Faust and the Mozart Concertos

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WELCOME INTRODUCING OUR SEASON

Double bass and 2016–17 season curator Cecelia Bruggemeyer gives her take on our current season.

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oremost in my mind when curating are questions like ‘who are the excellent interesting artists we want to collaborate with? What are the fascinating stories we want to share? How do we show off our wonderful period instruments?’

I’m delighted we’ve managed to include so many fantastic artists this season. Some we’ve had long relationships with like Ádám Fischer, Steven Isserlis, Sarah Connolly and William Christie; some we’re delighted to welcome back after only one or two previous projects like Ottavio Dantone, Isabelle Faust and Jonathan Cohen. I use the word collaboration in its truest sense as every time we get together it really feels like a two way process that yields exciting performances.

Another question was how do we follow our magnificent 30th Birthday Season with its boundary-breaking foray into Mahler 2 and Der Freischütz? But we’re not done with

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asking questions about how we perform the most familiar of composers and this season sees a rich seam of Bach running through five of our concerts. With William Christie we’ll be telling the story of how the ‘suite’ format, so very familiar to us in Bach’s music, actually started out in Paris. And of course Bach gives us the opportunity to show off our charismatic baroque instruments, and equally brilliant players, in the Brandenburg concerti.

An often employed device when putting programmes together is to focus on a composer. We decided to focus on a city instead: Paris in the classical period. What was it that drew so many composers from round Europe to this artistic honey pot? One of the key figures of this time turns out to be Méhul.

It was he who was famous rather than the likes of Mozart or Beethoven; he who was considered the revolutionary composer of his time, and yet we hardly hear any of his music today. Our gala gives a picture of the world Mozart and Beethoven were trying to make their name in. How will it sound to our ears in 2017? With the virtuosic Michael Spyres, who sang so fabulously in Les Martyrs, and John Irvin this will be an evening like no other.

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CONTENTS

3 16 18 20 21 22 25 26 28 30

Introducing our season Support us Biographies News The OAE team OAE Education Turning points 2017–18 concerts Supporters Coming soon

69 10 14 Tonight’s concert

Programme notes

The Orchestra

Instrument corner

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CONCERT SOLOISTS / REPERTOIRE

FAUST THE MOZART AND CONCERTOS

This concert is generously supported by Bruce Harris and Selina & David Marks.

Tuesday 18 April 7pm Royal Festival Hall

Isabelle Faust violin Matthew Truscott director

The concert will finish at approximately 8.45pm, including a 20 minute interval.

Pre-concert talk at 5.45pm in the Clore Ballroom (access from the main foyer on level 2) – free admission.

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HAYDN

Symphony No. 49, La passione

MOZART

Violin concerto No. 1

INTERVAL

CPE BACH

Symphony in G, Wq.182/1

MOZART

Violin concerto No. 5

ORCHESTRA

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Violins I

Matthew Truscott Iona Davies Andrew Roberts Henry Tong Roy Mowatt Claire Holden

Violins II

Colin Scobie James Toll Debbie Diamond Dominika Feher Stephen Rouse Joanna Lawrence

Violas

Max Mandel Martin Kelly Nicholas Logie Katie Heller

Cellos

Luise Buchberger Andrew Skidmore Helen Verney

Basses

Cecelia Bruggemeyer Carina Cosgrave

Oboes

Daniel Bates Michael O’Donnell

Bassoon

Sally Jackson

Horns

Phillip Eastop Martin Lawrence

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PROGRAMME NOTES JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)

SYMPHONY NO.49, LA PASSIONE (1768) i. Adagio ii Allegro di molto iii Menuet e Trio iv Finale. Presto

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aydn spent most of his creative life in isolation away from the bright lights of Vienna, working for the Esterházy family at their magnificent palace in Austro-Hungary. ‘I was cut off from the world,’ he declared passionately. ‘There was no one near to torment me or make me doubt myself, and so I had to become original.’ Far from becoming another in the long line of dutiful court composers, Haydn established an international reputation as the ‘father’ of 107 symphonies, the creator of the modern string quartet (83 in total), and the astonishingly fertile composer of 45 piano trios, 62 piano sonatas, 14 masses and 26 operas, among countless other scores.

crucial importance, with its love of dramatic contrast and experimental interplay of tonal areas. So too the concerto grosso, whose special feature was the contrast between solo and tutti passages, and the relatively light-hearted serenade.

These various musical ingredients were absorbed by Haydn’s insatiable creative personality, characterised by his delight in rusticity, his revelling in the unexpected, his tongue-in-cheek musical ‘jokes’ for the special appreciation of the cognoscenti, his dabbling in unusual instrumental combinations and colours, and unrivalled flexibility with form and design. If Haydn’s early symphonies find him experimenting gleefully with the possibilities thrown up by the fledgling genre, by the late 1760s he had begun composing with a searing intensity of expression that contemporary writers referred to as Sturm und Drang (storm and stress). In 1768 alone, Haydn composed the Lamentatione (No.26), Trauer (No.44) and La Passione (No.49) symphonies, all in the minor mode and imbued from time to time with a sense of inconsolable despair.

