te a g o r r Ha val 2013 Festi A warm welcome to Festival friends and supporters to our 2013 Festival. Last year was a landmark year, celebrating Olympic heroes, a Royal Jubilee, and one of our biggest Festivals yet. This summer we’ll be turning our attention to the great female heroines of our heritage, 100 years of Benjamin Britten, literary greats, a decade of Europe’s largest Crime-Writing Festival and the 48th Harrogate Festival. This brochure offers a look at the highlights of the 2013 programme. Packed with the very best international musicians, ground-breaking performances and the most talented writers at work today, the Harrogate Festival is firmly maintaining its position as the leading arts Festival in the north of England [The Times]. We look forward to seeing you at this year’s concerts and events – Friends of our Festival can take advantage of our Friends’ Priority Booking period which opens on Monday 8th April for our ‘Highlights’ events, with the full programme on sale to all on Monday 22nd April. With so much going on this summer, the Festival stretches from our Spiegeltent in June through to the Festival Finale at the end of July. There’s something for everyone so delve in and find your Festival this year. Sharon Canavar Chief Executive
Thursday 4th July
Royal Hall | 8pm
Friday 5th July
St Wilfrid’s Church | 8pm
Armonico Consort: Concert by Candlelight
Forsaken Women The UK’s most popular soprano opens our 2013 Festival with a Gala Opening to remember. Since first gracing Harrogate’s stage as a Young Musician, Lesley Garrett brings an inspirational programme with her signature style and creativity. This intimate concert explores the rich tapestry of opera’s Forsaken Women, bringing to life the great moments of lost love from Purcell, Beethoven and Verdi to Noel Coward and Benjamin Britten, the first of a number of appearances from Britten throughout the Festival in his centenary year. Garrett takes us on this journey of arias from the baroque period through to the Romantics and the modern day, revealing women of character, sensitivity and depth. Early booking is highly recommended.
Tickets: £38, £35, £30, £25, £18 Boxes: £75, £50
Book Now - Box Office 01423 562303
St George Hotel | 2pm
Michael Palin
Naked Byrd We’re thrilled to welcome the 16 angelic voices of Armonico Consort to perform in the unparalleled atmosphere of the Festivals’ Candle-lit Concert in St Wilfrid’s Church. Naked Byrd embraces the tradition of a cappella choral pieces by composers who, in the words of the Consort’s artistic director Christopher Monks, “wore their hearts on their sleeves”. Alongside the familiar repertoire ranging from Byrd’s Ave Verum to Barber’s Agnus Dei are recent compositions by Tavener and the Consort’s own Jonathan Roberts, both of whom contribute moving pieces based around texts by William Blake.
From the iconic Monty Python years, to the BBC series including the recent Brazil, to two volumes of diaries and travel books, Palin is undoubtedly a national treasure. He has more recently turned his hand to novel-writing and comes to the Harrogate stage to discuss his second and latest novel, The Truth. Following the story of Keith Mabbut who is offered the opportunity to write a biography and ends up travelling to the hotspots of India, a novel that the Guardian terms ‘gripping’ and ‘triumphant’ could only be penned by one with such a world of experience and insight behind him as Palin does. Early booking is recommended.
Sunday 7th July
Wesley Chapel | 7pm
Carducci Quartet Britten and his Influences - War and Humanity Britten – String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 4 in D Major, Op. 83 Beethoven - String Quartet No. 8 in E minor (“Rasumovsky No. 2”), Op. 59/2 Continuing the Festival’s celebrations of Britten’s Centenary, the Carducci Quartet explores Britten and his influences. Such was the impact of Britten’s String Quartet No. 1 (1941), that the composer was awarded a medal for services to chamber music and regarded a ‘conscientious objector’ to the war. Britten and Shostakovich were both exiles within their own countries, and their music is connected by strong anti-war convictions. With Beethoven representing a heavy influence on Britten’s career, this insightful concert is a true celebration of Britten and his musical anthology. Tickets: £18 Unreserved
THE HARROGATE FESTIVAL SPIEGELTENT IS SET TO RETURN TO CRESCENT GARDENS TO ENTHRAL, DELIGHT AND AMUSE...
