Bournemouth Symphony Orchestraconcert season 2017 / 18

Guildhall, Portsmouth

classic The Snowman accompanying the film, we hope to bring something for everyone. Throughout the season we will encourage you to find out more through our range of online resources on the BSO website and social media channels.

A highlight of every concert is without doubt the palpable sense of audience excitement, that sense of the shared musical experience generating emotions and long-lasting memories which is hard to equal. It is the amazing rapport between stage and audience that inspires our outstanding musicians, conductors and guest artists, and what makes the season so special.

As one of the UK’s leading arts charities, the BSO has a unique remit to bring great music and cultural engagement to the range of communities across the South and South West, whether that be in a concert hall, a school, a hospital or a community setting.

In turbulent times, the BSO is leading the charge to demonstrate the positive role cultural engagement has in the development of our children, in the cohesion of our communities and in building a better society. We could not do it without your support and I would like to thank everyone who supports this remarkable organisation and in helping us build a strong future. I look forward to welcoming you to another season of great music making.

Dougie Scarfe, Chief Executive

We launch the season, which leads us to our 125th Anniversary in good heart with a Company whose artistic strength continues to grow under the outstanding leadership of Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits.

Kirill’s musical journey is sure to be a thrilling one once again as he continues his exploration of the great symphonies of Schubert, Mahler and Rachmaninov and this season we place the music of Tchaikovsky in the context of some of his contemporaries including Glinka and Kalinnikov. Rachmaninov’s exhilarating Caprice bohémien together with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto will bring the season to a whirlwind of a climax.

Our philosophy of nurturing enduring relationships, whilst fostering new talent continues and we welcome back a range of guest artists including Andrew Litton, Carlos Miguel Prieto and Kees Bakels, as well as debuts by conductor Mikhail Tatarnikov, cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and pianist Gabriela Montero.

As ever our range of programmes are designed to inspire both our loyal regular supporters whilst finding many ways to welcome new audiences of all ages and tastes. From the elegance of 18th century Salzburg to the epic soundtracks of modern-day Hollywood blockbusters, Elgar’s stirring Cello Concerto, four of the great piano concertos ever written, and a live performance of enduring children’s

Beethoven’s First Symphony is a work grounded firmly in the 18th century, and yet it bears the seeds of the musical revolution to come – the opening few bars alone represent a distinct departure from the final symphonies of Mozart and Haydn. It provides the first examples of stylistic, harmonic and structural innovation in Beethoven‘s orchestral writing full of energy and dramatic exuberance. In this most lyrical, poetic and fantastical of his concertos, similarly, Beethoven does not abandon the Mozartian concerto form but imbues it with a genuinely romantic voice. It is ardent and melancholy, heroic and ethereal, anguished and whimsical. Written in a single month, Bizet’s polished gem of a symphony is remarkable not so much for its originality, but for its skilful reworking of others’ designs. It is a brilliant work that shows a grasp of unity and overall design that was remarkable for a seventeen-year old composer. With its youthful vitality, melodies of supreme beauty and innovative instrumental combinations, no wonder it remains a concert favourite.

beethovenSymphony No. 1

beethovenPiano Concerto No.4

bizetSymphony in C

Kirill Karabitsconductor

Steven Osbornepiano

Symphonic Firststhursday

5october

7.30 pm

“the cultural heartbeat

of the south west”

Darren HenleyCEO Arts Council England

January 2017

Kirill Karabits

In 1779, Mozart found himself back in his native Salzburg after a disheartening journey through Germany and France seeking new employmentopportunities. A period of great creativity, it heralded the emergence of his mature genius. The Posthorn is one of his largest serenades in duration, scope, and scoring, calling for as large an ensemble as his symphonies, and spanning a full emotional range. It takes its nickname from the inclusion of the post horn – traditionally used to announce the arrival and departure of coaches, specifically those carrying the mail. After years of debate and misattribution, the New Lambach symphony is now recognised as coming from the pen of Leopold Mozart rather than Wolfgang. It represents Leopold at his most mature; a serious, progressive symphony and no mere novelty of which he is often accused of writing. Origins of a newly discovered concerto for cello have also been questioned. Which Haydn wrote it – Josef or younger brother Michael? Whatever the case, it has a Mozartian combination of instrumental idiom and subtle large-scale structure.