La Passione – the nickname originated in 1790s Vienna – looks both backwards in construction to the slow–fast–slow–fast Baroque sonata da chiesa and forwards in emotional content to the Romantic era. Opening with a worldweary Adagio, whose influence can be felt resonating well over a century later in the music of Mahler and Barber, Haydn then storms away with a dramatic allegro of hurtling forward momentum. A stern minuet offers little in the way of consolation before the presto finale lacerates 18th-century sensibilities Several important elements helped Haydn forge his symphonic style. Firstly, the prevailing with an on-rush of high-voltage intensity. gallant mode of expression, with its propensity for formal balance, grace and symmetry; also the world of opera, from which Haydn borrowed the structure of the traditional overture, as well as passages reminiscent of arias, recitative and blustering buffo finales.

The early Viennese symphony was also of

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)

VIOLIN CONCERTO NO.1 (1773)

showy virtuosity – ‘I am no lover of difficulties’ he insisted – his youthful exuberance is everywhere apparent in this most sparkling and untroubled of all his concertos. It was extremely well received, so much so that the following year the newly-appointed leader of the Archbishop’s orchestra, Antonio Brunetti, took it under his wing and established for it a place in the repertoire which it has enjoyed ever since.

i Allegro moderato ii Adagio iii Presto

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t was in the year of Mozart’s birth (1756) that his father, Leopold, published his School of Violin Playing, which quickly established itself as one of the most important works of its kind. It was therefore hardly surprising that young Wolfgang had access to a violin as well as a keyboard from an early age, nor that his first published work was a set of four-movement violin sonatas, Kk6-9 (1762). According to a letter of January 1763 (when Wolfgang was still only six years old) it seems that the boy genius hardly ever touched the instrument. Yet just four months later he had already progressed to the point that he was making public concerto appearances with the court orchestra.

Mozart went on to become a highlyaccomplished player, although his lack of application was still a stumbling point.

Following one concert in Munich in 1777, he reported to his father with the greatest excitement: ‘I played as if I were the greatest fiddler in all of Europe.’ This inspired an inevitably frustrated response: ‘You yourself do not know how well you play the violin; if only you will do yourself credit and play with energy, with your whole heart and mind, yes, just as if you were the finest violinist in Europe’.

Although Mozart loathed the Italian style of

Above: Illustration from

Mozart’s School Clearly keen to assert his Leopold of Violin Playing playing credentials with his first ever violin concerto, Mozart adopted the Parisian, gallant style that was very much in vogue at the time, with its characteristic delight in crisp and exhilarating passagework. In the outer movements ideas emerge with such quicksilver élan it feels as though melodies are tumbling over one another to be heard. Offsetting these musical outbursts of high spirits is a deeply-felt central Adagio, which borrows an operatic melody sung originally by a heroine longing for the return of a distant lover.

INTERVAL

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PROGRAMME NOTES CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH (1714–1788)

SYMPHONY IN G WQ.182/1 (1773) i Allegro di molto ii Poco adagio iii Presto

O

f all Johann Sebastian Bach’s composing sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel most successfully combined the intricate High Baroque style cultivated by his father with a burgeoning new clarity and simplicity in the arts that would eventually blossom into the Classicism of Haydn and Mozart. CPE’s music possesses a gravitas, a delight in the unexpected and an element of fantasy that Mozart (who described him as his ‘musical father’), Haydn and Beethoven greatly admired. Above all, his development of the Empfindsamer Stil (‘sensitive style’) – a new form of writing intended to encompass a wide range of emotions within the same movement – reached forward towards the Romantic period with an exploratory zeal, expressive freedom and heightened sense of dramatic narrative.

CPE was also one of the prime movers in the early development of the symphony, establishing structural and rhetorical procedures that helped inspire and facilitate Haydn’s fascination with the genre. Compared to Haydn’s mighty Right: Detail from 107, CPE’s Adolph Menzel’s Friedrichs total symphonic Flötenkonzert des Großen in Sanssouci (c.1850–1852) showing output of 18 CPE Bach (harpsichord) works may accompanying Frederick the Great (flute). appear paltry,

yet each one is a musical gem fully embracing the Enlightenment’s bracing openness to new ideas.

Most remarkable are the set of six symphonies Bach composed in Hamburg (1773) for diplomat, librarian and dedicatee of Beethoven’s First Symphony, Baron Gottfried von Swieten. The note of commission specified that ‘the composer’s creative imagination might have free rein, unfettered by any regard for technical difficulties,’ and Bach responded with a collection of works that find his creative imagination working at full stretch.

At this comparatively early stage in their development, each symphonic movement tended to focus on one particular Affekt (or emotional character), whereas in his opening sections Bach is already differentiating between ideas of contrasting character. In the G major Symphony that opens the second half of tonight’s concert, for example, he begins with a descending arpeggio figure that quickly gives way to a vivacious passage of rapid stringcrossing. As was customary at the time, the symphony’s remaining movements – a wistful adagio and lively presto finale – follow one another with only the briefest of pauses in the manner of the contemporary Italian overture.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)

VIOLIN CONCERTO NO.5, TURKISH(1775) i Allegro aperto ii Adagio iii Rondo: Tempo di minuetto

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various premieres from the leader’s chair.

