VALE OF GLAMORGAN FESTIVAL OF MUSIC 2006 (TEXT ONLY)
PROGRAMMES
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Wednesday
30 August, 6.15pm
Ewenny
Priory Church, Ewenny
Peteris Vasks in
conversation with Geraint Lewis
Wednesday
30 August, 7.30pm
Latvian Radio Choir –
candlelit concert
Sigvards Klava and Kaspars Putnins (conductors)
This
concert is dedicated to the memory of Lady Jennifer Asscher,
Chairman of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival from 1997 to 2006
|
Doppo la vittoria |
10' |
|
|
Gavin Bryars |
Glorious Hill |
11' |
|
Martins Vilums |
Le temps scintille |
11' |
|
Window from Three Poems by |
5' |
|
|
Interval |
||
|
Musu masu vardi/ Names
of our Mothers |
9' |
|
|
György Ligeti |
Lux aeterna |
9' |
|
Eriks Esenvalds |
Legende de la femme enmurée |
12' |
|
Mate saule/ Mother sun |
4' |
|
The stunning Latvian Radio Choir is one of the greatest a capella groups in the world, displaying fabulous musicianship and astonishing technique. The ethereal qualities of these Baltic voices are reflected in the austere beauty of the Norman church of Ewenny Priory, the captivating setting for this opening Festival concert.
World-famous Latvian composer Peteris Vasks is 60 this year, and we are honoured to host the premiere of a new work for choir.
An atmospheric evening of world-class singing, infused with the spirit of the Baltic
The choir returns to the festival for the closing concert on Sunday 3 September, following a Welsh tour, click here for details.
TICKETS: £10 (£8 for senior citizens, unemployed, disabled people & their companions, children and students)
Box Office: 08700 13 18 12 (BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line) OR 01446 799100 (St Donats Arts Centre)
Thursday
31 August, 7.30pm
Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
LUKE
DOLLMAN (conductor)
PHILIP DUKES (viola)
LUCY WAKEFORD (harp)
SYNERGY VOCALS
With the BBC National Orchestra of Wales musicians playing as if these were their own lives on the line, the passion and commitment was total ... it could hardly have been more alive and compelling.’
THE GUARDIAN
|
Musica appassionata (string orchestra) |
19’ |
|
|
Mohn (viola,
orchestra & electronics) |
22’ |
|
|
John Metcalf |
Mapping Wales (harp & string orchestra) |
18' |
|
Tehillim (voices & orchestra) |
30' | |
Steve Reich’s masterpiece Tehillim is quite unlike anything else in his output. This ‘cantata’ shows Reich at his most expansive, with extended melodic lines on texts from the Psalms and sinuous canons propelling towards an exultant Hallelujah which will ring the length and breadth of Llandaff Cathedral.
Expansive horizons are traced throughout the programme, in works which map Wales, the heavens and the landscape of the human heart. This promises to be a revelatory musical experience.
TICKETS: Nave
seats £12 (£9 for senior citizens, unemployed, disabled people & their companions,
children and students); Box
Office: 08700 13 18 12 (BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience
Line) OR 01446 799100 (St
Donats Arts Centre)
aisle seats (some restricted view) £8 (£6 concessions)
I want to thank the Vale of Glamorgan Festival for their interest in my music and the occasion of my 70th birthday… I do hope that both they and their audience will truly enjoy my music. That will be the best birthday present a composer could ask for."
STEVE REICH
Friday
1 September, 7.30pm
The
Memorial Hall Theatre, Barry
Smith Quartet
Craig Ogden (guitar)
|
Duet (2 violins and tape) |
5’ |
|
|
Electric Counterpoint (guitar & tape) |
15’ |
|
| Steve Reich | Triple Quartet (string quartet & tape) |
15' |
|
Interval |
||
|
Sonata of Loneliness (guitar) |
14’ |
|
|
Different Trains (string quartet & tape) |
27’ |
|
The Smith Quartet are among the UK’s foremost exponents of new music. At the Memorial Hall, they present a concert jam-packed with some of Steve Reich’s most famous works, all of which expand the parameters of live performance with extra voices and with pre-recorded echoes that conjure a myriad clamouring lines from an intimate chamber ensemble.
