Friday 25 July 2014

Britten Sinfonia new season

James MacMillan conducting the Britten Sinfonia in rehearsal
James MacMillan conducting
the Britten Sinfonia in rehearsal
Britten Sinfonia's 2014/15 season at the Barbican very much celebrates contemporary composers, with premieres of works by John Tavener, John Woolrich, James MacMillan and Nico Muhly.

The season opens with something of a coup. The world premiere of John Tavener's last major concert work, Flood of Beauty (Saundarya Lahari). Based on a Sanskrit poem it celebrates God in the feminine aspect. as beauty. Martyn Brabbins conducts (28/9). Next day, at Milton Court Concert Hall, Nicholas Daniel is the soloists in a programme of Mozart, Lutowlawski, Tavener and Kurtag arr. Thomas Ades (28/9).

On 20 November the group celebrate's composer John Woolrich's 60th birthday. They are joined by soprano Sophie Bevan, violinist Thomas Gould, violist Clare Finnimore and conducted by Duncan Ward in a programme of Purcell, Wolf, Stravinsky, Mozart and of course Woolrich, including the London premiere of his Violin Concerto (20/11). Stephen Cleobury conducts soloists Lucy Crowe, Kitty Whately, James Lain, Ben Johnson and Ashley Riches in a programme which includes Bach's Magnificat, plus music by Bach, Poulenc and Respighi (6/12).

Further ahead, Sarah Connolly joins the Britten Sinfonia for Copland's Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson (20/1/2015), Violinist Thomas Gould directs the group in Dmitry Sitkovetsky's arrangement of Bach's Goldberg Variations (20/3/2015). Then, in another coup they give the London premiere James MacMillan's St Luke Passion with the composer conducting (5/4/2015). Soprano Barbara Hannigan directs a programme of Stravinsky and Mozart (6/5), and Strauss (Richard and Johann), Berg, Schoenberg, Chausson and Mahler (7/5). The season concludes with another premiere, Nico Muhly's Sentences. Muhly conducts, with soloists Iestyn Davies and Lawrence Power in a programme which also includes Britten's Lachrymae, Dowland and Vivaldi. (6/6).

No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts this month