The opening Allegro aperto of K219 is notable both for its fertile melodic invention and Mozart’s structural sleights of hand – in particular the soloist’s very first appearance, which starts with a six-bar adagio interlude as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Irrepressible energy and humour is everywhere apparent, most notably the innocent-sounding arpeggio figure which immediately precedes the violinist’s initial entry, then crops up in the central development section and finally returns to round the movement off.

The intensity of feeling generated by the central Adagio – the longest of the concerto slow movements – so perplexed contemporary audiences used to lighter fayre that the following year Brunetti requested Mozart compose a substitute. Inexplicably to modern ears, Brunetti found the original (which we hear played tonight) ‘too contrived’ and hoped for something more in the vein of a lightweight Italian intermezzo. No record survives of Brunetti’s reaction to the resulting Adagio in E K261 (1776), which is if anything emotionally even more complex.

ollowing the first in the series, which opened tonight’s concert, the remainder of Mozart’s five authenticated violin concertos – K211 in D, K216 in G, K218 in D and K219 in A (‘Turkish’) – followed in quick succession over an eight-month period between April and December 1775. It remains unclear what compelled Mozart to suddenly show such a keen interest in a genre for which he had The concerto’s so far demonstrated finale is a Frenchlittle enthusiasm. style rondeau, One possibility is based around a that he wished to recurring minuet ingratiate himself with theme which is slightly his over-bearing employer, varied on each occasion. the Archbishop of Salzburg.

The most immediately This would appear to tie in with a Above: Hieronymus, Prince-Archbishop of striking feature is the ‘noisy’ remark made by the concertmaster Salzburg, by Johann M. Greiter (c. 1780). third episode in A minor, of the court orchestra, Antonio borrowed from Mozart’s Brunetti, who insisted that Mozart ‘could play opera Lucio Silla and composed in what was anything, if he put his mind to it.’ On the other then the fashionable Janissary (‘alla turka’) hand, Brunetti was very much the star player style, with cellos and basses instructed to play in Salzburg at the time and 12 years Mozart’s with the wood of their bows. senior, so he may well have simply directed the

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INSTRUMENT CORNER

FROM

MAKING OUR STRINGS

SHEEP...

F TO STAGE

rom Isabelle Faust’s violin to the double basses, all the stringed instruments you see tonight have so-called ‘catgut’ strings. These are not made from cats but, in fact, from sheep intestines.

While most modern instruments use metal strings, these were only introduced in the 20th century. So to recreate the sound world of Mozart, Haydn or indeed any other composer, we use gut strings reflective of the time the composers were writing.

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Gut strings are still made by hand by skilled manufacturers. Here’s how:

1 2 3

Sheep intestines are delivered from an abattoir – as by-products of the slaughter process.

Next they are cleaned, salted and soaked in water for several days.

Just the collagen in the gut is needed for strings. To remove the fat and membranes they are scraped with a knife, then softened in an alkaline solution five times a day for a whole week.

4

Next the gut is gently separated in thin fibres for violin and viola strings, and thicker strips for cello and double bass strings.

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The fibres are put on a ringer and twisted together to bind them into strings. Five fibres are needed for a violin E string, while more are needed for the thicker strings. This process also dries the strings out.

6 7

Then the strings are smoothed by rubbing with horse hair and polished, often using dried grass and olive oil.

Lower strings are often wound in silver – as they were in the 18th and 19th centuries.

HOW ARE GUT STRINGS DIFFERENT FOR OUR PLAYERS?

– They snap more easily.

– They lower in pitch in hot and humid conditions, and their pitch rises when it’s cold.

– They’re quieter than modern strings.

– BUT our players love them for the warmer, earthier sound they produce.

Think of it like vinyl over MP3, or craft beer over a mass-produced lager!

pho to: A

noi

xe

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SUPPORT US The past 30 years have seen the OAE grow to become one of the world’s leading period instrument orchestras performing to a global audience of over 5 million people each year.

Our education work reaches over 12,000 participants annually across the UK. The Night Shift, our pioneering late night series of informal performances, now tours internationally attracting audiences of over 4,000 each year. We love what we do and we’re proud of our international reputation for performing with warmth, imagination and expertise.

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We could not have reached these milestones without our loyal band of supporters. Our box office sales, touring and public funding brings in 70% of the income we need and the generosity of our donors is vital to make up the remaining 30%. Without this support, we could not realise our ambitious plans to continue our pioneering work on the concert platform and beyond.

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BIOGRAPHIES

ISABELLE FAUST VIOLIN

photo: Felix Broede

Isabelle Faust captivates her listeners through her insightful and faithful interpretations, based on a thorough knowledge of the historical context of the works as well as her attention to current scholarship.