l mozartSinfonia in G Major

‘Neue Lambacher’ m haydn

Cello Concertow a mozart

Serenade No.9 ‘Posthorn’

Reinhard Goebelconductor

Bruno Delepelairecello

Salzburg Connectionsfriday

20october

7.30 pm

“karabits is presiding over

a golden age of this outstanding orchestra...

this is music-making at its finest”

Paul Jordan, Fine Times RecorderJanuary 2017

glinkaRuslan & Ludmilla OvertureglinkaValse from A Life for the TsarkalinnikovSymphony No.1rachmaninovPiano Concerto No.3

Kees Bakelsconductor

Lukáš Vondrácekpiano

Russian Masters

The extraordinary musical demands of Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto make it one of the most challenging works in the piano concerto repertoire. The soloist plays almost constantly throughout and must combine ear-popping virtuosity with a chamber musician’s ability to listen and blend into the orchestra. Undoubtedly a tour de force, the great technical demands are more a means than an end, as the work seems much more focused on conveying Romantic musical ideas than being a simple display piece – its mood and character sitting squarely in 19th century Romanticism. A contemporary of Tchaikovsky and championed by Rachmaninov, Vasily Kalinnikov was an immensely popular composer during his lifetime.

All-round captivating and instantly charming, his First Symphony abounds with memorable melodies, developed with great skill and embellished through his fluent and colourful orchestration. In particular, the andante is a most gentle and luminous idyll set within a work of elegant yet simple grandeur and well worth a listen. Glinka, proverbially the father of Russian opera, also tapped into the Russian psyche with his two operas A Life for the Tsar and Ruslan and Ludmilla, both of which incorporated Russian as well as other folk elements. The music is dramatic, epic and stirring, evoking the expanse of the Russian Steppe. The sparkling overture of the latter was written in just twenty-four hours!

thursday

2november 7.30 pm

Smooth Classics

grieg Peer Gynt – Morningbeethoven Symphony No.6 – Shepherd’s Song

mascagni Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticanamendelssohn Nocturne from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez – adagiomozart Flute and Harp Concerto – andantinovaughan williams Fantasia on Greensleeves

mozart Clarinet Concerto – adagiogluck Dance of the Blessed Spirits

albinoni Oboe Concerto No.2 – adagiodvork Symphony No.9 – largo

debussy Clair de Lunefaur Pavane

Four sublime adagios from concertos by Albinoni, Mozart and Rodrigo crown a concert featuring some of the most beautiful and relaxing classical music ever written.

friday

24november

7.30 pm

Victor Aviatconductor

Anna Pyneflute

Eluned Pierceharp

Edward Kayoboe

Kevin Banksclarinet

Magda Gruca-Broadbent

Christmas with the bso

friday 22 december3.30pm

The Snowman

blakeThe SnowmanchappellPaddington Bear’s First Concert

Hugh Bruntconductor

Pui Fan Leenarrator

friday 22 december7.30 pm

Last Night ofthe ChristmasPromsPete Harrisonconductor

Annie Skatessinger

James Spillingsinger

Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto stands miles apart from many of his other works in its sense of freedom and abandon. It is a gloriously free, wistful creation – an unrestrained delight from start to finish, particularly in the famous, soulful and heart-rending adagio, which guarantees the whole work’s enduring popularity – either side of which are two vivacious movements, both full of style and an overwhelming sense of fun. After a shaky start, the Fifth Symphony soon became recognised for the masterpiece it undoubtedly is. Tchaikovsky wrote that its subject was ‘Providence’. More specifically it is a journey from darkness and despair into light and triumph, accomplished partly by the musical character of the individual movements, and partly through a recurring

“motto” theme, which appears in a different guise throughout. Khachaturian’s sensual Adagio marks the point in the ballet when Spartacus can enjoy a moment of peace and celebration from persecution by the Romans. More beautiful melodies make this perennial favourite one of the best loved themes ever written.

