London Symphony Orchestra Continues Nielsen Symphony Cycle with Sir Colin Davis

By -
The London Symphony Orchestra and LSO President Sir Colin Davis continue their cycle of Nielsen symphonies with performances of the Symphony No. 2 on 4 & 6 December and Symphony No. 3 on 11 & 13 December. The four movements of Nielsen’s Symphony No. 2 were inspired by a caricature of ‘The Four Temperaments’ which the composer came across in a country pub; Choleric, Phlegmatic, Melancholic and Sanguine. Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3, ‘Espansiva’, refers to ‘the outward growth of the mind’s scope’ and features influences from Nordic folk music.

In addition to the Nielsen cycle, Mitsuko Uchida completes her survey of Beethoven’s piano concertos with the Piano Concerto No. 4 on 4 & 6 December and Piano Concerto No. 5 (‘Emperor’) on 11 & 13 December. Beethoven was the soloist at the premiere of his Fourth Piano Concerto, his last public concert before deafness prevented him from performing. Beethoven’s fifth and final concerto was first performed in 1811, and was nicknamed the ‘Emperor’ by composer Johann Baptist Cramer for its heroic themes.

The programmes include Haydn’s Symphonies No. 93 & No. 98, two of the twelve ‘London’ symphonies Haydn wrote during his first visit to the city.

Sunday 4 & Tuesday 6 December 2011 7.30pm, Barbican Hall
HAYDN Symphony No 98
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 4
NIELSEN Symphony No 2 ('The Four Temperaments')
Sir Colin Davis conductor
Mitsuko Uchida piano
London Symphony Orchestra

Sunday 11 & Tuesday 13 December 2011 7.30pm, Barbican Hall
HAYDN Symphony No 93
NIELSEN Symphony No 3 ('Sinfonia Espansiva')
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 5 ('Emperor')
Sir Colin Davis conductor
Mitsuko Uchida piano
Lucy Hall soprano
Marcus Farnsworth baritone
London Symphony Orchestra

Tickets: £10 £15 £19.50 £27 £35
Secure online booking at lso.co.uk (booking fee)
Box office: 020 7638 8891 open Mon-Sat 10am – 8pm, Sun 11am-8pm (booking fee)
In person at the Advance Box Office in the Barbican centre (no booking fee)
(Mon-Sat 10am – 9pm; Sun 12pm – 9pm)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more