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April 2007
Highlights include:
Olari Elts takes up post of Principal Guest Conductor
CL@SIX – a new series of five, hour-long early evening concerts in Edinburgh
Director’s Notes – four concerts featuring brilliant pianists in the dual role of soloist/director
Premieres of works by Sally Beamish, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Oliver Knussen and Judith Weir
SCO live debuts by Olli Mustonen, Polina Leschenko, Réka Szilvay, Okko Kamu, Rachel Barton Pine, Henning Kraggerud, Renaud Capuçon, Antoine Tamestit, Elizabeth Watts, Joanne Lunn, Tove Dahlberg, Claire Booth, Lucy Crowe and Anna Stéphany.
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra today announced details of its 2007/08 Season of concerts throughout Scotland between October 2007 and May 2008. Estonian conductor Olari Elts takes up his post as Principal Guest Conductor, conducting both the Opening and Closing concerts, as well as two further concert weeks in the Season. The Orchestra performs in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, St Andrews, Perth and Dumfries, as well as returning to the newly-refurbished Ayr Town Hall.
Olari Elts – Principal Guest Conductor
The Opening Concerts in Glasgow and Aberdeen, conducted by Olari Elts, mark the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Sibelius, featuring works from every phase of his creative development including his Seventh Symphony and his Violin Concerto, with soloist Réka Szilvay. In his first Season as Principal Guest Conductor, Elts also conducts a programme of Dvořák, Bartók and Kodály in the Orchestra’s new CL@SIX series at St Cuthbert’s Parish Church in Edinburgh, the premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Concerto for bass/bass guitar in concerts in Edinburgh and Glasgow in November, and a musical portrait of Schubert in St Andrews, Ayr, Glasgow and Edinburgh in March. He brings the Season to a close with performances of Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ and Haydn’s Nelson Mass in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Director’s Notes
Celebrating the conducting talent of four great pianists, Director’s Notes is a series in which pianists take on the dual role of soloist/director. Piotr Anderszewski, Stephen Kovacevich and Christian Zacharias make welcome returns whilst Olli Mustonen, making his debut with the Orchestra, opens the series with a programme of Prokofiev, Beethoven and Mozart. The rapport between the Orchestra and Christian Zacharias was demonstrated in their memorable Mozart Piano Concertos cycle at the 2000 Edinburgh International Festival. Similarly, Stephen Kovacevich’s Beethoven series was a highlight of the SCO’s 2003 Season and the Orchestra’s recent Mozart CD release and performances with Piotr Anderszewski have been met with considerable acclaim.
Adventurer Series
Continuing to showcase new work by today’s composers alongside masterpieces of the 20th century, the SCO’s 2007/08 Adventurer series premieres work by four living British composers – Sally Beamish, Judith Weir, Oliver Knussen and Mark-Anthony Turnage. Knussen’s Requiem is performed in Scotland for the first time alongside Judith Weir’s new work, Winter Song. Turnage’s Concerto for bass/bass guitar receives its UK premiere, performed by legendary American bassist John Patitucci, and Sally Beamish’s new concerto is written for the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, who have become regular SCO guests over the last couple of years. Adventurer concerts in the 2007/08 Season will have a single ticket price of £12 (£9 senior citizens / £5 students).
CL@SIX
Comprising five early evening concerts in St Cuthbert’s Parish Church, off Lothian Road in Edinburgh, the new CL@SIX series aims to make classical music more accessible to rush hour commuters and families. Each concert starts at 6pm and lasts no more than one hour – two of the concerts feature the full forces of the Orchestra and there are also performances showcasing SCO Strings, the SCO Wind Ensemble and the award-winning SCO Chorus. The series commences with Mozart’s Serenade for thirteen wind instruments ‘Gran Partita’ conducted by Thierry Fischer. Olari Elts conducts Invitation to the Dance featuring music by Dvořák, Bartók and Kodály. The series continues with an early Christmas treat as Anthony Marwood directs the SCO Strings in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Nicholas Kraemer leads a journey through three ‘city’ symphonies by Mozart and Haydn. Finally, singing works by Bach and Górecki, the SCO Chorus brings the series to a close in February. CL@SIX concerts will have a single ticket price of £12 (£9 senior citizens / £5 students).
Chamber Concert Series
The SCO’s Chamber Concert series continues in Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall on Sunday afternoons. Highlights include Messiaen’s epic work Quartet for the End of Time, performed by SCO Principals with an introductory talk by Messiaen expert and pianist, Peter Hill. Other highlights include a performance by Christian Zacharias of Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor with SCO Principals. Chamber concerts in the 2007/08 Season will have a single ticket price of £12 (£9 senior citizens / £5 students).
Viennese New Year
Conductor Nicholas McGegan is joined by mezzo soprano Karen Cargill to welcome in 2008 in Edinburgh, Ayr and Perth with a selection of waltzes and polkas from the Strauss family. The first of these - at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on New Year’s Day - is, for the third year, in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Other Season Highlights
The SCO’s Conductor Laureate, and expert Mozartian, Sir Charles Mackerras is reunited with the Orchestra for an all-Mozart programme which includes the composer’s religious motet Exultate, Jubilate, the Dominican Vespers and Symphony No 38 ‘Prague’.
Meanwhile, Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen conducts young pianist Polina Leschenko in a romantic programme featuring Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1, and returns later in the Season to conduct Henning Kraggerud in Brahms’ Violin Concerto.
For further information, photographs or review tickets, please contact Lauren Johnston-Smith on 0131 478 8338 or Sheena Macrae on 0131 478 8340, or email laurenjs@sco.org.uk or sheena.macrae@sco.org.uk
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