herreweghe is coming to Edinburgh with a programme not of Baroque or Classical pieces, but of choral works

by Brahms and Bruckner, concluding with the latter’s monumental Ninth Symphony.

Herreweghe feels that the use of period instruments in this lateRomantic repertoire is more than justified. ‘It may establish a different poetic sensibility,’ he says, ‘relating the Bruckner symphonies to the world of Schubert rather than Mahler. The gut strings prohibit aggression, promoting a rather melancholy sound. There is a more natural balance between strings and wind.

‘To me, the most important factor is that musicians who use period instruments are often, because of their experiences, profoundly influenced by the correlation between orchestral music and song and therefore text, so they have a different manner of phrasing and articulating. It was not until the 20th century that a divorce took place between these two worlds – a divorce that was often harmful to music.’

Jessica Duchen

16

Orchestre des Champs-Élysées Monday 20 August 8.00pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/champselysees

2012

‘dignified simplicity that went straight to the heart’ The Telegraph

Waltraud Meier Joseph Breinl Book now at eif.co.uk/meier-breinl 0131 473 2000 Charity No SC004694

One of the world’s favourite singers performs an evening of song including Strauss’s achingly moving Four Last Songs.

Sun 12 Aug 8.00pm Usher Hall Supported by

Youthful flair

Exceptional young performers bring energy and fresh perspectives to Festival concerts this summer

N

ever mind becoming the stars of tomorrow – the youthful performers heading to Edinburgh this summer are already making waves internationally today.

The European Union Youth Orchestra is often compared with the world’s top professional orchestras, and no wonder – each year more than 4,000 of Europe’s finest young musicians audition to be part of it. Gathering every spring and summer before a tour that takes it all over the globe, the orchestra has performed with some of the world’s greatest conductors and soloists, including Karajan, Bernstein and Solti. It’s Gianandrea Noseda who’s at the helm in August, and he showcases the thrilling virtuosity of the orchestra’s young players in one of the most majestic keyboard creations ever written, Busoni’s Piano Concerto, with Garrick Ohlsson as soloist.

The Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, founded by Claudio Abbado in 1986, has achieved equally high standards, its hand-picked members forming one of the world’s largest and grandest ensembles.

Together with exceptional young soloists appearing at The Queen’s Hall, including prize-winning pianists Daniil Trifonov and Francesco Piemontesi, these orchestras ensure that there’s an abundance of youthful flair at this year’s Festival. David Kettle

18

European Union Youth Orchestra Thursday 23 August 8.00pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/euyo Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Friday 24 August 8.00pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/gmjo Sponsored by

High and mighty Energetic Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons shows off his remarkably fruitful relationship with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a striking Festival concert

S

ix-and-a-half feet of pure energy’ is how The Daily Telegraph described Andris Nelsons, the 33-year-old Latvian conductor who has been making tidal waves in Birmingham. Born into a family of musicians in Riga, Latvia, Nelsons was appointed principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra while still in his twenties. Since his tenure there began in 2008, he has reaffirmed the orchestra’s status as a musical powerhouse, with innumerable critics praising the fizzing chemistry of this remarkable conductororchestra relationship.

The programme they are bringing to Edinburgh opens with a modern classic: Sofia Gubaidulina’s mystical violin concerto Offertorium, with the engaging young Latvian violin star Baiba Skride as soloist. The second half is devoted to the equally fervent music of Sibelius – his Symphony No 2 which, like many of the Finnish composer’s greatest works, is virtually a hymn to nature.

Nelsons’s motto is ‘Music is nourishment for the soul’. And to judge from the acclaim he and the orchestra have won together, they have been proving its truth every day. Jessica Duchen

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Tuesday 28 August 8.00pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/cbso Baiba Skride’s performance supported by Mr and Mrs James Anderson

19

Peals, rings and chimes Conductor Vladimir Jurowski reveals the surprising inspirations behind the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s eclectic concert

A

London Philharmonic Orchestra Tuesday 14 August 8.00pm Usher Hall eif.co.uk/lpo

20

t the heart of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s programme are two ideas: Russian bells, and the long-standing Russian relationship with the poetry and literature of Edgar Allan Poe. The starting point was the tone poem Silentium by Myaskovsky, which I discovered some time ago and found absolutely fascinating. It’s based on a story by Poe, and Rachmaninov also sets a poem by Poe in The Bells, where he describes four different kinds of bells representing the stages of human life – childhood, youth, maturity and old age.