By complete contrast, Vasks’ guitar sonata is a singular study in musical solitude, played by Craig Ogden, one of the finest guitarists of his generation. Craig also performs Electric Counterpoint, which together with Different Trains, was recorded by Pat Metheny and the Kronos Quartet on what must be the most phenomenally popular and iconic disc of 20th-century classical music.
TICKETS: £8 (£6 for senior citizens, unemployed, disabled people & their companions, children & students)
Box Office: 08700 13 18 12 (BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line) OR 01446 799100 (St Donats Arts Centre)
Saturday
2 September, 1.15pm
Dyffryn Gardens, Education
Block
Paradise Haunts…
and Jarman’s Garden
Visit the beautifully restored Dyffryn Gardens as summer turns to autumn, and hear John Metcalf talking about his Jarman-inspired work for violin and piano, Paradise Haunts… (to be performed by Lontano tonight at St Donats Castle: see below). John will also be signing CDs of the work.
Saturday
2 September, 6.15pm
Tythe Barn, St Donats
Castle
Pre-concert
talk: John Metcalf in conversation
Saturday
2 September,
7.30pm
Bradenstoke Hall, St Donats
Castle
Lontano
John Metcalf 60th Birthday Concert
|
John Metcalf |
Not the Stillness (clarinet, violin, cello, piano) |
10' |
|
Little Summer Music (violin & piano) |
10' |
|
|
Cello Counterpoint (cello & tape) |
15' |
|
|
Interval |
||
|
Nguurraa |
9' |
|
|
John Metcalf |
Paradise Haunts… (violin & piano) |
22' |
Help us raise a toast to the Festival’s Artistic Director, John Metcalf – there’ll be a free glass of champagne for each ticket-holder to this event.
Acclaimed new-music ensemble Lontano performs this celebratory concert in honour of John Metcalf’s 60th birthday. Two of his most significant chamber works are performed alongside birthday tributes to his contemporary Peteris Vasks and septegenarian Steve Reich. A tireless champion of original voices from around the world, John has chosen a work by Georges Lentz, one of Australia’s most talented young composers, to span the generations and complete the programme.
Join the party: if it’s your birthday today (2 September) – and you can prove it! – please claim your free ticket to this performance.
Two types of ticket are available for this concert: performance only, or performance followed by celebratory supper. Please book early for supper-tickets, which are sure to sell quickly!
TICKETS: Concert
only: £8 (£6 for senior citizens, unemployed, disabled people &
their companions, children & students). Box
Office: 08700 13 18 12 (BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience
Line) OR 01446 799100 (St
Donats Arts Centre)
Concert & supper: £20
(£18)
Sunday
3 September, 7.30pm
St Augustine’s Church, Penarth
Latvian Radio Choir
Sigvards Klava and Kaspars Putnins (conductors)
|
Solfeggio |
4' |
|
|
Anne Boyd |
As I crossed a bridge of dreams |
10' |
|
Madrigal |
4' |
|
|
…which was the Son of… |
9' |
|
|
Ziles zina/Tom Tit’s Message |
9' |
|
|
Interval |
||
|
I am the true vine |
10' |
|
|
John Metcalf |
Plainchants |
12' |
|
The Woman with the Alabaster Box |
5' |
|
| Peteris Vasks | Litene | 10' |
In the neo-Gothic splendour of St Augustine’s Church – described as Victorian architect William Butterfield’s ‘most moving love-poem’ – the Latvian Radio Choir return to close the Festival with an exquisite programme including a work by Australian Anne Boyd, another 60th-birthday celebrator this year.
This phenomenal choir’s latest CD was selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine, and they were nominated for this year’s Classical Brit Awards. Take this opportunity to hear them live in a magnificent setting for the final performance in their Welsh tour – an occasion not to be missed.
TICKETS: £8 (£6 for senior citizens, unemployed, disabled people & their companions, children & students)
Box Office: 08700 13 18 12 (BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line) OR 01446 799100 (St Donats Arts Centre)