“Simply world-class” Opera Magazine MUSICIANS OF THE POWERHOUSE
NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
2018-2019
Concert Season MANCHESTER CONCERT SERIES 28 SEPTEMBER 2018 7.30PM THE STOLLER HALL MACCLESFIELD CONCERT SERIES 29 SEPTEMBER 2018 7.30PM THE HERITAGE CENTRE BUXTON CONCERT SERIES 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 4.00PM ST JOHN'S CHURCH
Friends Northern Chamber Orchestra With kind thanks to the Friends of the NCO for generously supporting these concerts
Bang your own drum
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THE NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA PRESENTS
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) DIE HEBRIDEN OP. 26 (‘FINGALS CAVE’) LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3, OP. 37 I Allegro con brio II Largo III Rondo: Allegro
INTERVAL
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E FLAT MAJOR, OP. 55 (‘EROICA’) I Allegro con brio II Marcia funebre: Adagio assai III Scherzo: Allegro vivace IV Finale: Allegro molto
We would like to thank the Buxton Opera House & Pavilion Arts Centre for the use of their piano at St John’s Church, Buxton.
THE NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Patron Stephen Barlow President Raphael Wallfisch
Vice-Presidents Brian Leighton, Martin Roscoe
Board Members Malcolm Allcard • Morris Saleh Malcolm Brown • John Bush Conrad Marshall • Peter Thomasson Stephen Threlfall • Mike Wilbey Ronald Graham
Season Sponsor CDL
Artistic Director Nicholas Ward
Corporate Patrons Capstone Financial – ForViva – Porthaven Care Homes
Patrons Professor Alison Adam & Dr Craig Adam • Malcolm & Alison Allcard Anonymous Donor 1 • Anonymous Donor 2 • Anonymous Donor 3 Anonymous Donor 4 • Anonymous Donor 5 • Richard Baker Bevan & Dr Barbara Broadbent • Caroline Brown • Michael Biggin Roger & Hilary Brice • Nicola Bright • Liz Chalmers • Ian Edgar • David Ellis Heather Griffiths • Betty Hill • Geoff & Jennie Holman • David Kingsley • Brian Leighton Eleanor & Allan Lewington • Martin & Angela Losse • Drs Chris & Mary Loughran Vernon Matthews • Joan Matthews • Mary Miller • Bob Scott • Helen Scott Dieter Senn • Adrienne Spilsbury • Jean Soni • David Sutton • Stephen Threlfall Peter Thomasson • Mike & Ruth Wilbey • Sue Williams General Manager Tom Elliott Orchestral Manager Caroline Hewitt Office Administrator Karen Taylor
Associate Organisations Buxton International Festival Chetham’s School of Music Manchester Metropolitan University Northern Powerhouse The Stoller Hall
Marketing Manager Siobhan Parker MMU, Brooks Building, 53 Bonsall Street, Manchester M15 6GX info@ncorch.co.uk • www.ncorch.co.uk • 0161 247 2220 Twitter: @nco01 / Facebook: www.facebook.com/NorthernChamberOrchestra Company No: 1430784 Charity No: 278912
THE NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA ABOUT US Formed in the late 1960s and based in Manchester, the NCO is now one of the country’s top, professional chamber orchestras, with its concerts and recordings warmly received by critics. In a ground-breaking move in 1986, under their young leader, Nicholas Ward, NCO became one of the first orchestras in the country to work regularly without a conductor. During this, our 51st season, NCO will be performing with leading soloists such as Freddy Kempf, Julian Bliss, Martin Roscoe, Nicholas Mulroy and Matthew Wadsworth. Our newest Artist in Association – cellist, baritone, actor and ‘Renaissance Man’
Matthew Sharp – joins us to display his virtuosic skills by both playing and singing in a concert of Schubert works. He will also work with the Education team on a variety of schools projects. The season comes to a close with our other Artist in Association, violinist Chloe Hanslip, who directs the orchestra in Manchester (where we are Orchestra in Association at The Stoller Hall), Macclesfield and Buxton in a concert of stunning strings. As well as being Orchestra in Residence at Buxton International Festival, NCO also has over thirty critically acclaimed recordings to its name including a series of Mozart and Haydn symphonies on the Naxos label. For more information visit www.ncorch.co.uk
We are proud of the ongoing relationship between NCO and Chetham’s School of Music, and look forward to continuing our collaboration at The Stoller Hall – Manchester’s newest space for performance.
