POULENC
La Dame de Monte Carlo (7’)
Toréador (2’)
Corcardes (6’)
DUREY Trois Chansons Basques (4’)
AURIC Huit Poèmes de Jean Cocteau (19’)
MILHAUD Trois Poèmes de Jean Cocteau Op.59 (3’)
POULENC La Voix Humaine (40’) [semi-staged]
A voice. A telephone. A fractured love affair.
Claire Booth is joined by GRAMMY-winning pianist Christopher Glynn to present an immersive staging of Poulenc’s searing operatic melodrama. Take a seat at the heart of the action to absorb this most intimate operatic setting of Jean Cocteau’s ground-breaking play, eavesdropping on a life in the balance.
Opening with a bravura tour through a variety of songs influenced by Cocteau’s poetry, you are invited to a recital which becomes an opera like no other.
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“Booth’s expressiveness [is] so intense, the colours of the voice so beautiful… [she] makes it wholly unforgettable.”
The Guardian
KEVIN VOLANS Asanga (7’)
DAVID HORNE Pulse (12’)
ANDY AKIHO Spiel (7’)
TOSHIO HOSOKAWA Reminiscence (8’)
BRYCE DESSNER Tromp Miniature (7’)
ROLF WALLIN Realismos Magicos (10’)
ANDY AKIHO Aluminous (8’)
ROBERT HONSTEIN Continuous Interior (18’)
SAM ADAMS Sundial (16’)
Virtuoso percussionist Colin Currie, described by Steve Reich as “one of the greatest musicians in the world today” and by Gramophone as “at the summit of percussion performance”, is joined by members of Ensemble 360 for this concert of life-affirming music for percussion and string quartet. Highlights include ‘Tromp Miniature’, a hypnotic, meditative marimba solo by GRAMMY-winning composer Bryce Dessner (also guitarist with rock band, The National), and Andy Akiho’s ‘Aluminous’, in which minimalist percussion loops are underscored by ravishingly expressive strings.
Part of our Percussion, Pattern & Primes weekend.
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“A five-star percussive performance… Almost as much drama and tension came from seeing what was happening on stage as from the sounds. ”
The Times
What role do magic squares, fractals and probability theory play in music composition? How does pattern underpin a Bach fugue? And why is the mathematics of Pythagoras key to understanding music’s emotional power? Professor Sarah Hart, Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London, and Gresham Professor of Geometry, answers these questions and more as she explores the connections between music and mathematics. Author of ‘Once Upon a Prime’, she is sure to shine an entertaining light onto the intriguing links between numbers and notes.
Part of our Percussion, Pattern & Primes weekend.
RAVEL (arr. Strivens) Shéhérazade (20’)
PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf (30’)
For this ‘Relaxed’ concert of storytelling music featuring Prokofiev’s beloved musical folk story, doors will be left open, lights raised, a break-out space provided, and there will be less emphasis on the audience being quiet during the performance.
People with an Autism Spectrum, sensory or communication disorder or learning disability, those with age-related impairments and parents/carers with babies are all especially welcome.
DEBUSSY Danse Sacrée et Profane (10’)
RAVEL (arr. Strivens) Shéhérazade (20’)
DEBUSSY Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp (16’)
PROKOFIEV ‘Peter and the Wolf’ (30’)
Timeless tales of far-off adventure and daring triumphs have long inspired composers to bring stories to life through music.
Prokofiev’s beloved symphonic tale, ‘Peter and the Wolf’, delights audiences of all ages, with its story of the fearless Peter and his encounter with a ferocious wolf, narrated here by storyteller and author Nicholas Jubber.
Ravel’s ‘Shéhérazade’ (in an intimate chamber arrangement) evocatively conjures an ancient wonderland of fairytales and lovers through captivating melodies.
Music for harp and strings by Debussy completes this charming programme.
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Three of the finest folk musicians working today perform a new suite of tunes, crafted from fragments of birdsong recorded on woodland walks by the brilliant fiddle player and composer Miranda Rutter.
Performed with “concertina wizard” (The Guardian) Rob Harbron and “the fiddler with the golden ear” (BBC Radio 3) Sam Sweeney, as well as field recordings of this most elemental form of music, it is a love-song to avian beauty and a timely reminder of the struggles faced by migrating birds.
“I follow in a long line of musicians from prehistory who’ve been inspired by birdsong – it being such an enchanting wonder of the world! For me, listening deeper, discovering intricacies and learning to recognise birds by their song has made me care even more about birds and their habitat. As so many species are struggling in this rapidly changing, human-dominated world, I hope that my contribution can help spark intrigue, spread awareness and in turn, generate action to turn the tide of fortune for these awe-inspiring creatures.”
