Classical Season Guide 1516

Transcription

Classical Season Guide 1516
Classical Season
2015/16
L ars Vogt
Music Director
in association with
Welcome to Sage Gateshead’s 2015/16 Classical
Season With Royal Northern Sinfonia
Make the most of your
journey and save
Sage Gateshead’s Classical Season packages
are a great way to enjoy classical music. You can
select your favourite Hall One concerts and sort
your classical experience for the rest of the year.
In addition, you will also enjoy:
A choice of payment options
including a six month payment plan
Free exchanges within the 2015/16
season including seat exchanges
Special offers and promotions
5-8 concerts - save 10%
9-12 concerts - save 15%
13-19 concerts - save 20%
20+ concerts - save 25%
Look out for the P in the listings to create
your package.
Priority booking period
for the 2016/17 season
Key to Concert Series
Early
Encounters
E
M
Reclaiming
Mozart
S
Sibelius
N
Musical North
P
Package Concert
BOOK NOW
To take up these offers contact Ticket Office on 0191 443 4661 or book online
at sagegateshead.com. Tickets go on general sale Thursday 21 May 2015.
kindly supported by
Here’s one for the classically curious...
Tickets for Under 30s
Follow these three steps
for an austerity-dodging
arts fix.
Step 1: Get your Bar 5 ticket for a fiver
from our Ticket Office for one of the
concerts listed
Step 2: Enjoy an evening of music
performed by Britain’s leading chamber
orchestra Royal Northern Sinfonia
Step 3: Present your ticket at the
bar and sip on a FREE tasty bottle of
Heineken
For more information, visit
sagegateshead.com
Fri 18 Sep | 7.30pm | Hall One
Opening Concert
Thu 22 Oct | 7.30pm | Hall One
Lindberg’s Sibelius Three
Fri 30 Oct | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart’s Vienna
Fri 22 Jan | 7.30pm | Hall One
New Year, New Artists: The Virtuosi
Fri 5 Feb | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart Mass in C Minor
Thu 3 Mar | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart in Paris
Fri 25 Mar | 7pm | Hall One
Bach Mass in B Minor
Thu 5 May | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mustonen’s Sibelius Six
Fri 10 Jun | 7.30pm | Hall One
Finale: Vogt’s Sibelius Seven
Tickets subject to availability; proof of age may be requested on arrival.
MUSICAL JOURNEYS...
A very warm welcome to the musical adventure that is our 2015/16 classical season!
Lars Vogt and I take great pleasure in being your musical travel agents, having
composed itineraries that take in sailing along Norway’s dramatic fjords, crossing
Finland’s peaceful lakes, enjoying a carriage ride through the backstreets of
Salzburg and Vienna, and visiting Baroque palaces and churches in Germany. Each
trip is accompanied by the most talented musical guides we could find.
Join us for an unforgettable journey through
the classical landscape and let’s discover
many musical treasures along the way!
early
encounters
Musical
North
and the
SIBELIUs
Mozart
reclaiming
Thorben Dittes
Director, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Classical Music Programme
Lars
Vogt
“Conducting feels like flying, with the force
and energy of the music helping you to uplift
the musicians around you.”
Whenever I have worked with Royal
Northern Sinfonia, be it as pianist or
now more recently as conductor, there
has been an instant connection – our
mutual sense of curiosity and desire to
make music and go to the core of the
scores of the great masters to create
fantastic experiences. Now I am thrilled
to be the Music Director of this quite
unusual group of wonderful and highly
creative musicians, and together we
embark on a journey that will cover a
broad range of the music I love, and
that I know you will love too.
The classical world is celebrating the
150th anniversary of Finland’s most
prolific composer, Jean Sibelius, this
year and here in Gateshead is no
exception! I can’t wait to conduct
his incredible final symphony and
the outstanding Violin Concerto, with
my dear friend and internationally
acclaimed violinist Christian Tetzlaff.
There’s something electrifying about
discovering music that is new and lifechanging – whether it be a sensational
new artist or hearing a truly inspirational
work. This season, I will be welcoming
to the stage a host of young virtuosos
who I know will have a great impact on
their audiences in the decades to come.
I will also explore some of the greatest
Romantic works, from Grieg’s Piano
Concerto to Dvořák’s Cello Concerto,with
Christian’s sister, and fellow trio member,
Tanja Tetzlaff, one of the truly amazing
cellists of our time. I know clarinettist
Sharon Kam will dazzle you in Mozart’s
Clarinet Concerto!
This season has plenty for the musically
curious, and I can’t wait to be a part of it!
Lars Vogt
Music Director
L
ars Vogt first came to public
attention when he won
second prize at the 1990 Leeds
International Piano Competition.
During his prestigious career Lars has
performed with many of the world’s
great orchestras including the Royal
Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonic,
Vienna Philharmonic, London
Philharmonic, London Symphony, New
York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony,
NHK Symphony and Orchestre de Paris.
He has collaborated with prestigious
conductors including Sir Simon Rattle,
Mariss Jansons, Claudio Abbado and
Andris Nelsons. His special relationship
with the Berlin Philharmonic has
continued with regular collaborations
following his appointment as their first
ever ‘Pianist in Residence’ in 2003/4.
In Europe he performs concertos
with the Orchestre Philharmonique
de France, Vienna Symphony, Czech
Philharmonic and Salzburg Mozarteum
Orchestra, as well as the London
Philharmonic under Yannick NézetSéguin both in London and on tour in
Germany. In North America he appears
with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and
with Boston Symphony Orchestra
under their new Music Director
Andris Nelsons. He is a key soloist in
the Deutsche kammerphilharmonie
Bremen’s Brahms cycle conducted by
Paavo Järvi with performances of the
Brahms piano concertos at the Mostly
Mozart Festival in New York and the
Tanglewood and Lanaudière Festivals,
as well as in Tokyo’s Opera City Hall.
He returns to Japan at the end of the
season for concerts with the New Japan
Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniel
Harding.
Lars Vogt enjoys a high profile as a
chamber musician, and in June 1998 he
founded his own chamber festival in
the village of Heimbach near Cologne.
Known as ‘Spannungen’, the concerts
take place in an art-nouveau hydroelectric power station. Its huge success
has been marked by the release of ten
live recordings on EMI.
Lars Vogt is a passionate advocate of
making music an essential life force in
the community. In 2005 he established
a major educational programme
‘Rhapsody in School’ which brings his
colleagues to schools across Germany
and Austria, thereby connecting
children with inspiring world-class
musicians. Lars Vogt is also an
accomplished and enthusiastic teacher,
and in 2013 was appointed Professor
of Piano at the Hannover Conservatory
of Music, succeeding Karl-Heinz
Kämmerling, his former teacher and
close friend.
As an EMI recording artist Lars Vogt
made fifteen discs for the label,
including the Hindemith Kammermusik
No.2 with the Berlin Philharmonic/
Claudio Abbado and the Schumann,
Grieg and first two Beethoven
Concertos with the City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle,
who has described him as “one of
the most extraordinary musicians of
any age group that I have had the
fortune to be associated with”. Recent
recordings include solo Schubert for
CAvi-music and Mozart concertos with
the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra for
Oehms, a solo Liszt and Schumann
disc on the Berlin Classics label and
Mozart sonatas with Christian Tetzlaff
for Ondine.
Place of birth: Düren, Germany
Who is your orchestral hero/ine?
Carlos Kleiber, Simon Rattle
What would be your three desert island discs?
Strauss Four Last Songs (Jessye Norman), Bach cantatas (Ton Koopman), Mozart
(too hard to decide on anything… can I take the box of complete works?),
Rachmaninov Vespers
Do you play any other instruments?
I used to play the clarinet as a kid, not anymore…
What is your favourite concerto?
Too hard to decide. Maybe ultimately Mozart K595? But they are all so incredible!
Beethoven Four... Schumann… Brahms...
Reclaiming
A
madeus has got a lot to
answer for. Peter Shaffer’s
original play on Mozart’s
struggles and achievements, and
his relationship with Salieri – first
performed in 1979 – began as a
sensitive study of the nature of genius.
But by the time Miloš Forman got his
hands on it for his 1984 movie, it had
become a sensationalised soap opera
that depicted Mozart as a farting,
wisecracking, insolent bad boy, almost
unaware of his own genius. It brought
Mozart and his music to millions of
new listeners worldwide, and won
eight Oscars in the process – but it
also painted an exaggerated picture
of the composer that is difficult to
shake.
On the other hand, visit Prague,
Vienna or Salzburg and you’ll see the
Mozart tourist industry in full flow, with
the composer’s image on all manner
of merchandise. Mozart balls – or,
to give them their proper name,
Echte Salzburger Mozartkugel – are
a tempting confection wrapped in
colourful foil bearing Mozart’s image
that glint from the windows of sweet
shops in Salzburg. But they have
no connection with that city’s most
famous musical son.
There’s nothing wrong, of course, with
a bit of movie escapism or a tasty
chocolate treat. But it’s no wonder
we’re confused about one of the
world’s greatest musicians. We seem
to be trying to reconcile two different
Mozarts – ‘bad boy’ Mozart who
sticks two fingers up at authority, and
‘chocolate box’ Mozart who receives
his charming music as if through
divine inspiration.