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-47)
HEBRIDES OVERTURE The initial inspiration for the Hebrides Overture came from Mendelssohn’s experiences during his European travels in his early 20s. His first trip was to Britain, where a walking tour in Scotland provided him with powerful impressions that he encapsulated visually in a collection of sketches, and aurally in a number of compositions he completed over the following years. In a letter to his family, after a rather stormy two–day cruise among the Inner Hebrides – during which he saw Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa – he sketched 20 bars of music almost exactly as they appear in the opening of the Hebrides Overture. Fingal’s Cave itself, twenty metres wide and over sixty metres deep, is an impressive sight with huge hexagonal rock pillars stretching high out of the sea. On stormy days, the sound of waves crashing against the rocks echoes across the island. Mendelssohn wonderfully captures the swell of the mighty ocean around Fingal’s Cave, using the original 20-bar phrase of music. It is a grand musical seascape, and the whole piece is held together by this haunting and insistent little phrase, heard at the outset on the strings. Several changes of mood reflect the unpredictable character of the sea; a calmer theme, then more restless passages on strings and woodwind, building to a really stormy episode as the untamed wind and waves thunder around the cave. Every so often, a drum roll interrupts as a large breaker crashes. Then the whole piece is alternately as calm and violent as the ocean itself.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
PIANO CONCERTO NO.3 IN C MINOR OP.37 I Allegro con brio II Largo III Rondo: Allegro
When Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792, he was best known as a pianist. Most of his piano works were written for his own performances, and he turned to the concerto as a showcase for his talents. The opening movement begins with a lengthy orchestral introduction which lays out both main ideas: a tragic first subject and a more cantabile theme played by the clarinet. The piano’s first entrance is with three bold runs that lead into the main theme. While the movement proceeds in rather conventional sonata form, with development of the primary theme at the forefront most of the way, the surprising ending seems to be a kind of tribute to Mozart’s C minor concerto, No.24 K491 one of Beethoven’s favourite works. As in Mozart’s concerto, he dispenses with the usual Classical convention, which has the piano part rest after the closing cadenza to leave the orchestra alone for a brief coda. Here, the piano remains in control almost until the final chord. The Largo begins with a whispered meditation by the solo piano which is picked up with hushed intensity by the orchestra. Orchestra and soloist exchange roles in the central section, with a lovely duet for bassoon and flute accompanied by piano arpeggios. The opening music returns once more, lightly developed, and there is a short coda with a brief horn solo that closes the movement. The final movement also seems to have Mozart in mind. The piano introduces the main theme, which ties together a series of contrasting episodes. The central section serves almost as a development: after a delightful little clarinet duet, the orchestra begins a brief but intense fugue that leads the piano into a major key version of the theme and further developments of the main idea in the orchestra. There is a cadenza, and then Beethoven gives us a final surprise, a shift to 6/8, and a furious C major coda.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
SYMPHONY NO.3 IN E FLAT OP.55 EROICA I Allegro con brio II Marcia funebre: Adagio assai III Scherzo: Allegro vivace IV Finale: Allegro molto A friend of princes, but totally dedicated to the ideals of the French revolution, ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’, Beethoven originally intended that this symphony, so full of his own revolutionary ideas and aspirations, would be dedicated to the egalitarian accomplishments of Napoleon. However, upon learning that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor, and had thus given up the ideals of democracy, Beethoven wrathfully tore up the title page bearing the name ‘Bonaparte’, threw it on the ground and stamped on it. The title page was later inscribed, ‘Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man’ and was rededicated to his friend and patron, Prince Lobkowitz. Reactions to the work’s first performances were mixed. Beethoven’s friends viewed it as a masterpiece, but the poorly educated audiences couldn’t handle what they saw as the composer’s perversity. Others found many fine things in the work, but were bewildered by his challenges to convention. Certainly the length of the piece shocked people. One patron was said to have shouted from the balcony, “I’ll give another Kreuzer (about a penny) if only the thing will stop.” Audiences at the turn of the 19th century were accustomed to hearing elegantly turned music that pleased and delighted them, and didn’t last too long. In the Eroica, Beethoven established the status of a work of art - it must be considered on its own terms and had the right to challenge the status quo. The opening two hammer-like chords set the stage for complexity growing from the simplest of material, a melody consisting simply of the outline of a triad. The breaking of convention and elements of heroism continue in the second movement, a funeral march. Beginning softly with the strings, the theme is picked up by the entire orchestra, then appears as a fugue where, each in turn, the different instruments play the melody. The typical 18th century third movement, an elegant minuet, is replaced with a dashing scherzo. The trio section, in this case, truly features a trio - a trio of horns. The figure of the hero returns in the final movement with a set of variations on a theme from Beethoven’s popular ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus. It is almost as if the composer is rewarding his patient listeners with a tune that they have already come to enjoy. The final variation, in the style of a country dance, concludes with a long series of closing chords – twenty-four of them in all.
