2018/19 Southbank Centre season brochure

Life, Liberty Six Chapters of Enlightenment – Part Two 2018–19 concerts and the Pursuit of Happiness

Six Chapters of Enlightenment – Part Two Life,

Liberty and the

Pursuit of Happiness

‘ We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’

The American Declaration of Independence

Individual or Society?

Head or Heart?

Conform or Rebel?

Laws or Freedoms?

Secular or Sacred?

These questions were as vital during the Enlightenment – the golden age of science and philosophy from which we take our name – as they are now.

They were explored by great composers such as Bach, Brahms and Sibelius, and run through the music we play like a seam of gold, often breaking to the surface.

This year we’re unlocking Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness with fabulous artists including Sir Simon Rattle, Marin Alsop and Sir András Schiff. Enjoy music written in response to extraordinary times, that still challenges and electrifies in the extraordinary times we live in today.

2018–19 concerts in brief

Brahms: A German Pipedreams Requiem

Keyboard wizardry.

A Requiem for the living.

Monday 3 December 2018 Sunday 11 November 2018

Thursday 25 October 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall

Royal Festival Hall

Queen Elizabeth Hall

Southbank Centre

Southbank Centre

Southbank Centre Handel

Vaughan Williams Handel – Overture to – Suite from The Alchemist – Fantasia on a Theme Alexander’s Feast

by Thomas Tallis Manfredini Telemann – Concerto Grosso – Concerto for two violas and Brahms Op. 3 No. 9 strings in G – A German Requiem Handel Handel

Marin Alsop – Concerto Grosso – Organ Concerto Op. 7 No. 1 conductor Op. 6 No. 4 Telemann

Elizabeth Watts – Apollo e Dafne – Concerto for recorder, flute soprano and strings in E minor

Jonathan Cohen

James Newby Handel conductor/director baritone – Act One Sinfonia from Saul

Katherine Watson

Choir of the Telemann soprano Age of Enlightenment – Concerto for oboe d’amore,

James Newby viola d’amore and flute in E baritone Handel – Organ Concerto Op. 4 No. 1

Apollo and Daphne You can’t have things all your own way.

John Butt director/organ

All concerts start at 7pm Book now southbankcentre.co.uk/oae

020 3879 9555, daily 9am–8pm

Royal Festival Hall Ticket Office, daily 10am–8pm

Love and Duty Songs from the heart with Magdalena Kožená.

Monday 4 February 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Mozart – Symphony No. 40 – Giunse alfin il momento / Al desio di chi t’adora from The Marriage of Figaro – Parto, Parto from La clemenza di Tito Gluck – Arias from Il Parnaso Confuso, Antigono and La clemenza di Tito – Dance of the Furies from Orfeo

Giovanni Antonini conductor Magdalena Kožená mezzo-soprano

Brahms Piano Concertos Blockbuster piano music from a time of revolution.

Monday 18 March 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Tuesday 2 April 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Schumann – Konzertstück for Four Horns – Symphony No. 4 Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 1

Bach – St John Passion

Sir András Schiff piano/conductor

Tuesday 19 March 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Schumann – Symphony No. 3 Rhenish Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 2

Sir András Schiff piano/conductor

Bach’s St John Passion A thrilling staging of the Easter story.

Pre-concert events Join us at 6pm on each concert night for a free pre-concert discussion exploring the music and the ideas around it.

Sir Simon Rattle conductor Peter Sellars director Camilla Tilling soprano Magdalena Kožená mezzo-soprano Andrew Staples tenor Mark Padmore tenor (Evangelist) Roderick Williams baritone (Jesus) Christian Gerhaher baritone (Pilate, Peter) Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Trial by Jury The law’s an ass.

Toutes Suites A balance of pleasures.

Thursday 18 April 2019 Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

Tuesday 14 May 2019 Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

Gilbert and Sullivan – Overtures from The Gondoliers and Iolanthe – Selection of songs from The Yeoman of the Guard, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, HMS Pinafore and Ruddigore – Trial by Jury

John Wilson conductor Simon Butteriss baritone (The Learned Judge) Louise Alder soprano (Angelina) Simon Bailey baritone (Counsel for the Plaintiff) Michael Porter tenor (Edwin, the Defendant) Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Bach – Orchestral Suite No. 3 – Orchestral Suite No. 1 – Orchestral Suite No. 2 – Orchestral Suite No. 4

Margaret Faultless director Lisa Beznosiuk flute

States of Independence A symphony for independence.

Friday 31 May 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Elgar – Serenade for Strings Strauss – Violin Concerto Sibelius – Symphony No. 2

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Alina Ibragimova violin

Individual or Society?

Life, Liberty and the

Pursuit of Happiness

Pipedreams

Keyboard wizardry.

Toutes Suites A balance of pleasures.