The truth about Mozart, of course,
is far more complex. You can’t
escape the astonishing facts of his
early life and talents – he learnt the
harpsichord from the age of three,
began composing at five, had already
gained a reputation as a musical
prodigy by six, and had written his
first opera at 12. He wrote his First
Symphony (Sun 11 Oct) at the age
of eight, and by the age of 17 he’d
matured enough to write the stormy
Symphony No.25 (Fri 18 Sep), whose
rhythmic urgency and emotional
directness probe deeply into the
human heart.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
But with such remarkable early
achievements, it’s tempting to think
it all came easily. That’s far from
the truth. His sketches show that he
worked damned hard at crafting
and perfecting his music. And in
a work such as the Symphony No.31
‘Paris’ (Thu 3 Mar), for example, he
threw everything in his compositional
arsenal at his biggest, grandest,
most dramatic symphony to date,
calculated to make his 1778 visit to the
French capital unforgettable.
Elsewhere, other myths abound.
Mozart’s Requiem (Fri 10 Jun) has
attracted them like no other work:
commissioned by a mysterious
stranger, it ended up as the mass
for Mozart’s own death after he was
poisoned by arch-rival Salieri, leaving
the work unfinished. That last point is
true – what we hear is a completion
by Mozart’s pupil Süssmayr – but
it was a messenger from Count
Walsegg-Stuppach, an acquaintance
of Mozart, who asked him to write the
piece, and it’s enormously unlikely
that Salieri poisoned him. The Clarinet
Concerto (Sat 26 Sep) is the final
important work that Mozart managed
to complete before his death, and
it’s often dubbed ‘valedictory’ – but
it’s easy to think that when we know
he died just a couple of months after
writing it. Any sadness or nostalgia
in the work is more than offset by its
vigour and verve.
Even Mozart’s remarkable last three
symphonies are often thought to
be his message to posterity, but
they are nevertheless the work of a
professional, written to be performed
and to earn him money. The stormy
Symphony No.40 (Fri 20 May) might
seem to reflect the parlous financial
circumstances of Mozart’s final years,
but it was written at the same time as
the warm, humorous Symphony No.39
and the grand, imposing Symphony
No.41 ‘Jupiter’ (Sun 6 Dec) – hardly the
products of a worn-down composer.
And while we’re on Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’,
that symphony is often used as the
perfect example of Mozart’s music
being joyous and ‘easy to get’. Yet in
its time, it was considered difficult
and complex – as is the profusion of
melody and ambitious scale of his
Symphony No.33 ‘Prague’ (Fri 29 Apr).
Opinions on Mozart have always said
more about their own times than
they’ve said about him. He’s always
been admired, of course – not least
by fellow composers, many of whom
have taken inspiration from his music
in aspects of their own. Tchaikovsky
was a big fan, and his Mozartiana (Sun
24 Apr) is an affectionate reworking
of four lesser-known Mozart piano
works; French composer Jacques
Ibert’s Hommage à Mozart (Sun 11 Oct)
is a similarly affectionate, witty tribute
written to mark the 200th anniversary
of Mozart’s birth; and even Richard
Strauss’ Duet-Concertino for clarinet,
bassoon and strings (Sun 24 Apr) has
a Mozart-inspired Classical lyricism
and simplicity.
Behind ‘bad boy’ Mozart, ‘chocolate
box’ Mozart, and any other imagined
idea of the composer, though, lies
Mozart’s profound humanity. It’s
there in his evident affection for all
his opera characters, good, bad
or otherwise, and it’s there in his
touchingly sincere choral music –
including Exsultate, Jubilate (Fri 6
Nov) and the grand C Minor Mass (Fri
5 Feb). It’s there, too, in the witty
egalitarianism of his social music,
whether that’s the generous sharing
of the musical spotlight in his Quintet
for Piano and Wind, K452 (Thu 24 Sep)
or the joyful exchanges of his Concerto
for Two Pianos (Fri 3 Jun), written for
himself and his sister to perform. Most
of all, though, it’s there right across
his enormously sophisticated music
that draws on a huge variety of human
experience, yet makes it all sound
effortless. As Royal Northern Sinfonia’s
2015/16 season encourages us, it’s
time to leave behind ‘bad boy’ and
‘chocolate box’ Mozart, and to reclaim
him in all his complexity, diversity and
profound humanity.
Notes by David Kettle
Fri 18 Sep | 7.30pm | Hall One
Opening Concert
with Mozart Symphony No.25
Thu 24 Sep | 8pm | Hall Two
Lars Vogt Chamber
Sat 26 Sep | 7.30pm | Hall One
Classic FM: Mozart Meets
the North
Sun 11 Oct | 3pm | Hall One
My Mozart Matinee One
Fri 30 Oct | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart’s Vienna
Fri 6 Nov | 7.30pm | Hall One
Exsultate, Jubilate
Sun 6 Dec | 7.30pm | Hall One
Classic FM: Miloš
with Mozart Symphony No.41 ‘Jupiter’
Fri 5 Feb | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart Mass in C Minor
Wed 10 Feb | 8pm | Hall Two
RNS Up Close: Timothy Orpen
Thu 3 Mar | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart in Paris
Sun 24 Apr | 3pm | Hall One
My Mozart Matinee Two
Fri 29 Apr | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart in Prague
Fri 20 May | 7.30pm | Hall One
The ‘Great G Minor Symphony’
Fri 3 Jun | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart and his
Contemporaries
Fri 10 Jun | 7.30pm | Hall One
Finale: Vogt’s Sibelius Seven
with Mozart Requiem
SIBELIUs and the
Musical North
Jean Sibelius
J
ean Sibelius and Gustav Mahler,
those two giants of the lateRomantic symphony, did actually
meet. Just once, in Helsinki in 1907,
when Mahler was passing through to
conduct his own Fifth Symphony. They
didn’t think much of each other’s
music, it has to be said, but as people
they seemed to get on. Sibelius
later recalled a stroll they took to
discuss matters musical: ‘When our
conversation touched on the essence
of the symphony, I maintained that
I admired its strictness and the
profound logic that creates an inner
connection between all the motifs.
Mahler had a wholly opposite
opinion: “No, the symphony must
be like the world! It must contain
everything!”’
Mahler’s unapologetically expansive
symphonies more than live up to
this ambition. But that exchange
encapsulates not just starkly
contrasting views on symphonic
music, but also a wholesale collision
of two musical worlds – Mahler’s
Germanic world of musical tradition
stretching back to Beethoven and
Bach, and Sibelius’ fresh-thinking,
Nordic world, here determined to
distil music down to its expressive
essentials.
And it’s that free-spirited northern
approach to music that Royal
Northern Sinfonia sets out to explore
– including a complete survey of the
great Finnish composer’s remarkable
seven symphonies, alongside
provocative music by other northern
composers. Proud of their separation
from the world’s conventional centres,
they do things differently up north.
Ironically, Sibelius started off as an
ardent Germanophile. He studied
in Berlin and Vienna for three
years, and had a deep love for
Wagner, although he later called
that German composer’s music
“disgusting, pompous and vulgar”.
The compliment was returned, by
German theorist Theodore Adorno,
who icily wrote: “If Sibelius is good,
this invalidates the standards of
musical quality that have persisted
from Bach to Schoenberg.” It
didn’t help that Sibelius had rather
naively accepted the Goethe Medal
from Hitler’s Germany on his 70th
birthday in 1935, something that
made post-war German musicians
more than a little uncomfortable (the
Berlin Philharmonic, for example,
astonishingly didn’t play the Finn’s
Third Symphony until 2009).
Turning his back on his early love
of German music, Sibelius might at
one stage have focused his musical
creativity on a patriotic promotion
of traditional Finnish culture – in
the stirring Finlandia (Sun 22 Nov),
for example. But he soon looked
elsewhere for influences – eastwards
to Tchaikovsky, for example, in the
lush First Symphony (Sat 13 Feb) or
the glowing melodies of the Violin
Concerto (Fri 27 Nov).
It might be a cliché to say you can
hear the forests, lakes and chilly
expanses of his homeland in Sibelius’
music, but he hardly hid the fact in
works with titles such as Nightride
and Sunrise or Tapiola, inspired by
the great Nordic forest spirit. Nor in
the majestic final movement of his
Fifth Symphony (Sun 22 Nov), whose
unforgettable horn melody was
inspired by Sibelius watching the
flight of sixteen swans. “One of the
great experiences of my life!” He
wrote in his diary.
His Nordic nonconformity is also
there in his radical rethinking of
what a symphony can be: from the
concentration and wit of the Third
Symphony (Thu 22 Oct) to the austere
purity of the Sixth Symphony (Thu 5
May), he shrinks melodies down to
small fragments of tune, turned over
and over, only to erupt in huge surges
of brass. And while Mahler thought
nothing of putting his audience
through two hours of symphonic
music, Sibelius got more slimline. In
his final, Seventh Symphony (Fri 10 Jun),
Sibelius concentrates all his expressive
force into a single, intense, 20-minute
movement, in which every note
counts.
Danish composer Carl Nielsen trod a
similarly individual path in his rugged,
lyrical music, viewing his pieces
almost as theatrical offerings, with
individual instruments playing roles.
It’s something ably demonstrated in
his Flute Concerto (Fri 18 Mar), which
pairs its soloist with such unlikely
partners as bass trombone and
timpani. Edvard Grieg, like Sibelius,
looked homeward for inspiration: his
justly famous Piano Concerto (Fri 18
Sep) put Norway on the musical map
with its lively, folk-inspired melodies,
but although the equally famous
Morning from his Peer Gynt Suite (Sat
26 Sep) might seem to evoke glassy
fjords and ice-capped peaks, it was
actually written to describe a sunrise
in Morocco, where the anti-hero of
Ibsen’s play has been abandoned by
his friends. Even Sweden – in Alfvén’s
folksy, midsummer-inspired Swedish
Rhapsody (Fri 8 Apr) – gets a look-in.
directness, blinding contrasts and
theatricality are at the heart of his
powerful music, as displayed in the
hypnotic Insula Deserta (Fri 18 Sep).
