Wednesday 4 September 2013

Choral at Cadogan 2013-14

Choral at Cadogan 2013-2014
3 September saw the launch of the the sixth Choral at Cadogan series at the Cadogan Hall. This year there are eight concerts in the series, the biggest ever, under the artistic directorship of Peter Philips. At the preview event guests were treated to a performance by Philips and the Tallis Scholars, with Taverner's Leroy Kyrie, Tallis's early four-part Sancte Deus and Arvo Part's fascinating Tribute to Caesar written in 1997, which saw the singers performing divided into smaller groupes. Guest also heard an introduction to the whole series by Philips. 

Also present in the audience were members of Stile Antico, who will be performing on 19 November, and John Rutter who will be directing his Cambridge Singers on 14 March 2014. Other concerts in the series include performances from the Temple Choir (9 December), Vox Luminis (12 February 2014), the Sixteen (10 April 2014), the BBC Singers and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (16 April 2014) and of course the Tallis Scholars who open and close the series (15 October 2013, 14 May 2014).

In his introduction Peter Philips spoke about how choral singing needs as much skill as performing opera, and the varied concerts in the series certainly test the singers skill. The Tallis Scholars open the series (15/10) with a concert celebrating Peter Philips 60th birthday, with music by Taverner, White, Byrd and Tallis including Tallis's mammoth Gaude glorios which Philips described as being as long as a Haydn symphony. Straight after the concert the Tallis Scholars embark for a tour of New Zealand where they will be performing in the Cardboard Cathedral. Stile Antico in their concert The Phoenix Rising (19/11) will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Carnegie UK Trust by performing works from the trust's seminal Tudor Church Music edition with music by Byrd, Tallis, Morley, Gibbons, Weelkes and Taverner including Byrd's Mass for Five Voices.

Christmas sees the Temple Church Choir, under their new director Roger Sayer, performing Britten's A Ceremony of Carols plus Christmas music and a selection of Ave Marias by Parsons, Arvo Part, Bruckner and Elgar. (9/12). A great treat in February 2014, the Gramophone Award winning Belgian vocal group Vox Luminis directed by Lionel Meunier bring a programme of Italian baroque music centred round Scarlatti's Stabat Mater. (12/2/2014)

John Rutter brings his Cambridge Singers (14/3/2014) in a programme which will include some Rutter favourites. The Sixteen, director Harry Christophers, bring their Immortal Legacy programme which mixes music by Tallis, Morley, Gibbons, Sheppard and Byrd with James MacMillan, Britten and Tippett. (10/4/2014)

The BBC Singers are joined by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under their director Kyrill Karabits for a performance of CPE Bach's St John Passion, probably the first performance of the work since 1784 as it was only re-discovered a few years ago in a Ukrainian library and the performers will be using a new edition of the work by Karabits himself. (16/4/2014) The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and celebrates the 300th anniversary of CPE Bach's birth.

Finally the Tallis Scholars and Peter Philips round the series of with a programme commemorating those who lost their lives in the First World War, War and Peace, mixing music by Josquin, Geuerrero, Mouton, Lobo, Civtoria and Palestrina with Arvo Part and Sir John Tavener. The War includes Lhomme arme and Guerrero's Missa de la batalla escoutex whilst the Peace includes a selection of music written for the burial service.

If you book for a number of concerts in the series, then there are generous discounts. Further information from the Cadogan Hall website.

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