Scottish Chamber Orchestra Pays Tribute to Conductor Laureate Sir Charles MacKerras

By -

Following the death of Sir Charles Mackerras, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra will dedicate the Opening Concerts of its 2010/11 Season – concert performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni – to the memory of the Orchestra’s beloved and venerable Conductor Laureate.

The performances – at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on Thursday 7 October and Glasgow’s City Halls on Friday 8 October – will be conducted by the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati, and feature a world-class line-up of soloists including Florian Boesch, Maximilian Schmitt and Kate Royal. Sir Charles and the SCO were internationally renowned for their performances and recordings of Mozart’s music, including CD releases of seven Mozart operas and the recent multi-award winning disc of the composer’s last four symphonies. Don Giovanni was of particular significance to Sir Charles: in 1991 he conducted a new production of the opera at the re-opening of the Estates Theatre in Prague, scene of the work’s premiere, to mark the bi-centenary of Mozart’s death.

Roy McEwan, Managing Director of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, said: “This will be the SCO’s first season without Sir Charles, and the opening concerts are a perfect opportunity for us to pay tribute to his life and career. We are particularly delighted that the Orchestra and Chorus along with our Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati will celebrate the many years of music–making we shared with Sir Charles through these performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which – following its performance at the 1995 Edinburgh International Festival – was one of the finest opera recordings we made together.”

Handel’s Messiah (25 & 26 November 2010)
Season Closing Concert – Mozart’s Requiem (13 & 14 May 2011)

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 &quo
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

The Art of String Quartets by Brian Ferneyhough

By -
Image
When an artist sets paint to canvas, there are brush strokes used for different effects. Sometimes those strokes are subtle, imperceptible; they produce works of art like the Mona Lisa . Other times the very obvious nature of the stroke is the art, as in works by Van Gogh. With some composers of music, the notes on the page are their craft. How those notes translate into an aural experience is what defines some composers as great artists. Brian Ferneyhough has a masterful command of the techniques of putting notes on the page. These techniques are sometimes so subtle, even though written in black and white, they escape detection. Some of what he attempts with his music is just that, to escape detection, to bury the framework, diverting the ear away from the structure, so only the music is heard . The subtlety is so fine it is almost imperceptible. Even though he studied at several institutions, he is considered self-taught, studying scores from Boule
Read more