Magnus Lindberg, one of the world’s
most performed contemporary
composers, has – like his compatriot
Sibelius – forged a distinctively
individual path, but here it’s with his
sensual, propulsively rhythmic music,
including his hugely virtuosic Clarinet
Quintet (Wed 13 Apr).
There was a time when Sibelius’ music
was considered the last, tired gasp of
Romanticism, but not any more. Now
we view him as modern through and
through, offering a distinctively lyrical,
searching alternative to the symphonic
mainstream. There’s a danger,
especially in this 150th anniversary
year, that the great Finn might
overshadow his Nordic colleagues, but
the richness of northern music, as well
as its bloody-minded individuality, still
offers so much to discover.
Notes by David Kettle
Fri 18 Sep | 7.30pm | Hall One
Opening Concert
Thu 22 Oct | 7.30pm | Hall One
Lindberg’s Sibelius Three
Sun 22 Nov | 3pm | Hall One
Classic FM: Venzago’s Sibelius
Five
Fri 27 Nov | 7.30pm | Hall One
Tetzlaff’s Sibelius
Erkki-Sven Tüür
Sat 13 Feb | 7.30pm | Hall One
Elder’s Sibelius One
This iconoclastic individualism
has continued with more recent
northern composers. Estonian Arvo
Pärt spent years struggling against
the Communist system with angry,
dissonant music before landing upon
his unmistakable ‘tintinnabuli’ style,
which seems to break music down
to the rawest of ingredients – a few
bare chords, a gentle twist of melody,
all ringing like bells. His passionate
Fratres and intensely moving Cantus
in memoriam Benjamin Britten (Wed
13 Apr) pack an enormous spiritual
punch through the simplest of means.
Pärt’s compatriot Erkki-Sven Tüür
couldn’t be more different: he used
to front a prog rock band, and raw
Thu 25 Feb | 9pm | Hall Two
Late Mix: New Music from
the North
Fri 18 Mar | 7.30pm | Hall One
Zehetmair’s Sibelius Four
Fri 8 Apr | 7.30pm | Hall One
Petrenko’s Sibelius Two
Wed 13 Apr | 9pm | Hall Two
Late Mix: Pärt and Tavener
Thu 5 May | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mustonen’s Sibelius Six
Fri 10 Jun | 7.30pm | Hall One
Finale: Vogt’s Sibelius Seven
Fri 9 Oct | 8pm | Hall Two
Avison Ensemble
Fri 20 Nov | 7.30pm | Hall Two
Dunedin Consort
Sat 19 Dec | 7pm | Hall One
Messiah
Fri 19 Feb | 9pm | Hall Two
OAE: the Night Shift
Fri 25 Mar | 7pm | Hall One
BACH Mass in B Minor
early
encounters
O
ne of the marvels of our Hall
One is the incredibly clear
sound, which provides a great
listening experience whatever the
forces are on stage, from a solo piano
to a full orchestra with chorus. An area
of classical music which particularly
benefits from this is the world of early
music, especially when performed on
period instruments or in a historically
informed style, where the difference
made by gut strings or Baroque bows
and phrasing really stands out when
it can be heard clearly. While we have
had visiting period ensembles at Sage
Gateshead before, this season I have
grouped the early music concerts
together under their own strand, Early
Encounters, and they form one of our
musical journeys.
As always, Royal Northern Sinfonia is at
the heart of our programmes, and their
annual performance of Handel’s Messiah
will this year be directed by Baroque
specialist Harry Bicket, Music Director
of the English Concert. Together with
an acclaimed quartet of soloists and
the Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia,
he will ensure a stylish and authentic
performance in December.
The Orchestra will be involved in a
second performance of Baroque choral
splendour in the form of Bach’s great
Mass in B Minor. Taking place on Good
Friday under the direction of choral
expert Paul McCreesh, this concert will
feature a great group of early music
soloists, and the massed forces of the
Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia and
Sage Gateshead’s regional youth choir,
Quay Voices. Bach, a devout Lutheran,
is especially renowned for his setting of
cantatas, mostly in German. This mass
is Bach’s only full-length mass setting in
Latin suitable for catholic liturgy, with
many scholars suggesting it was written
to gain a court appointment with a
catholic Saxon monarch.
Henry Purcell is another composer
with strong royal connections who
composed mainly in his native tongue.
He will be the focus of the Orchestra
of the Age of Enlightenment’s visit in
February, when they take over Hall Two
for one of their ‘rule-breaking’ gigs:
The Night Shift. This unusual, informal
concert format has been very successful
in London at connecting younger
audiences with classical music and
Charles Avison
period instrument performance, and
we look forward to welcoming them to
Sage Gateshead.
In November, we feature another of
Bach’s very select works in Latin, his
popular Magnificat, which will be the
highlight of the Dunedin Consort’s
concert in Hall One. This Scottish
Baroque group, under the inspirational
direction of John Butt, is showered with
awards whenever they issue a new disc,
most recently the St John Passion and the
Mozart Requiem. Their visit to Gateshead
will coincide with the release of their
new recording of the Magnificat, so
be prepared to be wowed by a very
distinctive consort performance of
Bach’s great work.
The other main item on the Dunedin
Consort’s programme is Handel’s choral
masterpiece Dixit Dominus. As a native
German claimed by England as its own,
Handel also features prominently in the
opening concert of the Early Encounters
series, given by the Avison Ensemble
in October. The programme focuses
on the more intimate sound world of
the Baroque concerto in England. In
fact, our Early Encounters series will
commence with works by John Garth
and Charles Avison, both from the
North of England. I hope you agree that
there could hardly be a better way to
set off on our musical journey, than by
starting on our own doorstep.
I look forward to seeing you along
the way!
Thorben Dittes
Director, Royal Northern Sinfonia and
Classical Music Programme
series
Classic FM is the world’s most popular classical
music radio station, and we’re delighted to
share Royal Northern Sinfonia’s music-making
with our 5.6 million listeners every week.
If you’re new to classical music, this very
special series of concerts at Sage Gateshead
offers the perfect introduction to some of
the most popular repertoire – and if you’re
already familiar with works like Elgar’s Enigma
Variations or Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings,
here’s your opportunity to discover them
afresh in the wonderful acoustic of Hall One.
Royal Northern Sinfonia is Classic FM’s
Orchestra in the North East of England
and, every week, more people hear their
recordings on Classic FM than via any other
broadcast medium. We’re really proud of our
partnership, and we share Royal Northern
Sinfonia’s commitment to making classical
music accessible to as wide an audience as
possible, across the North East and beyond.
Over the last few years, our promotion of
Royal Northern Sinfonia to our UK-wide
listenership has shared the ensemble’s story
with more people than ever before, and we’re
thrilled to be working with the team at Sage
Gateshead for what promises to be a very
special new season.
Sat 26 Sep | 7.30pm | Hall One
Mozart Meets the North
Sun 22 Nov | 3pm | Hall One
Venzago’s Sibelius Five
Sun 6 Dec | 7.30pm | Hall One
Miloš
Sun 31 Jan | 3pm | Hall One
John Wilson’s Bohemia
Sun 28 Feb | 3pm | Hall One
John Wilson’s Russia
Sat 2 Apr | 7.30pm | Hall One
RACHLIN’S TCHAIKOVSKY
Sun 15 May | 3pm | Hall One
John Wilson’s England
On behalf of the whole Classic FM family,
I very much hope you enjoy the Classic FM
Series.
Sam Jackson
Managing Editor, Classic FM
Sunday Afternoons with John Wilson
John Wilson returns for his own musical journey as part of his Classic FM Sunday
matinee series. From the Russian giants to the folk-infusing Bohemians, this series is
a whistle-stop tour of the greats, with the ever-fabulous conductor and presenter.
Julian Rachlin
Working with a chamber orchestra
like Royal Northern Sinfonia is a real
treat for any performer – there is a
real closeness on stage that brings
about a lot of flexibility, and a sense
of performing ‘in the moment’. Every
movement and nuance can reveal
something new, which is particularly
exciting in a live performance!
I’ll be taking you on some of my own
musical journeys: my Late Mix concert
in September dips into a number of
countries – from Shostakovich’s Russia
all the way to Piazzolla’s warm Argentine
climes. I’m also looking forward to
an all-Tchaikovsky programme in the
New Year, where I’ll be performing
one of my favourite concertos, as well
as joining the Mozart journey with his
brooding Symphony No.40.
Royal Northern Sinfonia is a real
musicians’ orchestra, and I know that
together we will create something really
special.
Julian Rachlin
Principal Guest Conductor
Place of birth: Vilnius, Lithuania
Who is your orchestral hero/ine?
There are so many! Carlos Kleiber
was the greatest conductor of musical
history. But I could name many more:
Bach, Mozart, Bernstein, Rostropovich
and Horowitz.
What are your desert island discs?
Dvořák Cello Concerto with
Rostropovich and Herbert Von Karajan
Bach Goldberg Variations with Glen
Gould, Mozart Mass in C Minor, K427
Do you play any other instruments?
I have more than enough on my
hands with the violin, viola AND
conducting! I like to cook, play tennis
and swim – sadly, I only have 24 hours
in a day, and eight of those are spent
sleeping.
What is your favourite concerto?
Beethoven Violin Concerto – the king
of concertos. It is incredibly simple –
just motifs, but yet achieves absolute
eternal genius. Every bar is perfectly
composed, not just architecturally but
emotionally.
Julian Rachlin captivates international
audiences with his distinctive
musicianship as violinist, violist,
and more recently, as conductor.