It’s a piece that ranges from the darkest gloom to the lightest, most joyful music ever written. The other two works in the concert explore the purely sonic aspect of bells. Edison Denisov’s Bells in the Fog is very tender and quiet, and looks back to the piano music of Debussy. Rodion Shchedrin’s Concerto for Orchestra No.2 is titled “The Chimes”, and it calls for a very large orchestra, including Russian church bells. Shchedrin has always gone in for very theatrical, dramatic elements in his music, and this piece is something of a riddle – after all the spiritual aspects of the bells, it ends with a gunshot.’

Early evening magic Baroque music and a major new commission mingle in the Festival’s distinctive Greyfriars Series

W

here better to escape the Edinburgh evening rush hour than the magical seclusion of Greyfriars Kirk? Once again, the Festival is mounting its hugely popular series of tea-time concerts in this surprisingly peaceful citycentre venue. It’s that moment in the day, after the mayhem of daytime festival-crawling and just before the main evening event, when a reinvigorating hourlong dose of uplifting music is just the ticket.

The bold, bright simplicity of the capital’s earliest post-Reformation church makes it ideal for the earlymusic events in the series, as does its hideaway setting amid the graveyard made famous by its canine inhabitant, Greyfriars Bobby.

Nine times out of ten, the early-evening sun bursts into the nave just as the music strikes up. With resplendent Gabrieli, the exotic colours of Dalmatian chant, and a major Festival commission from Scots composer James MacMillan on the menu, it will surely be shining on the righteous. Ken Walton

Greyfriars Series Monday 13 August – Friday 17 August, Monday 20 August – Thursday 23 August 5.45pm Greyfriars Kirk eif.co.uk/greyfriars Greyfriars Series is supported by The Binks Trust

21

Listings Fri 10 August  A Mass of Life Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Opening Concert presents one of the grandest choral pieces ever written Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£46 eif.co.uk/opening

Sat 11 August  Ferrier Centenary Celebration Concert Young singers join established Lieder recital masters The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/ferrier  The Makropulos Case Opera North New production premiere of Janáček’s operatic mystery thriller Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 7.15pm £16-£68 eif.co.uk/makropulos

 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Scottish Chamber Orchestra Mendelssohn’s music transports us to Shakespeare’s fairy world Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/sco1

 London Symphony Orchestra Nicola Benedetti joins Valery Gergiev for an evening of Szymanowski and Brahms Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/lso1

Tue 14 August

Fri 17 August

 Antonio Meneses & Maria João Pires Programme includes Schubert, Brahms and Mendelssohn The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/pires-meneses

 Leonidas Kavakos & Nikolai Lugansky Four ravishing chamber works from Janáček, Brahms, Stravinsky and Respighi The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/kavakos-lugansky

 Dalmatica Dialogos & Kantaduri Concert exploring the richness of Dalmatian chant Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/dalmatica  London Philharmonic Orchestra Stirring programme inspired

by Russian bells Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/lpo

 Homayun Sakhi Trio A rare chance to hear the expressive music of Afghanistan Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/homayunsakhi

 London Symphony Orchestra Denis Matsuev and Leonidas Kavakos feature in the concluding concert of Szymanowski and Brahms Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/lso4

Mon 20 August  Calder Quartet American quartet plays Mozart, Thomas Adès, Andrew Norman and Mendelssohn The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/calder  Ricercar Consort Songs and odes by Purcell from the renowned ensemble Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/ricercar1  David et Jonathas Les Arts Florissants Charpentier’s opera packed full of love, jealousy, witchcraft and war Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 7.15pm £16-£68 eif.co.uk/davidetjonathas

Wed 15 August

 David et Jonathas Les Arts Florissants Charpentier’s opera packed full of love, jealousy, witchcraft and war Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 7.15pm £16-£68 eif.co.uk/davidetjonathas