Miranda Rutter
“Bird Tunes is, very simply, utterly beautiful. A glorious bringing together of field recordings, birdsong and three incredible musicians. Nature and music in perfect harmony.”
Tradfolk
Programme includes music by:
BEETHOVEN, CHERUBINI, CZERNY, HAYDN, FANNY HENSEL-MENDELSSOHN, HUMMEL, MAYER, FELIX MENDELSSOHN, REICHER & RIES
Our Visiting Quartet presents music by Beethoven set amongst composers who influenced or were in close contact with the musical genius.
Dr Katy Hamilton, one of the most sought-after speakers and writers on music, introduces this evening’s music. Her insights will help to bring Beethoven’s creative world vividly to life through the selection of personal discoveries, hidden gems and celebrated musical moments, interspersed with historical detail and storytelling.
This promises to be a captivating concert by one of the most rigorous and approachable quartets playing today, who have already been taken to heart by Sheffield audiences.
Tickets: £17 / £10 / £5
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KURTÁG Kafka Fragments (60’)
Comprising 40 short excerpts from Kafka’s writings, diaries, and letters – often heartfelt and confessional – Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments is a work of sparse, lyrical beauty. Scored for violin and soprano, this wide-ranging work encapsulates the scale of the human experience, from dreamlike surrealism to moments of sardonic humour and lyrical beauty.
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“[Booth’s] voice blazes with energy and subsides in exhausted despair. It’s a real tour de force. She has done nothing finer.”
The Guardian
BRITTEN Phantasy Quartet (15’)
BRITTEN / PURCELL She Loves and She Confesses Too (2’)
BRITTEN / PURCELL Oh Solitude (6’)
BRITTEN / PURCELL Bess of Bedlam (4’)
MATTHEWS Seascapes (13’)
KNUSSEN Whitman Settings – When I heard the learn’d Astronomer (3’)
KNUSSEN Whitman Settings – A Noiseless patient Spider (3’)
KNUSSEN Whitman Settings – The Dalliance of the Eagles (2’)
KNUSSEN Whitman Settings – The Voice of the Rain (3’)
WALTON Piano Quartet (30’)
A celebration of British song from one of its finest exponents. Praised for her “radiant, rapturous, wonderfully nuanced performances” (The Scotsman), Claire Booth performs a selection of her best-loved music, from Britten’s stirring reimagining of Purcell songs to Colin Matthews’ evocative seascapes in celebration of the prolific composer’s 80th birthday.
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MENDELSSOHN Song without Words Op.109 (4′)
MENDELSSOHN Songs without Words Op.62 No.6 ‘Spring Song’ (3′)
MENDELSSOHN Songs without Words Op.19b No.6 ‘Venetian Gondola Song’ (3′)
RACHMANINOV Vocalise from 14 Romances Op.34 No.14 (5′)
BRAHMS Horn Trio in E flat Op.40 (30′)
KNUSSEN Songs without Voices (11′)
DOHNÁNYI Sextet Op.37 (30′)
Mendelssohn’s exquisite ‘Songs Without Words’ – richly lyrical and profoundly heartfelt miniatures – are performed alongside glittering masterpieces of the Romantic era that showcase the vocal influence on instrumental music.
Brahms’s uniquely expressive Horn Trio is at times muted and intimate, at others soaring and declamatory; Rachmaninov’s ‘Vocalise’ brings poignancy; and Dohnányi’s magnificent Sextet is a passionate, rhapsodic piece full of ardent fervour and lyrical intensity.
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PHILLIPS Henny Penny (20’)
ASSORTED Song Cycle (30’)
A world-first live staging of new opera and song made for – and by – curious young minds.
‘Henny Penny’ is a charming operatic adaptation of the folk tale about a young chicken who believes the sky is falling when an acorn lands on its head.
This children’s opera by the acclaimed composer Julian Phillips (Glyndebourne Opera’s first ever Composer-in-Residence) will be performed live for the very first time, featuring a cast including a choir of Sheffield primary children.
Original songs created as part of a new Music in the Round composition project with children in Sheffield schools will also be given their public premieres.
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Image: © Positive Note Productions
“It was incredible to see professionals and children perform together… To experience opera in such an accessible way [was] really amazing, innovative and inspiring. I found it incredibly moving.”
Audience feedback from ‘The Monster in the Maze’