At an early age, Isabelle Faust won the prestigious Leopold Mozart and Paganini competitions and was soon invited to appear with the world’s leading orchestras. 2016 marked her first year as Artistic Partner for the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Isabelle Faust performs a wide-ranging repertoire, from Bach all the way through to contemporary composers such as Ligeti, Lachenmann and Widmann. She will premiere several new works for violin and orchestra during the next seasons.

Over the course of her career, Isabelle Faust has regularly performed or recorded with world-renowned conductors. During recent years Isabelle Faust developed a close relationship with the late Claudio Abbado and performed and recorded under his baton. She has has recorded many discs for harmonia mundi with her recital partner Alexander Melnikov.

photo: Eric Richmond

MATTHEW TRUSCOTT DIRECTOR

Matthew Truscott is a versatile violinist who shares his time between period instrument and ‘modern’ performance, appearing with some of the finest musicians in both fields.

One of the leaders of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment since 2007, he has recently been appointed concertmaster of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, dual roles which he relishes equally.

In demand as a guest leader, engagements in this capacity have included projects with The English Concert, Le Concert d’Astrée, The King’s Consort, Arcangelo, Budapest Festival Orchestra, English National Opera, Dutch National Opera and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. He is also leader of St James’ Baroque, Classical Opera and the Magdalena Consort.

A keen chamber musician, recent recordings have included a set of Purcell Trio Sonatas with Retrospect Trio, a disc of Bach chamber music with Trevor Pinnock, Emmanuel Pahud and Jonathan Manson, and one of Haydn Piano Trios with Richard Lester and Simon Crawford-Phillips.

Matthew teaches baroque violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

ORCHESTRA OF THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

T

hree decades ago, a group of inquisitive London musicians took a long hard look at that curious institution we call the Orchestra, and decided to start again from scratch.

They began by throwing out the rulebook.

Put a single conductor in charge? No way.

Specialise in repertoire of a particular era?

Too restricting. Perfect a work and then move on? Too lazy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was born.

And as this distinctive ensemble playing on period-specific instruments began to get a foothold, it made a promise to itself. It vowed to keep questioning, adapting and inventing as long as it lived. Those original instruments became just one element of its quest for authenticity. Baroque and Classical music became just one strand of its repertoire. Every time the musical establishment thought it had a handle on what the OAE was all about, the ensemble pulled out another shocker: a Symphonie Fantastique here, some conductorless Bach there. All the while, the Orchestra’s players called the shots.

At first it felt like a minor miracle. Ideas and talent were plentiful; money wasn’t. Somehow, the OAE survived to a year. Then to two.

Then to five. It began to make benchmark recordings and attract the finest conductors.

It became the toast of the European touring circuit. It bagged distinguished residencies at the Southbank Centre and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. It began, before long, to thrive.

And then came the real challenge. The ensemble’s musicians were branded eccentric idealists, and that they were determined to remain. In the face of the music industry’s big guns, the OAE kept its head. It got organised but remained experimentalist. It sustained its founding drive but welcomed new talent.

It kept on exploring performance formats, rehearsal approaches and musical techniques.

It searched for the right repertoire, 19 instruments and approaches with even greater resolve. It kept true to its founding vow.

In some small way, the OAE changed the classical music world too. It challenged those distinguished partner organisations and brought the very best from them, too.

Symphony and opera orchestras began to ask it for advice. Existing period instrument groups started to vary their conductors and repertoire. New ones popped up all over Europe and America.

And so the story continues, with ever more momentum and vision. The OAE’s series of nocturnal Night Shift performance have redefined concert parameters. Its new home at London’s Kings Place has fostered further diversity of planning and music-making.

Great performances now become recordings on the Orchestra’s in-house CD label. The ensemble has formed the bedrock for some of Glyndebourne’s most ground-breaking recent productions. It travels as much abroad as to the UK regions: New York and Amsterdam court it, Birmingham and Bristol cherish it.

Remarkable people are behind it. Simon Rattle, the young conductor in whom the OAE placed so much of its initial trust, still cleaves to the ensemble. Iván Fischer, the visionary who punted some of his most individual musical ideas on the young orchestra, continues to challenge it. Mark Elder still mines for luminosity, shade and line. Vladimir Jurowski, the podium technician with an insatiable appetite for creative renewal, has drawn from it some of the most revelatory noises of recent years.

And, most recently, John Butt has conducted his experiments in Bach inside it. All five of them share the title Principal Artist.

Of the instrumentalists, many remain from those brave first days; many have come since.

All seem as eager and hungry as ever. They’re offered ever greater respect, but continue only to question themselves. Because still, they pride themselves on sitting ever so slightly outside the box. They wouldn’t want it any other way. ©Andrew Mellor

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NEWS

DON’T LOOK

BACH, THE UNIVERSE & EVERYTHING

BACH IN ANGER T

his Autumn we’re launching a new Sunday series at Kings Place, where we perform Bach cantatas and invite leading scientists to give a contemporary perspective on the subjects he was exploring in his music.

B

efore they were famous, Oasis, Blur and lots of other bands graced the stage upstairs at Camden Assembly (formerly Camden Barfly) on Chalk Farm Road.