Sun 12 August

 Les Vents Français A celebration of French wind music at its elegant best The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/lesvents

 London Symphony Orchestra Second concert contrasting Szymanowski and Brahms Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/lso2

 Orchestra des Champs-Élysées Includes Bruckner’s monumental Ninth Symphony played on period instruments Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/champselysees

 Deborah Voigt & Brian Zeger Songs by Verdi, Richard Strauss, Bernstein and others Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£34 eif.co.uk/voigt-zeger

 Concerto Caledonia One of Scotland’s premiere early-music ensembles Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/caledonia

Sat 18 August

Tue 21 August

 Les Arts Florissants Fresh, sensual performances of French Baroque opera conducted by Paul Agnew The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/florissants

 Rebecca Evans & Malcolm Martineau A highly charged morning of song from the great Welsh soprano The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/evans-martineau

 Alpine Symphony BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra An evening of music inspired by the natural world Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/alpine

Mon 13 August  Trio Zimmermann The Trio performs Mozart, Schubert and Schoenberg The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/zimmermann

 Tristan und Isolde Welsh National Opera Concert performance of Wagner’s powerful opera Usher Hall 5.00pm £12-£46 eif.co.uk/tristanundisolde

Thu 16 August

 His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts & Concerto Palatino Two of the world’s finest early brass ensembles play Gabrieli Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/sagbutts

 Leif Ove Andsnes Norwegian pianist performs Beethoven and Chopin The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/andsnes

 The Makropulos Case Opera North New production premiere of Janáček’s operatic mystery thriller Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 7.15pm £16-£68 eif.co.uk/makropulos

 Arcangelo & Iestyn Davies Expressive, simmering passion from Handel and Porpora Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/arcangelo

22

 London Symphony Orchestra Gergiev conducts third symphonies by Brahms and Szymanowski, with tenor Toby Spence Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/lso3

Sun 19 August  David et Jonathas Les Arts Florissants Charpentier’s opera packed full of love, jealousy, witchcraft and war Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 7.15pm £16-£68 eif.co.uk/davidetjonathas

 Ricercar Consort Music for viols by Christopher Tye and William Byrd Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/ricercar2  Cleveland Orchestra The mighty Clevelanders bring their power to Smetana’s Má Vlast Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/cleveland1

Wed 22 August  John Williams & John Etheridge Two of the world’s greatest guitarists unite for an eclectic fusion of music The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/williams-etheridge  Hebrides Ensemble & Synergy Vocals World premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s Since it was the day of preparation…

Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/hebrides-synergy  Gagaku: Imperial Court Music and Dance of Japan Musicians of the Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo, perform the world’s oldest orchestral music Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 7.30pm £12-£30 eif.co.uk/gagaku  Cleveland Orchestra The concluding parts of Smetana’s Má Vlast alongside Shostakovich and Lutoslawski Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/cleveland2

Thu 23 August  Luca Pisaroni & Justus Zeyen Schubert and Liszt from one of the most captivating singers of his generation The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/pisaroni-zeyen  Alim Qasimov Ensemble One of the world’s greatest vocalists, full of intensity and raw emotion Greyfriars Kirk 5.45pm £20 eif.co.uk/alimqasimov  European Union Youth Orchestra The exceptional young EUYO players take on Busoni’s grand Piano Concerto Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/euyo

Fri 24 August  Daniil Trifonov The sensational young Russian pianist performs Stravinsky, Debussy, Chopin and more The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/trifonov

 Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Programme includes Wagner and Mahler’s Symphony No 7 Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/gmjo

Sat 25 August  Anne Schwanewilms & Malcolm Martineau German lyric soprano performs Debussy, Wolf and Strauss The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/schwanewilmsmartineau  The Nutcracker BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra An enchanting evening of music from the everpopular ballet Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/nutcracker

Sun 26 August  Budapest Festival Orchestra Folk-inspired music from Bartók, and Mahler’s Fifth Symphony Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/budapest

Mon 27 August  Dietrich Henschel & Steven Osborne Rich, passionate late-Romantic song by Wolf, Martin, Strauss & Korngold The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/henschel-osborne  King Arthur The Sixteen Concert performance of Purcell’s spectacular Restoration drama Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/sixteen