Recent and upcoming conducting
engagements include collaborations
with the Czech Philharmonic, Israel
Philharmonic, RTÉ National Symphony,
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic,
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Prague
Philharmonia, Düsseldorf Symphony,
Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice,
Moscow Virtuosi, Lausanne Chamber
Orchestra, and Salzburg Camerata. As
part of a recent tour with the English
Chamber Orchestra, he made his
acclaimed conducting debut at the
Vienna Musikverein.
Recent highlights as violin soloist
include those with the London
Philharmonic and Andrey Boreyko,
Philharmonia Orchestra and
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bavarian Radio
Symphony and Mariss Jansons, Munich
Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov,
St. Petersburg Philharmonic and
Yuri Temirkanov, China Philharmonic
and Long Yu, Detroit Symphony and
Leonard Slatkin, Toronto Symphony
and Juanjo Mena, and Boston
Symphony with Alan Gilbert. Following
his European tour with the Leipzig
Gewandhaus and Riccardo Chailly, he
will next tour in North America with
the Orchestre National de France and
Daniele Gatti, as the orchestra’s 2015/16
Artist in Residence.
Julian Rachlin plays the 1704 ‘ex Liebig’
Stradivari, on loan courtesy of the
Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung.
TETZLAFF/tetzlaff/vogt
This season we welcome not just one,
but two Tetzlaffs! One of the most
prolific brother-sister virtuoso pairings
in the industry join Royal Northern
Sinfonia on journeys throughout the
season.
Christian Tetzlaff is one of the most
in-demand, award-winning violinists.
A regular soloist with the London
Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestras, his performance style
reveals an innate musicality, and a real
ability to communicate the emotional
range of the greats. Christian joins Lars
for Sibelius’ flighty tour de force, his
Violin Concerto.
LATE MIX
And now for something
completely different...
Classical music need not be ‘classical’.
The Late Mix series breaks from
the traditional orchestral offering,
with music primarily composed in
the last sixty years, born out of the
counterculture movement of the
60s. Composers began to question
musical norms, experimenting, and
creating new sound worlds, engaging
with the world in a way only made
possible by the emerging technology
and social revolution.
So why engage with this new music?
Never in such a short period of time
has music evolved so fast, exploring
the full spectrum of the human agenda.
From the likes of Magnus Lindberg and
his angularity, we see the alchemy of
harmonic experiment and chaos, with
a constant movement from tension
to release – it is thoroughly modern
music, embodying the everyday. On
Tanja Tetzlaff has similarly enjoyed an
international career, working with the
likes of Vladimir Ashkenazy and Daniel
Harding. A brilliant communicator
of the Scandinavian and Germanic
traditions, she has enjoyed a wideranging career as both soloist and in
chamber ensembles. Tanja joins Lars for
Dvořák’s yearning Cello Concerto.
Along with Lars Vogt, they form the
Tetzlaff/Tetzlaff/Vogt trio delivering
outstanding performances throughout
the world, conveying mutual musical
values and a clear friendship. Their first
studio recording of Brahms’ piano trios
is released in Summer 2015, and they
will perform the first of the three in a
programme alongside Dvořák’s fourth
trio ‘Dumky’ and Schumann’s Trio No.2.
the other hand, there is the subtle yet
fascinating minimalist movement led
by the likes of Steve Reich, John Adams
and, featuring this season, Terry Riley:
the forefathers of modern dance music
heard the world over and often topping
the charts.
This is also music that looks back and
interprets our past in a contemporary
voice. Piazzolla took the latino dance
rhythms of his native Argentina
and ascribed them to classical
instrumentation. Pärt takes the deep
and ritualistic, and spins it out into
tender and often rich minimalist
structures.
Contemporary music is well worth the
investment – sometimes it can be a
challenge, but there are always so many
magic, enlightening moments that
speak in a very human voice.
Harriet Mayhew
Marketing & Communications Manager
New Year: New Artists
Young and emerging artists have been a
key feature of the programme and work
of Sage Gateshead since the building
opened its doors over ten years ago.
This season, we are creating a special
focus week in January 2016 to highlight
this area of our work, across several
musical genres, and to bring attention
to the special quality the best young
performers can bring to established
classics and new works alike.
The week will commence with a weekend
of chamber music performances, with
the best emerging chamber artists from
across Europe, as selected by Europe’s
leading concert halls. Sage Gateshead is
proud to be a member of the prestigious
ECHO network of major European
Concert Halls. Every year the artistic
directors select a handful of emerging
chamber musicians and ensembles who
are on the cusp of major careers for the
Rising Stars series, and these are then
presented at halls across the network,
ranging from Vienna’s Musikverein
and the new Philarmonie de Paris to
Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and
London’s Barbican.
This year’s selection is particularly
diverse, featuring a pianist from
Luxembourg, a cellist and a harpist from
the Netherlands, a German baritone
and a French string quartet. Our focus
weekend will showcase all of them in
recital, with glorious chamber music
repertoire ranging from Rameau to
Rachmaninov, and including short
new commissions by some of Europe’s
leading composers, especially written
for the Rising Stars. But the concerts
are only the start. There will be free
performances on the Concourse, ‘meet
the artist’ interviews and discussions,
joint appearances with young musicians
from the Sage Gateshead Young
Musicians Programme, and much more.
To close the focus week, Lars Vogt
will conduct a programme of three
concertos with young soloists
with whom he has built up special
relationships through his teaching and
his chamber music festival in Germany.
These are outstanding young virtuosos
whom he now wants to introduce to
Gateshead audiences as major voices
of the next generation. The selected
concertos are all audience favourites,
guaranteed to showcase the virtuosity
of the young performers. They will
be interspersed with short orchestral
pieces from the finalists of our new
young composers’ competition.
Alongside an expert jury and Royal
Northern Sinfonia, the audience will
also help select a winner.
If you want to find out more about the
future of classical music, and engage with
the stars of tomorrow, join us in January.
Thorben Dittes
Director, Royal Northern Sinfonia and
Classical Music Programme
top row: Benjamin Appl; Cathy Krier;
Remy van Kesteren
middle row: Harriet Krijgh;
Anastasia Kobekina; Magdalena Faust;
bottom row: Quatuor Zaïde
Newcastle International
Chamber Music Series
Newcastle Chamber Music Society
Have you ever wondered why so many of the great composers have penned their
most personal and heartfelt creations as chamber music? Symphonists from Haydn
to Shostakovich were masters of the string quartet, and Schubert’s String Quintet is
among the top three classical choices on BBC radio’s Desert Island Discs - chosen by,
among many others, Jacqueline du Pré. She, and many other star soloists, have
loved performing this repertoire.
Founded in 1880 and thought to be the oldest society of its kind in the country, the
Newcastle Chamber Music Society has presented performances by some of the
legends of the 20th century including Rachmaninov, Rubinstein and Sir Henry Wood.
This season’s six concerts centre on the string quartet, chamber music’s most perfect
and popular format, and contain two opportunities to hear works with piano,
including two of the greatest piano trios and Schumann’s popular Piano Quintet.
For a subscription saving £24 on the price of six tickets, contact the Newcastle
Chamber Music Society in one of the following ways: Secretary Tel: 0191 281 6446
www.ncmsoc.webspace.virginmedia.com email: ncmsoc@gmail.com
Tickets for individual concerts are available from Ticket Office at Sage Gateshead
from August 2015.
Wed 14 Oct | 7.30pm | Hall Two
Escher Quartet
Wed 3 Feb | 7.30pm | Hall Two
Skampa Quartet
MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in E minor,
Op.44 No.2
HAYDN String Quartet, Op.103 (unfinished)
JANÁČEK String Quartet No.1,
‘Kreutzer Sonata’
PAVEL FISCHER String Quartet No.3,
‘Mad Piper’
BRAHMS String Quartet in A minor,
Op.51 No.2
Tolstoy’s tragic novella about jealous love
inspired Janáček’s sometimes violent first
quartet, which is framed by two energetic
masterpieces in dark minor keys.
Wed 25 Nov | 7.30pm | Hall Two
Arcadia Quartet
MOZART String Quartet in C, K157
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in D,
Op.18 No.3
BARTÓK String Quartet No.4
A wide-ranging programme bringing
charm, wit, mystery and visceral excitement
from this young Romanian ensemble,
winners of the 2012 London String Quartet
competition and 2014 Osaka competition.
Wed 13 Jan | 7.30pm | Hall Two
Sitkovetsky Piano Trio
DEBUSSY Cello Sonata
RAVEL Piano Trio
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Trio
Chamber works by three masters of
orchestration: Debussy’s dark and sombre
cello sonata precedes his compatriot’s
mercurial trio; Tchaikovsky’s monumental
opus takes us to a different world.
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in E flat, Op.127
SMETANA String Quartet No.1 in E minor,
‘From my life’
The most passionate and personal utterance
of the ‘father’ of Czech composition
is played by one of the nation’s most
distinguished ensembles.
Wed 2 Mar | 7.30pm | Hall Two
Quatuor van Kuijk
HAYDN String Quartet, Op.50 No.1
SCHUMANN String Quartet, Op.41 No.1
DEBUSSY String Quartet
Winners of the 2015 Wigmore Hall
International String Quartet Competition,
this young ensemble end with the
exhilarating masterpiece by their compatriot
Debussy.
Wed 25 May | 7.30pm | Hall Two
Pavel Haas Quartet with
Denis Kozhukhin (piano)
Martinů String Quartet No.3
Dvořák String Quartet in D minor, Op.34
SCHUMANN Piano Quintet
Generating excitement wherever they
perform, this phenomenal Czech ensemble
has already won three Gramophone awards
for its recordings.