Some might say we’re already famous, but we’ll play at being rock’n’roll stars when we take The Night Shift to the spiritual home of Britpop for the first time on Tue 23 May. It’s still the same old grungy gig den upstairs, but downstairs they’ve spruced the place up a bit, with the obligatory selection of craft beers and trendy burgers.

It’s called Bach, the Universe & Everything, and we hope it gives you a Douglas Adams-like awe at the peculiarities and wonder of our universe.

The first event is on Sunday 22 October.

Visit kingsplace.co.uk for more.

Visit thenightshift.co.uk for more.

PROJECTS OFFICER NEEDED

T

his Spring we’re saying goodbye to our Projects Officer, Sarah Irving, who is moving on to pastures new after two marvellous years with the Orchestra.

If you (or someone you know) wants to assist with our concerts and tours, organise auditions and trials, and run the OAE Experience scheme for talented young players, visit oae.co.uk/careers for more information.

Follow us for more news

orchestraoftheageofenlightenment

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THE OAE TEAM Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead Director of Finance and Operations Ivan Rockey

21 Head of Individual Giving Alex Madgwick Development Manager Catherine Kinsler

Development Director Emily Stubbs

Trusts and Foundation Manager Andrew Mackenzie

Director of Marketing and Audience Development John Holmes

Development and Events Administrator Danielle Robson

Director of PR & Press Katy Bell Education Director Cherry Forbes Projects Manager Jo Perry Orchestra Manager Philippa Brownsword Projects Officer Sarah Irving Librarian Colin Kitching Education Officer Andrew Thomson Finance Officer Fabio Lodato Digital Content Officer Zen Grisdale Marketing and Press Officer Charles Lewis

Board of Directors Sir Martin Smith (Chairman) Cecelia Bruggemeyer (Vice-Chair) Lisa Beznosiuk Luise Buchberger Robert Cory Denys Firth Nigel Jones Max Mandel David Marks Roger Montgomery Olivia Roberts Susannah Simons Mark Williams Crispin Woodhead OAE Trust Sir Martin Smith (Chair) Edward Bonham Carter Robert Cory Paul Forman Julian Mash Imogen Overli Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Diane Segalen

Leaders Kati Debretzeni Margaret Faultless Matthew Truscott Players’ Artistic Committee Cecelia Bruggemeyer Lisa Beznosiuk Luise Buchberger Max Mandel Roger Montgomery

Administration Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG Tel: 020 7239 9370 Email: info@oae.co.uk Website: oae.co.uk Registered Charity No. 295329 Registered Company No. 2040312

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OAE EDUCATION

W

e often talk about the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment being like a family, and families have members of all ages and abilities.

That’s why we run our OAE Education programme. Each year it reaches over 15,000 people across the country, often in areas where there is little or no access to live

classical music.

We have partnerships in ten cities across the country, work with 12 music hubs and numerous venues and concert halls, and in every location we have created an extended OAE family, something we are very proud of.

MUSICAL LANDSCAPES As you’re watching Isabelle Faust and the Orchestra tonight, our Education team is busy in Lowestoft on the third leg of our Musical Landsacapes tour, which also visits County Durham, Mildenhall (Suffolk) and King’s Lynn.

events in Lowestoft. There’s OAE TOTS at 10.30am in Trinity Methodist Church. And at 8pm we pop into the Triangle Tavern for Music to Your Beers, an informal chance to enjoy Bach with your beer and Purcell with your pork scratching.

Today players have been running workshops in three schools. Then tomorrow (Apr 19) we have a schools concert followed by a community concert at Lowestoft’s Marina Theatre (6.30pm). Both feature music by Bach, Biber and even Philip Glass, alongside new compositions by James Redwood and a symphony for ‘Gulliver’, Lowestoft’s famous wind turbine, written by local schoolchildren to accompany a film about the town by Zen Grisdale.

The idea of Musical Landscapes is to tell the constantly changing landscape of the world we live in.

Starting at the very beginnings of the earth, you hear music which illustrates the earth’s journey from its creation, through the millennia of change which has led us to where we are now. How have human beings adapted? And how we have impacted our environment in both positive and destructive ways? Finally, we ask ourselves ‘What world Then on Thursday (Apr 20), we have two free do we want to create for tomorrow?’

SUPPORT OUR EDUCATION PROGRAMMES The work we do could not happen without the support of our generous donors.

If you would like to support our Education work please contact Alex Madgwick, Head of Individual Giving alex.madgwick@oae.co.uk 020 7239 9380

LEFT: Animateur James Redwood with the OAE and local schools at Lowestoft’s Marina Theatre in 2015. photo: Zen Grisdale

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BACH’S ORCHESTRAL SUITES Saturday 20 May 2017 7.30pm Kings Place

90 York Way London N1 9AG 020 7520 1490

Follow us:

Tickets from £9.50 online

kingsplace.co.uk

TURNING

This year we’ve launched a new series of concerts at Kings Place exploring game-changing masterworks in music history.

Ahead of the second concert, featuring two of Bach’s Orchestral Suites, our Chief Executive Crispin Woodhead explains the concept.