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FREDDY KEMPF PIANO
Freddy Kempf is one of today’s most successful pianists performing to sell-out audiences all over the world. Exceptionally gifted with an unusually broad repertoire, Freddy has built a unique reputation as an explosive and physical performer who is not afraid to take risks as well as a serious, sensitive and profoundly musical artist. Freddy has collaborated with conductors such as Dutoit, Petrenko, Davis, Sinaisky, Chailly, Tortelier, Sawallisch, Buribayev and Simonov, and has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious musical institutions including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, La Scala Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, NHK Symphony Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Dresden Philharmonic. Most recent concerti highlights include appearances with Taiwan National Symphony, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Bergen Philharmonic, in addition to an extensive twelve date tour with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra across the UK for which he received critical acclaim: “Kempf is a pianist in a million…” the incredible definition of Rachmaninov’s inner filigree which emerges all the clearer for a refusal to use the sustaining pedal to blur the sound…his colossal but perfect weight simply stuns. (The Arts Desk) A committed recitalist, Freddy has appeared on many of the world’s most important stages including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Milan Conservatory, Sala Verdi, London’s Cadogan Hall and Royal Festival Hall, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Sydney’s City Hall and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. This season’s recital highlights include a debut at the Fribourg International Piano Series in Switzerland, a return to the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory and recitals across the UK. A prolific recording artist, Freddy records exclusively for BIS Records. His latest Tchaikovsky CD, released in Autumn
2015, was received to great acclaim. In 2013, Freddy released a Schumann recital disc which was warmly received by the critics and, in 2010, his recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton was nominated for the prestigious Gramophone Concerto Award, with the associated magazine describing the collaborative duo as “a masterful Prokofievian pair”. This highly successful collaboration was followed by a recording of Gershwin’s works for piano and orchestra, released in 2012 and described in the press as “beautiful, stylish, light, and elegant… magnificent”. Meanwhile, Freddy’s solo recital disc of
Rachmaninov, Bach/Busoni, Ravel and Stravinsky, released in 2011, was praised by BBC Music Magazine for its wonderful delicate playing and fine sense of style. Born in London in 1977, Freddy made his concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 8 and further came to national prominence in 1992 when he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition. In 1998, his award of third, rather than first, prize in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow provoked protests from the audience and an outcry in the Russian press, which proclaimed him “the hero of the competition”.
NCO MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL CONCERT SERIES 2018-2019
26
F R I DAY
October Julian Bliss clarinet
7.30pm At The Stoller Hall Manchester
Arnold Sinfonietta No. 1 Weber Clarinet Concerto No. 2 Suk Meditation on the old Czech chorale ‘St. Wenceslas’ Haydn Symphony No. 102 In the second concert of our season at Manchester’s Stoller Hall, we welcome Julian Bliss, the virtuoso clarinettist who has already achieved worldwide acclaim as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, jazz artist, masterclass leader, eloquent public speaker and tireless musical explorer. In this programme he will play Weber’s 2nd clarinet concerto. This show-stopping piece of virtuosic artistry follows an ebullient opener in the form of Malcolm Arnold’s Sinfonietta No. 1. After the interval are two works written at times of political explosiveness – Suk’s Meditation, in which the composer tries overtly to stir up nationalism during the tensions at the time of the outbreak of WWI and Haydn’s Symphony No. 102, premiered in London in 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars.
“It isn’t just his technique, though that is astonishing enough. It’s the wit, poise and vivacity in his playing. In short, it is the pure intuition leading him straight to the heart of what he plays.” The Times
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TONIGHT’S ORCHESTRA DIRECTED BY NICHOLAS WARD, VIOLIN Violin I Nicholas Ward Paula Smart Louise Latham Luke Coomber Alex Stemp Sarah White (NOT 29th) Violin II Simon Gilks Rebecca Thompson Michael Jones Judith Van Ingen Kate Pelling (NOT 29th) Viola Richard Muncey Mike Dale Raymond Lester (NOT 29th) Jacq Leighton Jones (NOT 29th) Cello Tim Smedley Barbara Grunthal Amanda Turner (NOT 29th)
Flute Nichola Hunter Maria Rayner Oboe Kenny Sturgeon Jane Evans Clarinet Elizabeth Jordan Daniel Bayley Bassoon Rosie Burton Rachel Whibley Horn Naomi Atherton Jenny Cox Mark Bennett Trumpet Tracey Redfern Anthony Thompson Timpani John Melbourne
Bass Diane Clarke James Manson (NOT 29th)
PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL MOBILE PHONES ARE TURNED OFF DURING THE PERFORMANCE.
THE NORTHERN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA PLAYING MEMBERS Violins Nicholas Ward Chair supported by Ken & Pam McKinlay Simon Gilks Chair supported by Anne Thompson Louise Latham Chair supported by Eleanor Lewington David Routledge Paula Smart Rebecca Thompson Chair supported by Valerie Elliott Violas Richard Muncey Chair supported by Martin and Angela Losse Mike Dale Cellos Barbara Grunthal Chair supported by Peter Raynes Bass James Manson Chair supported by Ken & Pam McKinlay Flutes Conrad Marshall Chair supported by Dieter Senn
Nichola Hunter Oboes Kenny Sturgeon Chair supported by Caroline Brown Jane Evans Clarinets Elizabeth Jordan Daniel Bayley Bassoons Llinos Owen Rachel Whibley Chair Supported by John Whibley Holidays Horns Naomi Atherton Jenny Cox Trumpet Tracey Redfern Chair supported by John Bush Timpani John Melbourne Harpsichord/keyboard Bernard Robertson
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