31ST MAY - 8TH JUNE INCLUDING MUSIC, DANCE AND CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL DON’T MISS IT! FOR FULL PROGRAMME DETAILS VISIT OUR WEBSITE
Tickets: £18 Unreserved
Tickets: £20 Unreserved
Gala Opening: Lesley Garrett With Martin Pickard, piano
Friday 12th July
Friday 12th July
Royal Hall | 8pm
Friday 26th July
Royal Hall | 8pm piano
Clare Teal presents an evening with Sir Tim Rice,
Stravinsky – Petrushka
Special Guest & the BBC Radio Big Band
Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
With a career that began in EMI Records and has since gone on to gather an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award, Sir Tim Rice knows a thing or two about the music business. We are delighted to announce that he’s taking to the Harrogate stage this summer along with Clare Teal and the BBC Radio Leeds Big Band for a night in Harrogate’s Royal Hall celebrating all things showbiz. With local-girl-turned international-star Clare Teal and song-smith Sir Tim, this is one not to be missed. Early booking is recommended. Tickets: £32, £28, £26, £22, £15 Boxes: £75, £50
Mikhail Rudy,
Piano, paintings and film from Russian pianist Mikhail Rudy combine in this truly intriguing event that celebrates two very different sides of Russian culture. The first act sees Rudy performing Stravinsky’s Petrushka to the Anthony Wilkinson film that features Little Angel Theatre puppets and dancers from the Guildhall School of Music performing the Petrushka ballet. In the second half, Rudy performs Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with a synchronised animation film of Kandinsky’s Watercolours, painted under the inspiration of Mussorgsky’s piece. This is an acclaimed and unique performance that has stunned audiences across Europe, appeared at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and now comes to the Harrogate stage for what will be a very special event.
Tickets: £25, £22, £20, £15 Boxes: £60, £40
Saturday 13th July
Thursday 11th July
Royal Hall | 7pm
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Peter Donohoe, piano Rimsky Korsakov – Capriccio Espagnole, Op. 34 Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 ‘Pathétique’ With more than sixty-five years of success, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra bring with them a sensational Russian programme, performed with internationally-acclaimed pianist Peter Donohoe. The programme opens with Rimsky Korsakov’s musical translation of Spanish folk music, followed by Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, one of the most influential and enduringly popular pieces of the composer’s canon. This awe-inspiring concert closes with Tchaikovsky’s 6th and final symphony, first performed just nine days before the composer’s death 120 years ago. Early booking is highly recommended.
Tickets: £38, £35, £30, £25, £18 Boxes: £75, £50
Book Online - www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com
St George Hotel | 4pm
Paul Kildea on Benjamin Britten with Mark Milhofer, tenor Published to mark the beginning of the Britten centenary year in 2013, Paul Kildea’s Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century is the definitive biography of Britain’s greatest modern composer. Kildea delves deep into the past with forensic attention to detail as to how events relate to the music, and presents his findings with performances from tenor Mark Milhofer. Kildea is a writer and conductor who was Head of Music at the Aldeburgh Festival between 1999 and 2002. His intelligent understanding of the music he writes about has made this one of the most moving and enjoyable biographies of a creative artist of any kind to have appeared for years.
Tickets: £12 Unreserved
Book Now - Box Office 01423 562303
Saturday 27th July
Royal Hall | 8pm
John Wilson Orchestra We can’t think of a more fitting finale! Festival favourite, The John Wilson Orchestra make a welcome return for an evening celebrating the music of Frank Sinatra. Joining them will be guest star Matt Ford, who has previously performed with the likes of the Halle Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra as well as, of course, making his BBC Proms debut with the John Wilson Orchestra in John Wilson’s unforgettable MGM Prom. The critically acclaimed singer was also voted ‘Best UK Male Big Band Vocalist’ by the readers of Big Band World Magazine – a more than worthy vocalist to pay tribute to Old Blue Eyes himself. The perfect ending to another incredible summer of music. Not to be missed, early booking is highly recommended.
Tickets: £38, £35, £30, £25, £18 Boxes: £75, £50
Book Online - www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com