“

‘It all begins with our audience. There’s no such thing as a performance until there are listeners to hear it – they complete the circle,’ declares Crispin. ‘We want to give the audience a story, a connection, a challenge and to take them on an adventure.

They’ll learn about the music and they’ll learn about themselves. From the moment someone buys a ticket, the relationship begins. We’ll create a shared community between us and the audience members.

There’ll be playlists, videos, study afternoons and even informal performances that relate to the concert programme, so when the night arrives, they’ll have already been engaged in a conversation about the music.’

Bach’s Orchestral Suites were written for one of the earliest concert societies, Leipzig’s Collegium Musicum, made up of enlightened citizens to whom good music really mattered. ‘By engaging with our audience, I think we’re dignifying the culture that gave rise to some of Bach’s great secular works,’ Crispin continues.

‘Amateur musicians and burghers of the city supported these pioneering concerts which were such a stimulus to Bach.

And if Bach could travel all the way from Leipzig to the court of Frederick the Great in Potsdam and improvise a fugue on a theme given to him by a king – surely we owe it to him to present his works with creativity?’

“

POINTS

repertoire, with Bach and his Orchestral Suites Nos. 2 & 3. Crispin makes no apology for focusing of famous names. ‘It’s strange how people think that if music is popular it’s somehow less interesting,’ he says. ‘These works have become familiar because they are so exceptional! Their potential is inexhaustible, there’s so much incredible richness. In the Orchestral Suites, Bach drew so many different ideas and styles together. They explode the image of him as this grumpy, Luddite cantor who was suspicious of new fashions in music. In the Second Suite you can see him embracing French dance forms and Italian virtuosity, and combining them with Germanic traditions. The sheer eclecticism is amazing: here was truly a lateral mind at work.’

THESE WORKS HAVE BECOME POPULAR PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY ARE EXCEPTIONAL

After Vivaldi’s Four Seasons back in February, our second Turning Points concert features another big hitter of Baroque

TURNING POINTS: BACH Saturday 20 May 2017 7.30pm Kings Place

Article by Helen Wallace/Kings Place Longer version first published in Kings Place Autumn 2016 What’s On ©Kings Place

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2017–18 CONCERTS VISIONS, ILLUSIONS AND DELUSIONS THE JUDAS PASSION

Monday 25 September 2017 St John’s Smith Square — Sally Beamish The Judas Passion — David Harsent libretto Nicholas McGegan conductor Julia Doyle Mary Brenden Gunnell Judas Roderick Williams Christ Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

HANDEL ’S SEMELE

Wednesday 18 October 2017 Royal Festival Hall — Handel Semele — Ivor Bolton conductor Louise Alder Semele Ray Chenez Athamas Brindley Sherratt Somnus / Cadmus Mary Bevan Iris Catherine Wyn-Rogers Juno

MOZART : MASTER OF DECEPTION WITH RACHEL PODGER

Monday 27 November 2017 St John’s Smith Square — Haydn Symphony No. 26 Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1 JC Bach Symphony in G minor Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 — Rachel Podger director/violin

MARIN ALSOP AND NICOLA BENEDETTI

Sunday 4 February 2018 Royal Festival Hall — Beethoven Symphony No. 4 Beethoven Violin Concerto — Marin Alsop conductor Nicola Benedetti violin

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Tuesday 27 February 2018 Royal Festival Hall — Mozart Arias including Parto, ma tu ben mio from La clemenza di Tito Mozart Symphony No. 38 Haydn Scena di Berenice Haydn Symphony No. 103, Drumroll — Ádám Fischer conductor Christine Rice mezzo-soprano

BACH’S ST MATTHEW PASSION

Monday 26 March 2018 Royal Festival Hall — Bach St Matthew Passion — Mark Padmore director/ Evangelist Roderick Williams baritone/ Christus Katherine Watson soprano Claudia Huckle mezzo-soprano Hugo Hymas tenor Jessica Cale soprano Eleanor Minney mezzo-soprano Matthew Brook bass Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

MOZART : MASTER OF DECEPTION WITH SIR ROGER NORRINGTON

Wednesday 11 April 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall — Mozart Symphony No. 33 Mozart Horn Concerto No. 4 Mozart Horn Concerto No. 1 Mozart Symphony No. 36 — Sir Roger Norrington conductor Roger Montgomery horn

DER ROSENKAVALIER

Thursday 17 May 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall — Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier [salon score] Selection of songs by Richard Strauss — Tom Kemp conductor Miah Persson soprano

DANGEROUS LIAISONS

Tuesday 26 June 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall — Programme including music by Lully, Campra, Charpentier, Clérambault, Destouches, Rameau.

— John Butt conductor/harpsichord Hubert Hazebroucq choreographer Anna Dennis soprano

SCHIFF ’S SURPRISE

Wednesday 4 July 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall — Haydn Piano Concerto No. 11 Haydn Symphony No. 94, Surprise Haydn Harmoniemesse — Sir András Schiff conductor/ piano Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

J2312 OAE Advert 14.5x10.5cm_2015_PRESS.pdf

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09/09/2015

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Lubbock Fine is proud of its ongoing association with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and wishes it every success in its 30th birthday season.