Tuesday 14 May 2019 Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

Bach – Orchestral Suite No. 3 – Orchestral Suite No. 1 – Orchestral Suite No. 2 – Orchestral Suite No. 4

Margaret Faultless director Lisa Beznosiuk flute

Concert supported by Haakon and Imogen Overli

With his Orchestral Suites, Bach achieved something very special. After years in the service of church employers, he let loose with a bit of Gallic flair, bringing his usual mathematical precision to the popular dance styles of the day.

Not only does he balance structure and innovation, and fuse German with French.

He also provides vivid moments for different instruments, while making the whole orchestra the star.

Monday 3 December 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

Handel – Overture to Alexander’s Feast Telemann – Concerto for two violas and

strings in G Handel – Organ Concerto Op. 7 No. 1 Telemann – Concerto for recorder, flute and strings in E minor Handel – Act One Sinfonia from Saul Telemann – Concerto for oboe d’amore, viola d’amore and flute in E Handel – Organ Concerto Op. 4 No. 1

John Butt director/organ

Audiences in 18th century London demanded increasingly impressive musical spectacles.

Handel responded with his virtuosic organ concertos, which he performed himself.

Our modern virtuoso is John Butt, who brings his keyboard wizardry to this concert.

But it’s never just about one individual. We rarely have more fun than when we’re working together, playing music from the 18th century and letting the special sounds of our period instruments come to the fore.

Concert supported by Nigel Jones and Françoise Valat-Jones

Head or Heart?

Life, Liberty and the

Pursuit of Happiness

James Newby baritone Rising Star of the Enlightenment

Camilla Morse-Glover cello Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience scheme

Ursula Paludan Monberg horn

David Blackadder principal trumpet

Annette Isserlis viola

Love and Duty Songs from the heart with Magdalena Kožená.

Monday 4 February 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Mozart – Symphony No. 40

– Giunse alfin il momento / Al desio di chi t’adora from The Marriage of Figaro – Parto, Parto from La clemenza di Tito

Gluck – Arias from Il Parnaso Confuso, Antigono and La clemenza di Tito – Dance of the Furies from Orfeo

Giovanni Antonini conductor

Magdalena Kožená mezzo-soprano

Concert supported by Bruce Harris

When your heart’s desire is forbidden by culture and convention, what wins – love or duty?

We explore this dilemma through sublime opera arias by Mozart and Gluck, sung by Czech soprano Magdalena Kožená.

Sweet songs of love from The Marriage of Figaro meet challenges of duty from Mozart’s swansong, La clemenza di Tito.

Our programme is structured as concerts were in the early 1800s, with arias mixed in with the movements of Mozart’s passionate Symphony No. 40.

Apollo and Daphne You can’t have things all your own way.

Thursday 25 October 2018 Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

Handel – Suite from The Alchemist Manfredini – Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 9 Handel – Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 4 – Apollo e Dafne

Jonathan Cohen conductor/director Katherine Watson soprano James Newby baritone

Apollo e Dafne is Handel on sparkling form, proving he could write a short, sharp, comical two-hander.

When Apollo mocks Cupid’s archery skills, Cupid takes revenge by making him fall in love with Daphne – who’s having none of his advances.

The concert also features music Handel wrote for The Alchemist, a classic satirical play about seeking pleasure.

Concert supported by Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE

Conform or Rebel?

Life, Liberty and the

Pursuit of Happiness

Book now southbankcentre.co.uk/oae

020 3879 9555, daily 9am–8pm

Royal Festival Hall Ticket Office, daily 10am–8pm

Brahms Piano Concertos Blockbuster piano music from a time of revolution.

Monday 18 March 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Schumann – Konzertstück for Four Horns – Symphony No. 4 Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 1

Hear Brahms’ blockbuster piano concertos over two nights with one of the world’s finest pianists, our Principal Artist, Sir András Schiff.

Written 22 years apart, the concertos are snapshots of Brahms’ life. The first is youthful, raw and expressive; the second is mature, structured and wiser.

Both were written in turbulent times, when revolution was in the air and artists joined political movements to overturn the old order.

Tuesday 19 March 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Schumann – Symphony No. 3 Rhenish Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 2

Sir András Schiff piano/conductor

Sir András Schiff piano/conductor

Concert supported by

Concert supported by Julian and Annette Armstrong

Mark and Rosamund Williams Rev’d John Wates OBE and Carol Wates

We also delve into the troubled world of Brahms’ mentor, Robert Schumann. Shocked by the violence of failed revolutions in 1848, Schumann immersed himself in music to escape the upheaval. He came back with pieces such as the spectacular Konzertstück for Four Horns, which provides an impassioned start to our mini-series.

Laws or Freedoms?

Life, Liberty and the

Pursuit of Happiness

Trial by Jury The law’s an ass.