khachaturianAdagio of Spartacus

and Phrygiashostakovich

Piano Concerto No.2tchaikovsky

Symphony No.5

Mikhail Tatarnikovconductor

Boris Giltburgpiano

Triumph and Passionthursday

25january

7.30 pm

“an artistic triumph... the martinu symphony

was a sensation, and drew from the bso a world-class

performance, lovingly prepared and bursting

with energy”David Truslove, Bachtrack

October 2016

schubertSymphony No.4 ‘Tragic’mahlerSymphony No.4

Kirill Karabitsconductor

Catherine Fostersoprano

Perfect Fourths

Mahler’s Fourth Symphony has been described as “an adventure of enchanted melodies and sounds, a progress from a pastoral landscape, where the grass still bore prints Haydn and Schubert had left, through scenes of shadow and sadness, dispelled by large shouts of joy, to a vision of untroubled happiness.” That vision of happiness comes most fully in a song The Heavenly Life, which forms the astonishingly original finale and like the symphony overall, leads us to think of contrasts of Heaven and Earthly Life, serenity and agitation, simplicity and complexity. Schubert himself gave his Fourth Symphony the name Tragic. Possibly he did this in an unsuccessful attempt to attract the attention of publishers or impresarios. The work is not overtly tragic in nature. Both the outer movements start in the minor and are tempestuous and dramatic in character, but each ends triumphantly in the major key. Overall the form and scale of the symphony follow the models of Mozart and Haydn, but there is considerable innovation and originality in the harmonic ideas and tonality of the work.

thursday

8february 7.30 pm

“it’s a sign of the trust karabits now inspires in

the bso’s audiencethat he can achieve

a full house for a quite daring programme...

a performance of shrewd timing and massive rhetorical force”

Ivan Hewett, The TelegraphFebruary 2017

Heroes and Monstersmore music from the movies

Peter Turnbull, Andy Cresci and Kevin Morgan

Pete Harrisonconductor

Once again the full power of a symphony orchestra is unleashed in a concert packed full of stirring and epic soundtracks of the silver screen – this time featuring music from films with monsters galore, whether they be dinosaurs, giant beasts from the jungle or the deep, supernatural creatures of the night or psychopathic killers. Titles include The Mummy, Dracula, Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, King Kong, Super 8, The Abyss, Pan’s Labyrinth, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Jaws and Gremlins composed by Hollywood greats from Bernard Hermann to Michael Giacchino, Jerry Goldsmith to Howard Shore and, not forgetting, John Williams.

friday

16february

7.30 pm

Written in the summer of 1919, the Cello Concerto represented, for Elgar, the angst, despair and disillusionment he felt after the Great War, and an introspective look at death and mortality. He had been deeply saddened by the war, was suffering from a painful chronic ear condition, and the recent deaths of several old friends had made him acutely aware of his own advancing years. It signified Elgar’s farewell to the way of life as he had known it.

“Everything good and nice and clean and fresh and sweet is far away – never to return” he wrote. Remaining incredibly fresh and abounding with memorable melodies, the Ninth Symphony describes Dvorák’s spiritual and emotional journey from his intense longing for his beloved Bohemia to the thrill of the “New World” and its varied peoples. With its realisation of love and affection, the Siegfried Idyll shows a side of Wagner rarely seen in his operas. Absent is the wild passion; rather, it is a gentle song of contentment and a most personaland intimate expression of Wagner’s feelings while still calling to mind his heroic alter-ego.