C

M

Y

CM

We have a dedicated creative and music team which provides specialist accounting and tax advice.

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CMY

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Paternoster House, 65 St Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4M 8AB T. 020 7490 7766

www.lubbockfine.co.uk Member of Russell Bedford International

Solicitors

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SUPPORTERS The OAE continues to grow and thrive through the generosity of our supporters. We are very grateful to our sponsors and patrons and hope you will consider joining them. We offer a close involvement in the life of the Orchestra with many opportunities to meet players, attend rehearsals and even accompany us on tour.

OAE THIRTY CIRCLE The OAE is particularly grateful to the following members of the Thirty Circle who have so generously contributed to the re-financing of the Orchestra through the OAE Trust THIRTY CIRCLE PATRONS Bob & Laura Cory Sir Martin Smith & Lady Smith OBE THIRTY CIRCLE MEMBERS Victoria & Edward Bonham Carter Nigel Jones & Franรงoise Valat-Jones Selina & David Marks Julian & Camilla Mash Mark & Rosamund Williams

OUR SUPPORTERS ANN & PETER LAW OAE EXPERIENCE SCHEME Ann & Peter Law MAJOR SPONSOR

CORPORATE PARTNERS Apax Partners E.S.J.G. Limited Lindt Lubbock Fine Chartered Accountants Parabola Land Stephen Levinson at Keystone Law Swan Turton SEASON PATRONS Bob & Laura Cory Bruce Harris Nigel Jones & Franรงoise Valat-Jones Selina & David Marks Sir Martin Smith & Lady Smith OBE Philip & Rosalyn Wilkinson Mark & Rosamund Williams

PROJECT PATRONS Julian & Annette Armstrong JMS Advisory Limited Adrian Frost Julian & Camilla Mash ARIA PATRONS Denys & Vicki Firth Stanley Lowy Gary & Nina Moss Andrew Nurnberg Rupert Sebag-Montefiore Eric Tomsett CHAIR PATRONS Felix Appelbe & Lisa Bolgar-Smith Cello Mrs Nicola Armitage Education Director Hugh & Michelle Arthur Violin Victoria & Edward Bonham Carter Principal Trumpet Anthony & Celia Edwards Principal Oboe Sir Vernon & Lady Ellis Co-Principal Viola James Flynn QC Co-Principal Lute/Theorbo Paul Forman Co-Principal Cello and Co-Principal Bassoon Su Li and Stephen Gibbons violin The Mark Williams Foundation Co-Principal Bassoon Sandy Mitchell Jenny and Tim Morrison Second Violin Haakon & Imogen Overli Co-Principal Cello Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust Co-Principal Cello Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA Co-Principal Bassoon Olivia Roberts Violin John & Rosemary Shannon Principal Horn Roger & Pam Stubbs Sub-Principal Clarinet Crispin Woodhead & Christine Rice Principal Timpani

EDUCATION PATRONS John & Sue Edwards (Principal Education Patrons) Mrs Nicola Armitage Patricia & Stephen Crew The Nigel Gee Foundation Venetia Hoare Rory & Louise Landman Professor Richard Portes CBE FBA ASSOCIATE PATRONS Noël & Caroline Annesley David & Marilyn Clark Christopher & Lesley Cooke David Emmerson Ian S. Ferguson & Dr. Susan Tranter Jonathan & Tessa Gaisman Noel De Keyzer Marc-Olivier & Agnes Laurent Sir Timothy & Lady Lloyd Michael & Harriet Maunsell David Mildon in memory of Lesley Mildon Andrew & Cindy Peck Michael & Giustina Ryan Ivor Samuels & Gerry Wakelin Emily Stubbs & Stephen McCrum Shelley von Strunckel Rev.d John Wates OBE & Carol Wates Tim Wise YOUNG AMBASSADOR PATRONS Pamela Dow William Norris YOUNG PATRONS Josh Bell & Adam Pile Marianne & William Cartwright-Hignett Sam Hucklebridge Joseph Cooke & Rowan Roberts

GOLD FRIENDS Mr & Mrs C Cochin de Billy Mrs A Boettcher Geoffrey Collens Roger Mears & Joanie Speers Mr J Westwood SILVER FRIENDS Haylee & Michael Bowsher Michael Brecknell Christopher Campbell Michael A. Conlon Mr & Mrs Michael Cooper Simon Edelsten Norman & Sarah Fiore Malcolm Herring Patricia Herrmann Peter & Sally Hilliar Rupert & Alice King Stephen & Roberta Rosefield Susannah Simons Her Honour Suzanne Stewart David Swanson BRONZE FRIENDS Keith Barton Dennis Baldry Michael Bowen Dan Burt Tony Burt Hugh Courts Anthony & Jo Diamond Mrs S M Edge Mrs Mary Fysh Ray & Liz Harsant Auriel Hill Nigel Mackintosh Angus Macpherson Julian Markson Nigel Pantling Alan Sainer Ruth & David Samuels Gillian Threlfall Mr & Mrs Tony Timms Mrs Joy Whitby