An
Extraordinary
Journey
In 2011 Opera North embarked on an
extraordinary journey: to present, for
the first time in the Company’s history,
all four instalments of Wagner’s Ring
cycle in successive years. From the
outset, we were determined to lay
the emphasis firmly on the power of
Wagner’s music and on his engrossing
story-telling. Thus the Orchestra of
Opera North under the Company’s
Music Director Richard Farnes is placed
centre-stage in a concert staging
devised by Peter Mumford that makes
Wagner’s epic narrative compellingly
lucid for both experienced Wagnerians
and newcomers alike.
Tue 5 Jul | 7.30pm
Das Rheingold
Wed 6 Jul | 4.30pm
Die Walküre
Fri 8 Jul | 4.30pm
Siegfried
Sun 10 Jul | 3.30pm
Götterdämmerung
In 2016 we present the Ring complete
during the course of a week, as did
Wagner at the first Bayreuth Festival
in 1876. The cumulative power of the
cycle is all the more palpable when
experienced in such a concentrated
burst, and offers the rare opportunity
for total immersion in this unique, allencompassing music drama.
We greatly appreciated the support we
received from all the venues in which
we presented the Ring between 2011
and 2014. Without our partnership
with Sage Gateshead in particular,
which, together with Symphony Hall
Birmingham, collaborated with us to
realise the project, the Opera North
Ring would have remained only a
dream. It therefore seems especially
fitting that the last of our six complete
cycles next summer will be performed
in this wonderful place.
This will also be the occasion of Richard
Farnes’ last performances with the
Company as its Music Director. Richard
is now firmly established as one of
today’s leading interpreters of Wagner
and there can be no more fitting
conclusion to his illustrious twelve-year
tenure at Opera North than with the
Ring at Sage Gateshead.
Richard Mantle
General Director, Opera North
Tickets (full cycles)
£72, £115, £199
Available since January 2015
Christian Lindberg
Lars Vogt
P Fri 18 Sep | 7.30pm | Hall One
OPENING CONCERT
Wed 30 Sep | 8pm | Hall One
LATE MIX: NORTH AND SOUTH
Lars Vogt conductor/piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Julian Rachlin conductor/violin/viola
Royal Northern Sinfonia
SIBELIUS Andante Festivo (4’)
SHOSTAKOVICH (arr. Zinman) Violin Sonata (30’)
MOZART Symphony No.25 (24’)
LISZT (arr. Dresnin) Après une lecture du Dante,
fantasia quasi concerto (6’)
ERKKI-SVEN TÜÜR Insula Deserta (9’)
GRIEG Piano Concerto (30’)
Alberto IGLESIAS Factory of Silence
We start our musical journeys with Lars Vogt
in his first concert as Music Director. Explore
the lay of the land with Sibelius’ rhapsodic
Andante Festivo, Mozart’s ‘turning-point’
symphony, plus Grieg’s glittering concerto.
Julian Rachlin’s first appearance in the season
straddles both hemispheres, from a special
arrangement of Liszt’s cataclysmic fantasia to
Piazzolla’s breezy Argentine tango suite.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M N
Tickets £16
pre-concert talk from 6.30pm
buses from Alnwick, Carlisle, Hexham
Thu 24 Sep | 8pm | Hall Two
LARS VOGT CHAMBER
Lars Vogt piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
BRAHMS Cello Sonata No.1 (26’)
MOZART Quintet for Piano and Wind (25’)
GRIEG String Quartet No.1 (36’)
“I myself consider it to be the best thing I
have written in my life.” Mozart knew that he
had created something special in his quintet
when he wrote to his father in 1784, and here
it provides an apt first chamber work for our
Mozart journey, alongside Grieg’s stand out
string quartet.
Tickets £16 & £20 M N
P Sat 26 Sep | 7.30pm | Hall One
CLASSIC FM:
MOZART MEETS THE NORTH
Lars Vogt conductor
Sharon Kam clarinet
Royal Northern Sinfonia
MOZART The Impresario Overture (5’)
MOZART Clarinet Concerto (28’)
GRIEG Peer Gynt Suite No.1 (15’)
GRIEG Peer Gynt Suite No.2 (16’)
The popular Clarinet Concerto was conceived
when Mozart was at a low ebb: his attempts at
gaining permanent favour in court had fallen
short, and he found himself in crippling debt.
From great hardship, such beauty flourished
from a composer not far from his deathbed.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M N
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
PIAZZOLLA Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (23’)
Fri 9 Oct | 8pm | Hall Two
EARLY ENCOUNTERS:
AVISON ENSEMBLE
Pavlo Beznosiuk director
Avison Ensemble
AVISON Concerto Grosso in D, Op.6 No.9 (10’)
GARTH Cello Concerto No.5 (12’)
HANDEL Organ Concerto No.8 (16’)
HERSCHEL Violin Concerto (15’)
STANLEY Organ Concerto, Op.10 No.2 (20’)
Period specialists, the Avison Ensemble, start off
the Early Encounters journey with a programme
composed entirely of concertos, which
commences right on our doorstep with music
by Charles Avison and John Garth.
Tickets £16 & £20 E
P Sun 11 Oct | 3pm | Hall One
MY MOZART MATINEE ONE
Bradley Creswick director
Royal Northern Sinfonia
L MOZART Toy Symphony (10’)
MOZART Symphony No.1 (11’)
MOZART Thamos, King of Egypt (19’)
IBERT Hommage à Mozart (5’)
MOZART Concertone (25’)
This self-directed matinee gives Royal Northern
Sinfonia the opportunity to present personal
Mozart favourites and more rarely performed
gems, all introduced by members of the
orchestra.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
post-concert spotlight performance
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Approximate timings appear in brackets next to each piece.
P Thu 22 Oct | 7.30pm | Hall One
LINDBERG’S SIBELIUS THREE
Christian Lindberg conductor
Karen Cargill mezzo soprano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
WEBER Oberon Overture (10’)
WAGNER (arr. Mottl) Wesendonck-Lieder (25’)
Christian LINDBERG Kundraan (14’)
SIBELIUS Symphony No.3 (26’)
A musician who grew up in the Nordic sound
world, Christian Lindberg brings an authentic
approach to Sibelius’ intrinsically purist third
symphony. Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder are
the musical outcome of an illicit affair.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 S N
pre-concert talk at 6.30pm
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
P Fri 30 Oct | 7.30pm | Hall One
MOZART’S VIENNA
Lars Vogt conductor/piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
BEETHOVEN The Creatures of Prometheus
Overture (5’)
MOZART Piano Concerto No.20 (28’)
WEBERN Langsamer Satz (9’)
HAYDN Symphony No.103, ‘Drumroll’ (29’)
Lars Vogt puts Mozart into context, with
works of his immediate classical Viennese
contemporaries, as well as Webern’s beautiful
movement for strings.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
post-concert spotlight performance
buses from Alnwick, Carlisle, Hexham, Teesside
Thu 12 Nov | 9pm | Hall Two
LATE MIX:
SAGE GATESHEAD IN C
Royal Northern Sinfonia and guests
TERRY RILEY In C (45’)
In Terry Riley’s anniversary year, we celebrate
by performing his seminal work in true Sage
Gateshead style, by involving musicians from
across musical genres.
Tickets £16
Fri 13 Nov | 8pm | Hall Two
BEETHOVEN SONATA CYCLE
Saleem Ashkar piano
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas No.1; No.19;
No.20; No.22; No.23 ‘Appassionata’
Saleem Ashkar returns for the final year of his
epic Beethoven Sonata Cycle, with his most
violent musical utterance: the Appassionata
Sonata.
Tickets £16 & £20
P Fri 20 Nov | 7.30pm | Hall One
EARLY ENCOUNTERS:
DUNEDIN CONSORT
John Butt conductor
Joanne Lunn soprano
Julia Doyle soprano
Clare Wilkinson mezzo soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Matthew Brook bass
Dunedin Consort
HANDEL Dixit Dominus (33’)
J S BACH Orchestral Suite No.1 (21’)
P Fri 6 Nov | 7.30pm | Hall One
EXSULTATE, JUBILATE
Kyra Humphreys director
Elizabeth Watts soprano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
J S BACH Magnificat (32’)
Award-winning Scottish baroque specialists
the Dunedin Consort present a programme of
vocal delights.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 E
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
MOZART & STRAUSS arias (25’)
STRAVINSKY Concerto in D (12’)
SHOSTAKOVICH (arr. Barshai) Chamber
Symphony in A flat (19’)
MOZART Exsultate, Jubilate (16’)
Originally written for a castrato, but now (for
obvious reasons) for soprano, the Exsultate,
Jubilate is a fine example of Mozart’s genius:
it was written in a day, and most likely without
a keyboard to assist, as the teenage composer
did what came naturally.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
post-concert spotlight performance
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
P Sun 22 Nov | 3pm | Hall One
CLASSIC FM:
VENZAGO’S SIBELIUS FIVE
Mario Venzago conductor
Alban Gerhardt cello
Royal Northern Sinfonia
SIBELIUS Finlandia (8’)
Elgar Cello Concerto (30’)
SIBELIUS Symphony No.5 (31’)
The essence of a nation summarised in a single
symphonic poem: Finlandia, plus the adored
‘Swan Call’ motif calling out from his rousing
fifth symphony.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 S N
buses from Alnwick, Hexham, Teesside
Elizabeth Watts
P Fri 27 Nov | 7.30pm | Hall One
TETZLAFF’S SIBELIUS
Lars Vogt conductor
Christian Tetzlaff violin
Royal Northern Sinfonia
SCHUMANN Genoveva Overture (9’)
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto (31’)
Sat 9 Jan | 8pm | Hall Two
SCHUBERT OCTET
Royal Northern Sinfonia
ROSSINI String Sonata No.3 (12’)
WAGNER Siegfried Idyll (17’)
SCHUBERT Octet (1hr)
Musical friends Lars Vogt and Christian Tetzlaff
apply their stunning musicality to Sibelius’
revered Violin Concerto and Brahms’ third
symphony.