Thursday 18 April 2019 Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

Gilbert and Sullivan – Overtures from The Gondoliers and Iolanthe – Selection of songs from The Yeoman of the Guard, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, HMS Pinafore and Ruddigore – Trial by Jury

John Wilson conductor Simon Butteriss baritone (The Learned Judge) Louise Alder soprano (Angelina) Simon Bailey baritone (Counsel for the Plaintiff) Michael Porter tenor (Edwin, the Defendant)

Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Concert supported by Selina and David Marks

Part courtroom comedy, part love story, Trial by Jury is a sharp satire of the legal system about a jilted bride who sues her fiancé for breach of contract.

This short Gilbert and Sullivan opera was the smash hit of the 1870s, running for hundreds of performances and touring as far as the USA and Australia.

Conductor John Wilson joins us to push the legal system to the edge of reason.

Pre-concert events Join us at 6pm on each concert night for a free pre-concert discussion exploring the music and the ideas around it.

States of Independence A symphony for independence.

Friday 31 May 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Our season closes with an electrifying concert celebrating freedom and liberty.

Even in its own time, Sibelius’ Second Symphony was dubbed the ‘Symphony of Independence’. A powerful piece with a stirring finale, it played its part in Finland’s independence in 1917, and made Sibelius a national hero.

Vladimir Jurowski is joined by violinist Alina Ibragimova for a programme also featuring uplifting music by Elgar and Richard Strauss.

Elgar – Serenade for Strings Strauss – Violin Concerto Sibelius – Symphony No. 2

Vladimir Jurowski conductor Alina Ibragimova violin

Concert dedicated to our Supporting, Bronze, Silver and Gold Friends and Patrons

Secular or Sacred?

Life, Liberty and the

Pursuit of Happiness

Henry Tong violin

Katharina Spreckelsen Matthew Truscott co-principal oboe violin leader

Amelia Shakespeare flute Ann and Peter Law OAE Experience scheme

Max Mandel co-principal viola

Brahms: A German Requiem A Requiem for the living.

Sunday 11 November 2018 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a Theme

by Thomas Tallis Brahms – A German Requiem

Marin Alsop conductor Elizabeth Watts soprano James Newby baritone Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Concert supported by Philip and Rosalyn Wilkinson

Bach’s St John Passion A thrilling staging of the Easter story.

Tuesday 2 April 2019 Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

Bach – St John Passion

To mark Armistice Day, Marin Alsop conducts Brahms’ epic German Requiem.

Music written for the Requiem Mass was usually performed in Latin. But Brahms broke the mould with this colossal German-language masterpiece.

Without direct references to Christ, Brahms’ Requiem is famously humanist in approach.

It speaks to you directly about death, grief and living after loss.

Sir Simon Rattle conductor Peter Sellars director Camilla Tilling soprano Magdalena Kožená mezzo-soprano Andrew Staples tenor Mark Padmore tenor (Evangelist) Roderick Williams baritone (Jesus) Christian Gerhaher baritone (Pilate, Peter) Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Sir Simon Rattle has assembled an extraordinary team for the first UK performance of this exciting staging of St John Passion, originally performed by the Berlin Philharmonic.

An all-star cast of singers features Magdalena Kozená, Mark Padmore and Roderick Williams.

Meanwhile, celebrated director Peter Sellars brings it to life on stage – so you see the drama unfurl as well as hear it.

Bach’s musical setting of the crucifixion of Christ is full of colour and emotional depth.

Concert supported by Stanley Lowy, Denys and Vicki Firth, Adrian Frost, Julian and Camilla Mash, Michael and Harriet Maunsell, Sir Martin Smith and Lady Smith OBE, Ivor Samuels and Gerry Wakelin

‘ The secret? The OAE’s musicianship, camaraderie and mutual understanding.’

The Times

Book now southbankcentre.co.uk/oae

020 3879 9555, daily 9am–8pm

Royal Festival Hall Ticket Office, daily 10am–8pm

No transaction fees for in-person bookings or Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles.

For other bookings transaction fees apply: £3 online; £3.50 over the phone.

If you wish to receive tickets in the post, a £1 delivery charge applies.

Ticket prices

£60 for premium seats / £40 / £25 / £10 Apollo and Daphne, Pipedreams, Love and Duty and States of Independence.

£75 for premium seats / £45 / £25 / £10 Brahms: A German Requiem, Brahms Piano Concertos, Trial by Jury and Toutes Suites.

£90 for premium seats / £50 / £25 / £10 Bach’s St John Passion.

All tickets entitle you to a free programme.

Pre-concert events Join us at 6pm on each concert night for a free pre-concert discussion exploring the music and the ideas around it.

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Enjoy more Book 2–3 concerts – save 15% Book 4–7 concerts – save 20% Book 8 concerts – save 25% Children and students – £5 tickets for every concert Under 35s – half price tickets for every concert Groups savings – save 20% for groups of ten people or more Discounts not available on premium seats.

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