Season 08/09

April 2008

Scottish Chamber Orchestra announces 2008/09 Season

Highlights include:

• Mendelssohn 200 – a celebration of the music of Mendelssohn marking the bi-centenary of his birth
• Indian and Western classical music traditions meet in Samagam  - a collaboration with revered sarod player Amjad Ali Khan
• CL@SIX – successful series of hour-long early evening concerts in Edinburgh city centre continues
• Premieres of works by Karin Rehnqvist, Thea Musgrave, Joseph Swensen and Haflidi Hallgrímsson in four-concert Adventurer series
• Olari Elts enters second year in post as Principal Guest Conductor
• Piotr Anderszewski concerts and tour
• SCO Season debuts by Eivind Aadland, Sergio Tiempo, Matthew Halls, Jack Liebeck, Kate Royal, Nicholas Angelich, Jonathan Lemalu, Maria Luigia Borsi and Ilya Gringolts.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra today announced details of its 2008/09 Season of concerts throughout Scotland between October 2008 and May 2009, including performances in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, St Andrews, Inverness, Perth, Dumfries and Ayr.

Opening Concert – Beethoven’s Emperor
The Season opens with concerts in Edinburgh (Greyfriars Kirk, 8 & 9 October), Glasgow (City Halls, 10 October) and Aberdeen (Music Hall, 11 October).  The popular Finnish conductor John Storgårds is joined by pianist Simon Trpčeski for Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto in a programme which also includes Schumann’s Symphony No 3 ‘Rhenish’ and Beethoven’s Overture, Consecration of the House. 

Olari Elts – Principal Guest Conductor
Estonian conductor Olari Elts enters his second year in post as Principal Guest Conductor with a wide range of programmes which reflect his versatility and his commitment to new music.  In his first visit of the 2008/09 Season he conducts a new choral work by composer Karin Rehnqvist, who has a close affinity with the SCO following her four-year joint residency with both the Scottish and Swedish Chamber Orchestras.  Her new piece, also commissioned by both Orchestras, is a kind of requiem which draws on the folk music of her native Sweden.  In December, Elts joins Isabelle Faust in Dvořák’s Violin Concerto and, early in 2009, leads two concerts in the Orchestra’s Mendelssohn celebration.  His choral expertise comes to the fore again for the Season’s Closing Concert with performances of Haydn’s oratorio The Seasons.

Mendelssohn 200
The SCO celebrates the bi-centenary of the birth of the great early Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) through January and February 2009.  Mendelssohn 200 showcases his own music, performed with that of composers who inspired him and who he himself inspired.  Five concerts, presented in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, include performances of Symphonies No 4 ‘Italian’ and No 5 ‘Reformation’, the Overture from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Fair Melusine and the great choral spectacular, Elijah, as well as music by Schumann, Mozart, Schubert, Respighi, Berlioz, Ravel and Saint-Saëns.  Two of the concerts are conducted by the feted young Canadian conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who was a huge hit in his SCO debut in April 2007, including the performance of Elijah on 29th January which will mark the Orchestra’s return to Edinburgh’s Usher Hall following its closure for refurbishment.

In Edinburgh, the Mendelssohn 200 series also includes performances of the ‘Scottish’ Symphony and The Hebrides Overture in a CL@SIX concert at 6pm at St Cuthbert’s Parish Church (13 January 2009), and of Mendelssohn’s Octet in a Sunday afternoon Chamber Concert (1 February 2009).

Adventurer Series
Continuing to showcase new work by some of today’s finest composers, the SCO’s 2008/09 Adventurer series premieres works from around the globe.  Karin Rehnqvist’s new choral work opens the series along with the Scottish premiere of Australian Brett Dean’s Pastoral Symphony and works by Japanese composer, Toru Takemitsu.  In a programme boasting two Scottish premieres, the Orchestra celebrates the 80th birthday of Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave with Points of View and is joined by Jack Liebeck for Magnus Lindberg’s Violin Concerto.  SCO Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen conducts the world premiere of his own Symphony for horn and orchestra ‘The Fire and the Rose’, inspired by TS Eliot’s Four Quartets and written for soloist Radovan Vlatković.  The final concert in the series includes the world premiere of a concerto by Icelandic composer, and former SCO Principal Cello, Haflidi Hallgrímsson.  Concerto Op 42 ‘Sonnambulo’ for double bass and orchestra was composed for SCO Principal Bass Nicholas Bayley. 

Samagam
The SCO also gives the world premiere of Samagam.  This exciting new work - the culmination of a unique SCO project – has been written by internationally renowned sarod player, Amjad Ali Khan, notated / orchestrated by conductor David Murphy and is being prepared in collaboration with the SCO LAB players (an experimental research project involving eight SCO musicians).   Samagam is based on ragas for the different seasons of the year, and explores the common roots of the music of India and the West.   The work will be performed in a string orchestra version at the St Magnus Festival and the City of London Festival in June, with the first full orchestra performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh in November as part of the 2008/09 Season.