Schubert’s octet is a work of sweetness
that teeters on the edge of bitterness.
Accompanying it is Wagner’s birthday
present to his wife, steeped in references to
the penultimate opera of his age-defying
Ring Cycle.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 S N
Tickets £16
BRAHMS Symphony No.3 (33’)
pre-concert talk at 6.30pm
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Sat 16 Jan & Sun 17 Jan | Hall Two
NEW YEAR, NEW ARTISTS
ECHO Rising Stars Chamber Weekend
Cathy Krier piano, Remy van Kesteren harp,
Harriet Krijgh cello, Benjamin Appl baritone, and
the string quartet Quatuor Zaïde
Miloš Karadaglić
P Sun 6 Dec | 7.30pm | Hall One
CLASSIC FM: Miloš
Bradley Creswick director
Miloš Karadaglić guitar
Royal Northern Sinfonia
TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade for Strings (29’)
RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez (22’)
MOZART Symphony No.41 ‘Jupiter’ (26’)
plus a selection of works for solo guitar
The Montenegrin guitarist has taken the
classical world by storm; he brings his lightning
dexterity to the North East in Rodrigo’s
Andalucian-inspired concerto. Mozart’s final
symphony, his ‘Jupiter’ sealed his reputation
for generations to come.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
buses from Alnwick, Carlisle, Hexham
Sat 19 Dec | 7pm | Hall One
EARLY ENCOUNTERS: MESSIAH
Harry Bicket conductor
Mary Bevan soprano
Paula Murrihy mezzo soprano
Joshua Ellicott tenor
David Soar bass
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia
A weekend of glorious chamber music with the
ECHO Rising Stars, the best emerging artists
selected by Europe’ leading concert halls, with
music from Rameau to Rachmaninov. Meet the
stars of tomorrow today!
Tickets: Single Ticket £16;
Day Pass £30; Weekend Pass £50
P Fri 22 Jan | 7.30pm | Hall One
NEW YEAR, NEW ARTISTS:
THE VIRTUOSI
Lars Vogt conductor
Magdalena Faust clarinet
Anastasia Kobekina cello
Jamie Bergin piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo
Theme (18’)
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No.2 (30’)
WEBER Clarinet Concerto No.2 (23’)
plus winning pieces from young composers’
competition
Lars Vogt conducts a programme of popular
Romantic concertos with three outstanding
young soloists, also featuring the finalists of our
new young composers’ competition.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33
pre-concert talk at 6.30pm
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Wed 27 Jan | 8pm | Hall Two
BEETHOVEN SONATA CYCLE
HANDEL Messiah (2hr 20’)
Saleem Ashkar piano
We draw into Christmas on our Early
Encounters journey with this traditional
favourite, conducted by baroque specialist
Harry Bicket.
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas No.4; No.9; No.10;
No.15 ‘Pastoral’
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 E
In memory of Muriel Layfield
Tickets £16 & £20
P Sun 31 Jan | 3pm | Hall One
CLASSIC FM:
JOHN WILSON’S Bohemia
John Wilson conductor
Jack Liebeck violin
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Dvořák Carnival Overture (9’)
KORNGOLD Violin Concerto (24’)
SMETANA Excerpts from Má Vlast (45’)
Local lad John Wilson returns, and his first
matinee in the series explores the works of
Bohemia, including Korngold’s concerto with
a hint of Hollywood gleam and Dvořák’s
sparkling overture.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
P Fri 5 Feb | 7.30pm | Hall One
MOZART MASS IN C MINOR
Clemens Schuldt conductor
Steven Hudson oboe
Sally Matthews soprano
Rosemary Joshua soprano
Stuart Jackson tenor
Thomas Tatzl baritone
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia
BECK L’île déserte Overture (6)
Sir Mark Elder
P Sat 13 Feb | 7.30pm | Hall One
ELDER’S SIBELIUS ONE
Sir Mark Elder conductor
Roderick Williams baritone
Hallé
RACHMANINOV Isle of the Dead (19’)
MAHLER Kindertotenlieder (23’)
SIBELIUS Symphony No.1 (38’)
Sibelius’ intensely personal first symphony
rounds a programme of grave and touching
works, performed by one of the finest
symphony orchestras in the North, with its
Music Director, Sir Mark Elder.
Tickets £13, £22, £29, £36 S N
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
STRAUSS Oboe Concerto (26’)
MOZART Mass in C minor ‘The Great’ (55’)
Facing the potential loss of his beloved
Constanze, who was struck down with illness
before their wedding, Mozart composed the
Mass in C Minor in a state of overwhelming
joy at her recovery.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Wed 10 Feb | 8pm | Hall Two
RNS UP CLOSE: TIMOTHY ORPEN
Timothy Orpen clarinet
Fiona Winning viola
John Reid piano
FINZI Five Bagatelles (14’)
Jörg Widmann Fantasie (7’)
MOZART Trio ‘Kegelstatt’ (23’)
BRAHMS Clarinet Sonata No.2 (21’)
Giampieri Carnival of Venice (7’)
Royal Northern Sinfonia clarinettist Timothy
Orpen has picked a selection of clarinet works,
including a trio composed by the multi-tasking
Mozart whilst playing a game of skittles.
Tickets £16 M
Wed 17 Feb | 8pm | Hall Two
TETZLAFF/TETZLAFF/VOGT TRIO
SCHUMANN Piano Trio No.2 (28’)
Dvořák Piano Trio No.4 ‘Dumky’ (30’)
BRAHMS Piano Trio No.1 (28’)
Lars Vogt is re-joined by Christian Tetzlaff
and his sister Tanja Tetzlaff for this chamber
treat, including Dvořák’s Slavic, dance-infused
‘Dumky’ piano trio.
Tickets £16 & £20
Fri 19 Feb | 9pm | Hall Two
EARLY ENCOUNTERS: the NIGHT SHIFT
ORCHESTRA OF THE AGE OF
ENLIGHTENMENT
Classical Music: Minus the Rules
Imagine going to a classical concert, but being
able to relax.
Bring a drink in? Check.
Clap and cheer whenever you want? Sure.
Snapchat it to your friends? No problem.
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s
late-night series comes to Sage Gateshead
for the first time with an hour of music by
composers including Henry Purcell. This is
music that’ll make your feet tap, stir your soul
and touch your emotions, and importantly also
accompanies a nice beer very well – Henry was
after all, a great fan of the pub.
All in all it’ll be music to your beers.
Tickets £16 E
OAE: The Night Shift
Thu 25 Feb | 9pm | Hall Two
LATE MIX:
NEW MUSIC FROM THE NORTH
Royal Northern Sinfonia
HANS ABRAHAMSEN Walden (11’)
KAIJA SAARIAHO Spins and Spells (7’)
LARSSON String Quartet No.3 (12’)
ERKKI-SVEN TÜÜR Symbiosis (10’)
Thomas Zehetmair
MAGNUS LINDBERG Clarinet Quintet (18’)
Whilst the world of Sibelius lies a long way
in the past, the quintessentially Scandinavian
sound lives on, and here’s the proof!
Abrahmsen’s Walden strips away the worldly
layers to reveal a bare, natural sound whilst
Lindberg’s lyrical quintet is a progression from
his avant-garde roots.
Tickets £16 N
P Fri 18 Mar | 7.30pm | Hall One
ZEHETMAIR’S SIBELIUS FOUR
Thomas Zehetmair conductor
Juliette Bausor flute
Royal Northern Sinfonia
MENDELSSOHN The Hebrides Overture
‘Fingal’s Cave’ (10’)
NIELSEN Flute Concerto (20’)
SIBELIUS Symphony No.4 (32’)
P Sun 28 Feb | 3pm | Hall One
CLASSIC FM: JOHN WILSON’S RUSSIA
John Wilson conductor
Denis Kozhukhin piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
GLINKA Ruslan and Ludmila Overture (5)
Conductor Laureate Thomas Zehetmair returns
for his take on Sibelius’ introspective and
existentialist fourth symphony, written as the
composer faced poor health and contemplated
the eternal abyss.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 S N
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No.1 (33’)
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade (47’)
John Wilson walks among the Russian musical
giants in the second of his matinees of the
season.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
P Fri 25 Mar | 7pm | Hall One
BACH MASS IN B MINOR
Paul McCreesh conductor
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia
J S BACH Mass in B minor
P Thu 3 Mar | 7.30pm | Hall One
MOZART IN PARIS
Alexandre Bloch conductor
Francesco Piemontesi piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
MOZART Symphony No.31 ‘Paris’ (16’)
STRAVINSKY Danses Concertantes (20’)
Bach never heard his Mass in B Minor
performed; in fact it wasn’t until the 19th century
baroque revival that its genius was globally
acknowledged. Even humourist Douglas Adams
described it as “One of the pinnacles of human
achievement.”
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 E
pre-concert talk at 6pm
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
DEBUSSY Petite Suite (14’)
MOZART Piano Concerto No.25 (30’)
The ‘Paris’ symphony was composed almost
in spite of the contemporary French musical
styles, but its reception in the city nonetheless
proved a huge success. This and his later Piano
Concerto are staples of the young composer’s
cosmopolitan style, perfectly complemented
by the Gallic flair of Debussy, and Stravinsky.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
post-concert spotlight performance
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Thu 10 Mar | 9pm | Hall Two
LATE MIX: AV FESTIVAL
Royal Northern Sinfonia joins forces
with the AV Festival to explore new music
related to the festival theme. Details will be
published with the AV Festival Guide in January
2016.