Elgar’s Cello Eulogythursday

22february 7.30 pm

wagner Siegfried IdyllelgarCello ConcertodvorkSymphony No.9 ‘From the New World’

Christoph Königconductor

Leonard Elschenbroichcello

Leonard Elschenbroich

spontaneity, but it is far from casual in its sourcing and craftsmanship, drawing upon Basque and Spanish melodies, jazz riffs, the influences of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, and even his childhood fascination with mechanical toys. Thirty years after Debussy wrote his Tarantelle styrienne for piano, Ravel created an orchestral version of the sprightly work, publishing it under the title Danse. Working like an orchestral painter he brings additional intensity and exuberance to the original harmonies and textures of light and shade. Pictures at an Exhibition is, in part, Mussorgsky’s musical homage to a talented friend, inspired by a visit to a posthumous exhibition. One of Mussorgsky’s great gifts was the ability to capture the essence of a character, mood, or scene in brief, striking musical imagery. His imagination goes far beyond the immediate visual stimulus of the paintings, which are brought into even more vivid detail through Ravel’s orchestral magic.

Rapsodie espagnole, Ravel’s first published orchestral work, is Spanish to the core, subtly and brilliantly evoking the sights, sounds and physical sensations of this “perfumed land that the sun caresses.” This is music at once coolly intellectual and passionately sensuous, which justifies its composer’s reputation as a musical Impressionist. The tension built up through the restraint of the first three movements is released with fervent abandon in the finale – Ravel’s pulsating rhythms combining with full-bodied instrumentation conjures up the brilliance, commotion and joyous confusion of a Spanish festival, offering the composer splendid opportunities for dazzling orchestral effects and colours. Ravel’s admirers had long been waiting for him to compose a piano concerto. When he finally took up the form, in his mid-fifties, he worked on two at once. They were among the last compositions he ever completed. The G Major Concerto sparkles with energy and a sense of

ravelRapsodie espagnole

debussy (orch. ravel)Danse - Tarantelle styrienne

ravelPiano Concerto in G

mussorgsky (orch. ravel)Pictures at an Exhibition

Carlos Miguel Prietoconductor

Gabriela Monteropiano

Picture Perfectthursday

8march 7.30 pm

Hollywood Concerto

coplandAn Outdoor OverturekorngoldViolin ConcertotchaikovskySymphony No.6 ‘Pathétique’

Andrew Littonconductor

Stefan Jackiwviolin

In his Violin Concerto, Korngold reworked themes from several of his film scores. Lush and romantic, the music certainly brings to mind the swashbuckling films of the period. Its combination of full-throated lyricism and unbridled virtuosity made it a favourite with Jascha Heifetz and later violinists. Korngold develops the main theme in freely rhapsodic fashion, embellishing it with pyrotechnic passagework that ascends into the stratosphere. The finale melds a lively hoedown with a sweeping melody of decidedly cinematic character. Tchaikovsky’s final symphony explores the metaphysics of death – the fact that we are made of flesh and blood, and that we will all die. The composer hinted to his friends and admirers that the work might contain secret messages, but he never told them what they were. “Let them guess” he said. Copland’s overture opens in a blaze. This fanfare, and subsequent extended trumpet solo, is contrasted with a march-like theme and a lyrical melody for strings, all of which are cleverly woven into the final, joyous conclusion.

friday

23march 7.30 pm

Andrew Litton

Anna Pyne, Kevin Smith and Vicky Berry

Philippa Stevens and Nicole Boyesen

“vigour and momentum informed the eventful

finale with a hard-driven fugato given out by superbly

disciplined strings, and the end was wonderfully rousing... bournemouth symphony orchestra isat the top of its game.”

David Truslove, Classical SourceJanuary 2017

It is marked by many of the same driving, massive instrumental effects that would later cause the critics to pan the symphony as bombastic and coarse. However, this Capriccio is a fine work. If much of the music is fiery and driving, there are also moments of melancholy and beauty. A love song slowly transforms into a dance celebrating the Gypsy character of the joy of living. You can easily visualise a campfire, with whirling skirts, stamping feet and pure gusto. The dance irresistibly grows more and more frenzied, until the work ends with an explosive presto for full orchestra. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto also received initial hostility. It was shelved for a few years but after some revision and the championing of the work by violinist Adolf Brodsky it soon established itself as a concert favourite with its appealing melodies and dazzling showmanship.