CL@SIX
The Orchestra’s successful CL@SIX series continues into its second year with four early evening concerts in St Cuthbert’s Parish Church, off Lothian Road in Edinburgh. 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 and the SCO Wind Ensemble. The series starts with a concert of Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence by SCO Strings, directed by Orchestra Leader Christopher George. Conductor Matthew Halls makes his SCO debut conducting an all-Handel programme, including the Water Music: Suite No 1 in F and the Music for the Royal Fireworks.   The SCO Wind Ensemble comes together with Michael Collins – a renowned clarinettist increasingly in demand in his parallel career as director – for an all-Strauss programme, and the series is brought to a close with a contribution to the Mendelssohn 200 celebrations – Mendelssohn’s Scotland. 

Chamber Concert Series
The SCO’s Chamber Concert series continues with three concerts in Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall on Sunday afternoons.  Highlights include performances of Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet with pianist Artur Pizarro, Mendelssohn’s Octet, Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet and Dohnányi’s Sextet, in which horn player Radovan Vlatković is joined by SCO Principals.

Viennese New Year
Former SCO Leader Alexander Janiczek welcomes in 2009 in Edinburgh, Ayr and Dumfries with a selection of traditional waltzes from the Strauss family as well as works by other Viennese greats, including Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.  The concert at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on New Year’s Day is, for the fourth consecutive year, in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.                                                                                                          
Piotr Anderszewski
The Orchestra’s relationship with Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski is furthered with concerts of Mozart and Bach concertos in March, which are followed by a European tour including performances in Budapest and Istanbul.

Other Season Highlights
Conductor Laureate Sir Charles Mackerras follows the success of the SCO/Linn Records CD of Mozart’s last four symphonies with performances in Perth and Glasgow of Symphonies No 31 ‘Paris’ and No 36 ‘Linz’, and is joined by Artur Pizarro for Beethoven’s Piano Concertos No 3 (in Perth) and No 4 (in Glasgow).  Following these concerts the Orchestra, Mackerras and Pizarro will record the Beethoven concertos for release on Linn Records.

As well as conducting his own new symphony in the Adventurer series, Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen directs performances of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden in the Mahler arrangement for full string orchestra, and is joined by Ilya Gringolts for Schumann’s Violin Concerto.  The Orchestra also welcomes back regular guest conductors Thierry Fischer, Frans Brüggen, Andrew Manze, Richard Egarr, Louis Langrée and Andrew Litton, and soloists Christian Zacharias, Truls Mørk, Paul Lewis and James Ehnes.

-ENDS-                                  

For further information, photographs or review tickets, please contact Catherine Gauld on 0131 478 8338 or Sheena Macrae on 0131 478 8340, or email catherine.gauld@sco.org.uk or sheena.macrae@sco.org.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is internationally recognised for its innovative approach to music-making and programme planning. Formed in 1974 with a commitment to serve the Scottish community, it is also one of Scotland’s foremost cultural ambassadors. The Orchestra performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland, and appears regularly at the Edinburgh, St Magnus and Aldeburgh Festivals and the BBC Proms. Its busy international touring schedule has recently included Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA.  During 2008, the Orchestra gives a 10-date tour in Germany and also visits Vienna, Bregenz, Brussels and London’s Barbican Centre.  The Orchestra’s international touring receives support from the Scottish Government.
Estonian conductor Olari Elts took up the position of Principal Guest Conductor this Season. He conducts four concert weeks in the 2007/08 Season, including the season finale –‘Nelson and Napoleon’.
The SCO’s long-standing relationship with Conductor Laureate Sir Charles Mackerras has resulted in many exceptional performances and recordings, particularly at the Edinburgh International Festival where they established an enviable reputation for concert performances of opera. Their recordings together include seven Mozart operas, a Grammy-nominated set of Brahms’ Symphonies, the full cycle of Beethoven Symphonies (with the Philharmonia Orchestra), four CDs of Mozart Piano Concertos with Alfred Brendel, Mozart’s Requiem and a disc of Kodály and Bartók for Linn Records.  The Orchestra’s latest recording with Sir Charles – a double-disc featuring Mozart’s last four symphonies – was released on Linn Records in February 2008.
Following nine successful years as Principal Conductor, Joseph Swensen became the Orchestra’s Conductor Emeritus in 2005. Swensen has developed a unique relationship with the SCO as soloist as well as conductor and he and the SCO have released five CDs together through the Orchestra’s partnership with Linn Records. Other conductors who appear regularly with the SCO include Andrew Manze, Frans Brüggen, John Storgårds, Thierry Fischer, Louis Langrée, Andrew Litton and Nicholas McGegan and regular soloist/directors include Christian Zacharias and Piotr Anderszewski.
The Orchestra enjoys close relationships with many leading composers and has commissioned more than a hundred new works, including pieces by Composer Laureate Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Judith Weir, Sally Beamish, Karin Rehnqvist, Edward Harper, James MacMillan, Haflidi Hallgrímsson, Einojuhani Rautavaara and Stuart MacRae.
The Orchestra plays a prominent role in the Edinburgh Festival. In 2005, it was awarded a Bank of Scotland Archangel by The Herald in recognition of its sustained quality contribution to the Festival.
The SCO has led the way in music education with a unique programme of projects. SCO Education provides workshops for children and adults across Scotland and has attracted interest and invitations from overseas.
The Orchestra broadcasts regularly and has a discography now exceeding 140 recordings available by calling 0845 270 1812 or online at theshop.sco.org.uk.
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra receives funding from the Scottish Government.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra, 4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB
Tel 0131 557 6800, Fax 0131 557 6933, email info@sco.org.uk, web www.sco.org.uk