Tickets £16
P Sat 2 Apr | 7.30pm | Hall One
classic fm: RACHLIN’S TCHAIKOVSKY
Julian Rachlin conductor/violin
Royal Northern Sinfonia
TCHAIKOVSKY Eugene Onegin: Polonaise (4’);
Violin Concerto (34’); Symphony No.4 (44’)
Julian Rachlin performs an all-Tchaikovsky
programme; three works all written in the period
following his misguided marriage to the fanatical
Antonina Milyukova. His despair is clear, as he
wrote of the introduction to his symphony: “This
is fate, that fatal force which prevents the impulse
to happiness from attaining its goal, which
jealously ensures that peace and happiness shall
not be complete and unclouded”.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33
post-concert spotlight performance
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Vasily Petrenko
P Fri 8 Apr | 7.30pm | Hall One
PETRENKO’S SIBELIUS TWO
Vasily Petrenko conductor
Tai Murray violin
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra
Tanja Tetzlaff
P Fri 29 Apr | 7.30pm | Hall One
MOZART IN PRAGUE
Lars Vogt conductor
Tanja Tetzlaff cello
Royal Northern Sinfonia
SMETANA The Bartered Bride Overture (7’)
ALFVÉN Swedish Rhapsody No.1
‘Midsummer Vigil’ (9’)
MOZART Symphony No.38 ‘Prague’ (26’)
BARBER Violin Concerto (25’)
Mozart’s symphony revels in his lifelong love
affair with the Czech capital, with its intense
radiance and lively animation. Dvořák’s
concerto reveals a homesickness for Prague
and the bohemian style, so much so that it was
composed on both sides of the Atlantic as he
made his return home.
SIBELIUS Symphony No.2 (44’)
Some symphonic warmth with a programme
of Sibelius’ Italian-inspired second symphony,
Barber’s florid concerto and Alfvén’s
symphonic portrait of a nightlong wedding
festival in the land of the midnight sun.
Tickets £13, £22, £29, £36 S N
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Wed 13 Apr | 9pm | Hall Two
LATE MIX: PÄRT AND TAVENER
Royal Northern Sinfonia
TAVENER Kaleidoscopes (A Tribute to Mozart)
(30’)
ARVO PÄRT Fratres (12’); Cantus in Memoriam
Benjamin Britten (6’); Summa (5’)
Pärt’s minimalism crept into popular culture
from behind the iron curtain, with its fusion of
Gregorian chant, harmonic simplicity, and the
spiritual explorations into his Russian Orthodox
faith. It features alongside Tavener’s very
personal tribute to Mozart.
Tickets £16 N
P Sun 24 Apr | 3pm | Hall One
MY MOZART MATINEE TWO
Kyra Humphreys director
Peter Francomb horn
Timothy Orpen clarinet
Stephen Reay bassoon
Royal Northern Sinfonia
MOZART Symphony No.33 (19’)
STRAUSS Duet-Concertino for
Clarinet and Bassoon (20’)
MOZART Horn Concerto No.4 (16’)
TCHAIKOVSKY Suite No.4 ‘Mozartiana’ (25’)
The second My Mozart Matinee sees Royal
Northern Sinfonia present two key works by
Romantic composers inspired directly by the
genius of Mozart, plus the composer’s popular
horn concerto.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
buses from Carlisle, Hexham, Alnwick
Dvořák Cello Concerto (40’)
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
post-concert spotlight performance
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
P Thu 5 May | 7.30pm | Hall One
MUSTONEN’S SIBELIUS SIX
Olli Mustonen conductor/piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
MUSTONEN Triptych (12’)
BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto (42’)
(arr. Beethoven for piano)
SIBELIUS Symphony No.6 (27’)
“When shadows grow longer” was how
Sibelius described the mood of his sixth
symphony, a work that stands out for its
poignant lyricism. Mustonen also performs
Beethoven’s arrangement of his violin concerto
for piano, which in 1808 the composer
reclaimed for his own performance.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 S N
pre-concert talk at 6.30pm
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
Sun 8 May | 8pm | Hall Two
RNS UP CLOSE: BRADLEY CRESWICK
Bradley Creswick violin
Programme includes:
RAVEL Tzigane (10’)
The French word for ‘gypsy’, Ravel’s Tzigane for
violin virtuoso is both authentic gypsy music
and the westernised style hongrois familiar
to classical music since Haydn’s day. Franck’s
calling-card for French chamber music also
features in this programme performed by
orchestra leader, Bradley Creswick.
Tickets £16
P Fri 3 Jun | 7.30pm | Hall One
MOZART AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES
P Sun 15 May | 3pm | Hall One
CLASSIC FM:
JOHN WILSON’S ENGLAND
Robert Levin conductor/piano
Ya-Fei Chuang piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
John Wilson conductor
Leonard Elschenbroich cello
Royal Northern Sinfonia
J C BACH La Calamita de’ Cuori Overture (6’)
BAX Tintagel (12’)
MOZART Piano Concerto No.12 (26’)
WALTON Cello Concerto (30’)
C P E BACH Symphony in E flat (11’)
ELGAR Enigma Variations (29’)
MOZART Concerto No.10 for Two Pianos (26’)
Richard Strauss wrote of Elgar’s renowned
variations “here for the first time is an English
composer who has something to say”. The final
concert of the series, John Wilson explores the
English music revolution at the dawn of the
20th century, with Bax’s panoramic symphonic
poem and Walton’s shimmering concerto.
Mozart had a lifelong admiration for Johann
Christian Bach, and it was under the mastercomposer’s tutelage that Wolfgang’s style
matured. The prodigy’s Piano Concerto No.12
contains a subtle nod to Bach’s La Calamita
de’Couri Overture, as the two were finally
separated by the latter’s death.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
pre-concert talk at 6.30pm
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
P Fri 20 May | 7.30pm | Hall One
THE ‘GREAT G MINOR SYMPHONY’
Julian Rachlin conductor/violin/viola
BRITTEN Lachrymae (15’)
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto (27’)
MOZART Symphony No.40 (27’)
The opening notes of Mozart’s Symphony
No.40 adorn the Classical Hall of Fame,
with its unforgettable and sinuous gestures.
Mendelssohn’s concerto, with its rhapsodic
violin lines and clear fastidious craftsmanship,
has been a calling card for virtuosos since its
premiere.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 M
pre-concert talk at 6.30pm
buses from Alnwick and Hexham
P Fri 10 Jun | 7.30pm | Hall One
FINALE:
VOGT’S SIBELIUS SEVEN
Lars Vogt conductor
Ruby Hughes soprano
Jennifer Johnston mezzo soprano
Benjamin Hulett tenor
Neal Davies baritone
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia
SIBELIUS Symphony No.7 (20’)
MOZART Requiem (55’)
Our musical journeys come to an end in style
as Lars Vogt conducts Sibelius’ monumental
symphony, the composer’s last, and Mozart’s
choral masterpiece.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33 S M N
post-concert spotlight performance
buses from Alnwick, Carlisle, Hexham, Teesside
Sun 22 May | 8pm | Hall Two
BEETHOVEN SONATA CYCLE
Saleem Ashkar piano
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas No.24; No.25;
No.29 ‘Hammerklavier’
Tickets £16 & £20
CHRISTMAS with royal northern sinfonia
Don’t miss out on these seasonal favourites at Sage Gateshead
Fri 11 Dec | 7.30pm
Sat 12 Dec | 3pm
Hall One
REJOICE
Sage Gateshead’s annual
Christmas gathering, with the
massed forces of Royal Northern
Sinfonia and Chorus, and Quay
Voices. Get into the festive spirit
with the best Christmas carols
and seasonal classics.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33
0191 443 4661
Tue 22 Dec | 5pm
Wed 23 Dec | 11am, 2pm, 5pm
Thu 24 Dec | 11am, 2pm
Hall One
THE SNOWMAN
It wouldn’t be Christmas without
it... Experience the family
favourite brought to life by Royal
Northern Sinfonia.
Friday 1 Jan | 3pm | Hall One
NEW YEARS DAY IN
VIENNA
Royal Northern Sinfonia see
in the New Year with a classic
programme of Viennese sparkle.
Tickets £10, £19, £27, £33
Tickets £16-£18;
Family ticket £55
(four tickets to include at least
one adult and one child)
SAGEGATESHEAD.COM
Your booking and how to get here
Bookings can be made online at sagegateshead.com, in person at our Ticket Office,
or you can call 0191 443 4661. If you prefer to book by post, you can request a
booking form from Ticket Office.
Terms and Conditions: A copy of our full
terms and conditions is available on our website.
Or you can request a copy by sending us a
stamped addressed envelope. Bookings for
individual concerts will incur a handling fee of
£1.50 per ticket. A package handling fee of £2.50
applies per transaction. No additional fees apply
when booking individual tickets along with your
package.
We regret that no refunds can be given except
where an event is cancelled. However, Ticketplan
refund protection is available at £2 per ticket (see
website for more details). We will always attempt,
where possible, to exchange unwanted tickets for
concerts as long as we have the tickets returned to
us at least 24 hours prior to the performance, for
an administration fee of £2.50 (this fee does not
apply to package bookers exchanging within the
same season).
Concessions
Concessions for unemployed, U16s and students
are available for many of our performances with
a reduction of £2 per ticket. Check our website
or ask at Ticket Office for details. Please note
concessions are not available on packages and
there are no senior concessions on additional
concerts.
For every performance one free ticket is available
for the essential carer of those who need
assistance to attend the performance.
How to get to Sage Gateshead
Take the bus!
Catch the bus to concerts at Sage Gateshead, at just £7.50 return.