After a promising beginning as a talented composer and performer, with the premiere of his First Symphony, Rachmaninov’s confidence and momentum – if not his entire career – suddenly seemed to fizzle. The performance must have been appalling, not helped by the fact that Glazunov, not the best of conductors to begin with, appeared to be drunk! Rachmaninov called it “the most agonising hour of my life” and the effect on him was devastating. For the next three years he wrote nothing and the symphony itself was never performed again in his lifetime. The entire score is strong, highly individual and self-assured – the work of a young talent overflowing with ideas. Its four movements are unified by a single idea that echoes the shape of the Dies irae, which recurs in several of his most important later works. The Caprice bohémien was Rachmaninov’s second serious instrumental work after graduation, immediately preceding the First Symphony.

rachmaninovSymphony No.1tchaikovsky

Violin Concertorachmaninov

Caprice bohémien

Kirill Karabitsconductor

Alexandra Soummviolin

Bohemian Firefriday

20april

7.30 pm

principal funders principal partner

principal media broadcast principal academic conservatoiremedia partner partner partner academic partner partner partner

public funders

partners

in-kind partners

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra would like to thank the following supporters

principal patrons

David & Jill PetersTerence & Annette O'RourkeMike & Jane StaceyIn memory of Mike Lumb

trusts & foundations

With special thanks to Paul Hamlyn Foundation for its support of BSO Participate

Bristol Music Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Leverhulme Trust,The Valentine Charitable Trust,The Michael & Isle Katz Foundation,Flaghead Charitable Trust, The Sherling Charitable Trust, The Coral Samuel Charitable Trust, Cressy Foundation,The Pitt-Rivers Charitable Trust,The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust,Idelwild Trust, The Leche Trust, The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation, Hinrichsen Foundation, Gess Charitable Trust, Miss Jeanne Bisgood’s Charitable Trust, The VEC Acorn Trust, Bedhampton Charitable Trust, The Norman Family Charitable Trust, The Finzi Trust, The Bliss Trust, Anthony du Boulay Charitable Trust

thank you

We would like to thank our Patrons and Performance Champions, those who have chosen to remember the BSO in their Will, and everyone who supports us through donations, membership or by volunteering their time

FREE ‘Meet the Music’ pre-concert talks take place before each concert (not 24 Nov, 22 Dec or 16 Feb) at 6.40pm in the Council Chamber on the second floor of Portsmouth Guildhall.

series concertsTickets go on general sale on Wednesday 6 September.

£31 £26 £21 £16 Ticket prices are inclusive of an 10% booking charge. (Charges apply for all ticket sales by telephone, online and in person)

A £1 per ticket restoration levy is also payable on all purchases, to help fund the Guildhall Renaissance capital project of repairs and upgrades.

concessionsThe BSO offers the following concessions to most concerts. Please note that only one concession applies per ticket and that concessions are not available retrospectively. Proof of status is required at the time of collection. All concessions and discounts are subject to availability.

BSO Kids for a QuidUnder 18s: £1 per ticket (some exclusions apply)

BSO Vibes£5 per ticket (for 18–25ssigned up to the scheme)

Why not book a package of concerts and save money? Generous discounts are available if you buy 3 concerts or more. Book for all 12 concerts and you will receive a massive 40% off!

Multibuy Discounts12 concerts 40%9 – 11 concerts 30%6 – 8 concerts 20%3–5 concerts 10%

50% discount forFull-time studentsPatrons on Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support or Employment and Support AllowanceAn essential companion

Special prices apply for wheelchair users and up to one companion. Please contact the ticket office for details.

additional concertsTickets on sale now

Smooth Classics (24 Nov)Christmas Proms (22 Dec)Heroes & Monsters (17 Feb)

£31 £26 £21 £16

The Snowman (22 Dec)

£25 £20 £15 £10

Group booking discounts10 or more tickets 10%20 or more tickets 20%30 or more tickets 30%Group discounts are applicable for tickets purchased for the same concert. Tickets must be paid in full one month in advance of the concert date, otherwise they will be released for resale.

ticketsTicketmaster

0844 453 9028(calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge)

Portsmouth Guildhall

02393 870211 (please note that this number is open from 9.30am – 2.30pm Monday to Friday)

bsolive.com