TRUSTS AND 29 FOUNDATIONS Apax Foundation Arts Council England Catalyst Fund Arts Council England Small Capital Grants Arts Council England Strategic Touring Fund Boltini Trust Boshier-Hinton Foundation Brian Mitchell Charitable Settlement The Charles Peel Charitable Trust Chapman Charitable Trust John S. Cohen Foundation Derek Hill Foundation D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Dunard Fund Ernest Cook Trust Fenton Arts Trust Garfield Weston Foundation The Golden Bottle Trust Goldsmiths’ Company Charity Jack Lane Charitable Trust JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation J Paul Getty Jnr General Charitable Trust John Lyon’s Charity The Mark Williams Foundation Michael Marks Charitable Trust National Foundation for Youth Music Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust Orchestras Live Palazzetto Bru Zane The Patrick Rowland Foundation P F Charitable Trust Schroder Charity Trust The Shears Foundation Valentine Charitable Trust We are also very grateful to our anonymous supporters and OAE Friends for their ongoing generosity and enthusiasm.

For more information on supporting the OAE please contact Emily Stubbs, Development Director emily.stubbs@oae.co.uk 020 7239 9381.

The OAE is a registered charity number 295329 accepting tax efficient gifts from UK taxpayers and businesses.

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COMING

SOUNDS OF LOWESTOFT OAE TOTS MUSIC TO YOUR BEERS

Part of our Musical Landscapes education tour.

19–20 April 2017 Various venues, Lowestoft

THE ART OF CONTINUO

Musicians from the OAE Experience Scheme explore the role of continuo.

7.30pm, Saturday 22 April 2017 Kings Place Tickets: kingsplace.co.uk

SOON THE NIGHT SHIFT

In the creative heart of South London, Peckham.

8.30pm, Tuesday 25 April 2017 CLF Art Cafe/Bussey Building, Peckham Tickets: thenightshift.co.uk

THE BRANDENBURGS

The complete set of Bach’s virtuosic concertos.

7pm, Tuesday 2 May 2017 St John’s Smith Square Tickets: southbankcentre.co.uk/oae (And on tour in Nottingham, Bradford-onAvon, Manchester and Cheltenham)

HIPERMESTRA

The UK premiere of this rare Cavalli opera.

Various times and dates, 20 May–8 July Glyndebourne Festival Opera Tickets: glyndebourne.com

TURNING POINTS: BACH ORCHESTRAL SUITES

A new way to listen to these Baroque Masterpieces.

7.30pm, Saturday 20 May 2017 Kings Place Tickets: kingsplace.co.uk

THE NIGHT SHIFT

Our newest venue, formerly the Camden Barfly.

8.30pm, Tuesday 23 May 2017 The Camden Assembly Tickets: thenightshift.co.uk

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KIRKER MUSIC HOLIDAYS FOR DISCERNING TRAVELLERS Kirker Holidays offers an extensive range of holidays for music lovers. These include our own exclusive opera and chamber music festivals on land and at sea and tours to leading festivals in Europe.

HELSINKI & THE 18TH SIBELIUS FESTIVAL IN LAHTI A SIX NIGHT HOLIDAY | 28 AUGUST 2017

Marking the centenary year of Finnish independence, this year the Sibelius Festival in Lahti will include a guest performance by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra along with its new principal conductor, Santtu-Matias Rouvali who comes from Lahti.

We stay at the Hotel Kamp (5* Deluxe) in the heart of Helsinki for the first two nights, before travelling to Lahti where we will attend four concerts at the striking modern Sibelius Hall, which overlooks the lake. We will also make excursions to important sites associated with the composer, including his birthplace and the simple house where he lived for his final years, and take a boat trip on Lake Vesijarvi.

Price from £2,749 per person for six nights including return flights, accommodation with breakfast, three lunches, five dinners, tickets for four concerts, all sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities and the services of the Kirker Tour Leader.

Speak to an expert or request a brochure:

020 7593 2284 quote code GCN www.kirkerholidays.com

ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC london concert season 2016-17 Purcell the fairy queen Monday 10 October 2016, Barbican Hall

James Gilchrist Directs Thursday 20 October 2016, Milton Court Concert Hall

the Glory of Venice Wednesday 7 December 2016, Milton Court Concert Hall

bach anD the italian concerto Wednesday 15 February 2017, Milton Court Concert Hall

JorDi saVall Directs Saturday 11 March 2017, Barbican Hall

bach reconstructeD Friday 7 April 2017, Milton Court Concert Hall

richarD eGarr Directs Friday 5 May 2017, Milton Court Concert Hall

monteVerDi VeSPerS Friday 23 June 2017, Barbican Hall

tickets £10-50 plus booking fee* £5 for aamplify members | £70 premium seats available

Book at barbican.org.uk or call 020 7638 8891 aam.co.uk/london * £3 online, £4 by telephone, no fee when booked in person

2016-17 London Listings167x239.indd 1

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Photography: Eric Richmond