Buses run from:
Hexham via Chollerford, Wall, Acomb, Eastwood and Corbridge
Alnwick via Amble, Warkworth, Felton, Morpeth, Wideopen and Gosforth
Carlisle via Brampton
Teesside via Guisborough, Great Ayton, Stokesley
To book, call Ticket Office on 0191 443 4661.
Public Buses
The QuayLink bus service runs both
north and south of the Tyne to St Mary’s
Square outside the west door of Sage
Gateshead. Sage Gateshead is on route
Q1. Check nexus.org.uk/bus/guidebuses/quaylink
Metro
Thanks to the generosity of Nexus, you
can travel on the Metro to and from
Gateshead free if you are attending
a ticketed performance at Sage
Gateshead: simply retain your ticket for
inspection on the Metro.
Blue Badge Holders
There are a number of priority spaces
for blue badge holders immediately
to the rear of the building and by the
lifts in our car park. Please take your
car park ticket to the Coats Desk, with
your car registration number, for an exit
ticket.
Parking
There is a drop off and pick up point
at our west door. We have our own car
park with lift access directly behind the
building. If you enter and exit within
thirty minutes, there is no charge. With
entry between 6am and 5pm, charges
are per hour with payment made at
our ticket machines prior to returning
to your vehicle. For entry after 5pm, a
fixed charge applies. Full details of our
charges are available on our website.
Accessibility
Sage Gateshead is designed to be as
accessible as possible to people with
all kinds of disabilities. Please ring 0191
443 4666 for access information or
download it from the visitor information
section of our website. Please
inform Ticket Office of your special
requirements. Guide dogs and hearing
dogs are welcome.
Further information available at sagegateshead.com
“There is no better chamber
orchestra in Britain” The Guardian
Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra
of Sage Gateshead, is the UK’s only
full-time chamber orchestra and the
leading professional orchestra in the
North East. Since its inception in 1958,
it has built a distinctive reputation as a
fresh-thinking and versatile orchestra,
performing with a trademark zest
and stylistic virtuosity. It is the only
UK orchestra to have a purpose-built
home for all its rehearsals, concerts and
recordings.
Playing a wide repertoire of diverse
orchestral music, Royal Northern
Sinfonia works regularly with a roster
of globally renowned artists from
all genres. The new season sees the
orchestra work with Christian Tetzlaff,
Christian Lindberg, Olli Mustonen, Paul
McCreesh, Robert Levin, Montenegrin
guitarist Miloš Karadaglić and a host
of world-class singers including Sally
Matthews, Karen Cargill and Elizabeth
Watts. They have also collaborated
with leading popular voices such as
Sting, Ben Folds and John Grant. The
orchestra contributes to the continuing
re-invention of orchestral repertoire
with regular commissions and
premieres, most recently from Benedict
Mason and David Lang, John Casken
and Kathryn Tickell.
Open in its approach and broad in its
reach, Royal Northern Sinfonia engages
audiences and communities throughout
its own region as well as further afield,
with residencies at festivals from
Aldeburgh to Hong Kong, as well as
regularly featuring in the BBC Proms
and neighbouring Edinburgh Festival.
Back home at Sage Gateshead, Royal
Northern Sinfonia works with adults of
all ages and young people, through the
Young Musicians Programme and In
Harmony project, both of which provide
unbeatable instrumental learning
opportunities.
In March 2015, Royal Northern Sinfonia
was awarded Freeman of Gateshead
status, in recognition of its significant
contribution to the borough.
This season is the first with new Music
Director Lars Vogt, along with new
Principal Guest Conductor, Julian
Rachlin. Both internationally-renowned
soloists perform as well as conduct
throughout the season, alongside
Conductor Laureate, Thomas Zehetmair.
For more information about the
orchestra and its home, visit
sagegateshead.com
ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA
First Violin
Bradley Creswick
The Huntington Chair
Kyra Humphreys
Iona Brown
Jane Nossek
Alexandra Raikhlina
Sarah Roberts
Second Violin
Tristan Gurney
The Rosemary Hinton Chair
Jenny Chang
Sophie Appleton
Jonathan Martindale
Viola
Michael Gerrard
The Layfield Chair
Malcolm Critten
James Slater
Tegwen Jones
Cello
Louisa Tuck
Clarinet
Timothy Orpen
Daniel Hammersley
Jessica Lee
The Share Family Chair
The Molly Rice Chair
James Craig
Gabriel Waite
The Janet Ramsaran Chair
Bassoon
Stephen Reay
Double Bass
Sian Hicks
Flute
Juliette Bausor
The Robinson Family Chair
Eilidh Gillespie
The Rossiter Family Chair
Oboe
Steven Hudson
The Pyman Family Chair
Robin Kennard
Horn
Peter Francomb
The Friends of
Royal Northern Sinfonia Chair
Christopher Griffiths
Trumpet
Richard Martin
The Alan Johnson Chair
The Richardson Family Chair
Marion Craig
The Sylvia Fuller Chair
Timpani
Marney O’Sullivan
Michael O’Donnell
The Christine Swales Chair
CHORUS OF ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA
For 40 years the Chorus of
Royal Northern Sinfonia has
been an integral, ever-present
part of the Royal Northern
Sinfonia musical family,
drawing on talented and
committed singers from across
the North of England.
Choruses allow an orchestra to present
the great, stand-out works from history;
Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s passions and
Haydn’s masses, and performances of
these have formed the core repertoire
for Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia.
However its role in Sage Gateshead’s
classical programme is altogether
more ambitious, matching the breadth
of repertoire of the orchestra itself.
Regular performances of the classics
are frequently placed alongside
modern masterpieces, and the chorus
now regularly features in both Hall
One and our more eclectic Hall Two
series, Late Mix. Former Royal Northern
Sinfonia Timpanist Alan Fearon
founded the chorus and led them until
summer 2014, playing a crucial role in
the choral and vocal strategy at Sage
Gateshead. The chorus has worked with
many guest conductors and with every
Music Director since Rudolph Schwartz,
the orchestra’s second Music Director,
including for the last twelve seasons
Thomas Zehetmair.
From 2004 to 2012 renowned choral
conductor Simon Halsey led the
chorus as Principal Conductor Choral
Programme. Amongst the recordings
the chorus has made are Beethoven’s
Ninth Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem,
Vaughan Williams’ operas Sir John in Love
and Riders to the Sea, Bliss’ Pastorale, and
Songs of Northumbria.
PRINCIPAL PARTNERS
YOUR ‘CHAIR’ IS WAITING
...in one of Europe’s most exciting orchestras
Principal Partner
membership
starts from £125
per month
Your gift helps to secure the work, reputation
and future of Royal Northern Sinfonia.
• A direct association with one of the Royal Northern Sinfonia musicians
• Personalised priority booking and member events
• Exclusive invitations to watch the orchestra rehearse
• Chances to personally connect with your chosen musician
• Food, drink, parking and shop discounts sagegateshead.com/principalpartners | 0191 443 5038
supporters@sagegateshead.com
Sage Gateshead is a registered charity (North Music Trust no. 1087445)
Supporting the very best music for the future
Friends of Royal Northern Sinfonia
President: Sir Thomas Allen CBE
Membership starts from £27.50 and benefits include:
•Priority booking for the classical season
•Exclusive members’ evenings
•Quarterly newsletter
•10% off Royal Northern Sinfonia CDs
‘To become a Friend is to join a family whose common bond is pride in our wonderful
Royal Northern Sinfonia’ Christine Swales, Sunderland
For more information contact Joyce Porter, Friends Coordinator on 0191 443 4564
or email joyce.porter@sagegateshead.com
Thank You
Sage Gateshead values its partnerships with individuals, trusts and foundations, and
companies Core revenue support is also provided by Arts Council England, North East and
Gateshead Council. As a registered charity (number 1087445) this support is vital to allow us to
continue and develop our work.
Founding Patrons
(Tyne & Wear Community Foundation)
The Sage Group plc
The Barbour Foundation
Northern Rock Foundation
The Garfield Weston Foundation
Joan and Margaret Halbert
Endowment Donors
The Shears Foundation
The David Goldman Programme
The Go-Ahead Group plc
Northern Arts Board
Fenwick Ltd
Northumbrian Water
Benfield Charitable Trust
The Sir James Knott Trust
Greggs Plc
The David Boardman Trust
Roland Cookson Fund
1989 Willan Trust
Stuart Ayre Legacy
10th Birthday Endowment Donors
(held by Sage Gateshead)
The Barbour Foundation
The Vardy Foundation
Stuart Halbert Foundation
Clore Duffield Foundation
Cunard
Benfield Charitable Trust
Mr & Mrs M Howard
Ms W Oloman
Trust and Foundation Supporters
J Paul Getty JNR Charitable Trust
The Garfield Weston Foundation
The Hadrian Trust
The Kavli Trust
The Monument Trust
The PRS for Music Foundation
The Radcliffe Trust
The Sir James Knott Trust
The WA Handley Charitable Trust
Corporate Partners
Platinum Partner
Gold Partners
Silver Partners
Bronze Partners
Baker Tilly, DFDS Seaways, Hays Travel, O’Brien Waste Recycling Solutions, Go North East, Rutherford
Wilkinson Ltd, Solution Group, The Open University
/royalnorthernsinfonia
Founding Patrons
The Sage Group plc
The Barbour Foundation
Northern Rock Foundation
The Garfield Weston Foundation
Joan and Margaret Halbert
@rnsinfonia
Photography: Neda Navaee, Georgia Bertazzi, Clive Barda, Mats Bäcker, Marco Borggreve, Dan Brady, Mark McNulty,
Peter Rigaud, Mark Savage, Julia Wesely, Joe Plommer