Tue 28 August  Francesco Piemontesi Gifted young Swiss pianist plays Mozart, Schumann, Webern and Schubert The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/piemontesi  City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Features Sibelius’s Second Symphony alongside Gubaidulina’s Offertorium Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/cbso

Wed 29 August  Toby Spence & Julian Milford The British tenor sings Beethoven love songs, Mahler Lieder and Schumann’s Dichterliebe The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/spence-milford  The Lady from the Sea Scottish Opera New opera by Craig Armstrong based on Ibsen’s powerful play King’s Theatre, Edinburgh 8.00pm £12.50, £25 eif.co.uk/ladyfromthesea  The English Concert & David Daniels Vocal and instrumental showpieces by some of the greatest Baroque composers Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/englishconcertdaniels

Thu 30 August  Llŷr Williams The Welsh pianist tackles an all Liszt programme The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/llyrwilliams  Philharmonia Orchestra Bruckner’s magnificent Fourth Symphony and Unsuk Chin’s Violin Concerto Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/philharmonia  In the Locked Room & Ghost Patrol Scottish Opera Double bill of short operas exploring the capacity of the mind to shape our lives Traverse Theatre 8.00pm £25 eif.co.uk/lockedroomghostpatrol

 Clemency Scottish Opera James MacMillan’s critically acclaimed contemporary twist on a Biblical tale King’s Theatre, Edinburgh 8.00pm £12.50, £25 eif.co.uk/clemency

Sat 1 September  Emerson String Quartet One of America’s finest string quartets plays Mozart, Adès and Beethoven The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/emerson  In the Locked Room & Ghost Patrol Scottish Opera Double bill of short operas exploring the capacity of the mind to shape our lives Traverse Theatre 12 noon £25 eif.co.uk/lockedroomghostpatrol  Clemency Scottish Opera James MacMillan’s acclaimed contemporary twist on a Biblical tale King’s Theatre, Edinburgh 4.00pm £12.50, £25 eif.co.uk/clemency  Belshazzar’s Feast Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Festival’s concert programme ends as it began, with grand, celebratory choral music Usher Hall 8.00pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/belshazzarsfeast  The Lady from the Sea Scottish Opera New opera by Craig Armstrong based on Ibsen’s powerful play King’s Theatre, Edinburgh 9.00pm £12.50, £25 eif.co.uk/ladyfromthesea

Fri 31 August

Sun 2 September

 Australian Chamber Orchestra Vibrant and stylish ensemble performs a typically eclectic programme The Queen’s Hall 11.00am £8-£29 eif.co.uk/aco

 In the Locked Room & Ghost Patrol, Scottish Opera Double bill of short operas exploring the capacity of the mind to shape our lives Traverse Theatre 3.00pm £25 eif.co.uk/lockedroomghostpatrol

 Scottish Chamber Orchestra Sir Willard White joins the SCO for an evening including Shostakovich’s Symphony No 14 Usher Hall 7.30pm £12-£42 eif.co.uk/sco2

 Virgin Money Fireworks Concert Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Festival comes to a spectacular conclusion with a feast of pageantry and patriotism Princes Street Gardens 9.00pm £12.50, £17.50, £27.50 eif.co.uk/virginmoneyfireworks

23

Fiery Festival finale!

Festival 2012 concludes with a spectacular concert, with fireworks launched from Edinburgh’s iconic Castle to rousing music from Walton, Vaughan Williams and Prokofiev performed live by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Virgin Money Fireworks Concert Sunday 2 September 9.00pm eif.co.uk/virginmoneyfireworks Sponsored by

Book your Festival 2012 tickets now and enjoy a spectacular summer of world-class arts!

Connect with us

Standby – half price

Visit eif.co.uk or find us on

Wed 1 Aug 50% off all tickets for senior citizens, unemployed people, Young Scot, Equity and MU card holders.

Young people and students – half price now!

Under 18 and all students in full time education.

Charity No SC004694.

Front cover photo: Decca / Simon Fowler

Are you under 26?

Access discounts

Pay only £8 on the day for selected performances.

Call the access booking line on 0131 473 2089 or visit eif.co.uk/access.

eif.co.uk 0131 473 2000