Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati celebrates Johannes Brahms, including performances of all four symphonies and Ein deutsches Requiem,
Emmanuel Krivine takes up the post of Principal Guest Conductor,
Line-up of internationally acclaimed guest artists includes lestyn Davies, Isabelle Faust, Matthias Goerne, Steven Isserlis, Pekka Kuusisto, Renata Pokupic, Kate Royal and Lars Vogt,
Artists making their SCQ main Season debuts include Ain Anger, Alexandre Bloch, John Butt, Tuomas Hannikainen, Alina Ibragimova, Helena Juntunen, Antonio Mendez, Regula Muhlemann, Tedi Papavrami, Dorothea Roschmann and Anika Vavic,
SCQ Chorus celebrates 25th anniversary,
World premieres of SCQ commissions by Lotta Wennakoski and Haflioi Hallgrimsson,
Celebration of Sibelius and Nielsen 150th anniversaries continues.
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The music of Johannes Brahms is at the heart of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s programme of concerts and events for the 2015/16 Season (October 2015 to May 2016), which launches today. The SCO rolls out a programme which includes a wealth of acclaimed international guest artists, debuts, new commissions, premieres and soloists. The Orchestra continues to perform regularly in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, St Andrews, Perth and Dumfries, as well as connecting with wider and diverse audiences on tour throughout the country and further afield.
TICCIATI AND BRAHMS
In what will be his 7th season with the Orchestra, Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati follows on from his celebrated explorations of composers such as Berlioz, Haydn and Schumann, choosing to explore and celebrate the work of Brahms. As part of the Brahms Series, proudly sponsored by Baillie Gifford, Ticciati will conduct two overtures, the four symphonies and the ground-breaking Ein deutsches Requiem in the new season.
The SCO is no stranger to the work of Brahms, having performed his symphonies extensively with Sir Charles Mackerras, Joseph Swensen and Paavo Berglund among others, and also has a strong affinity with the composers that preceded and influenced Brahms. With the Orchestra’s deep appreciation of the ways in which Brahms brought the Classical symphony into the Romantic era, Ticciati looks forward to embracing audiences with the full force of Brahms’ progressive innovation: “Each symphony has its distinct voice that allows one to come for an evening and be totally immersed in the romance of what it is to love, suffer and love again. We have the immense struggle to arrive at the first symphony in the looming shadow of Beethoven...; the ‘hovering black wings’ of the second...; the final tragic farewell to Clara [Schumann] in the third; and the seemingly abstract summation of symphonic form in the fourth.”
Ticciati and the SCO consider the influence of Brahms on subsequent generations by pairing his symphonies with landmark works from the Second Viennese School, including Berg and Schoenberg, a great admirer of Brahms: German violinist Isabelle Faust plays Berg’s Violin Concerto; Lars Vogt – who last appeared with the SCO in the 2014 Edinburgh International Festival to critical acclaim – performs Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto; and Dorothea Röschmann sings Berg’s mysterious Seven Early Songs for her SCO debut. The SCO Chorus marks its 25th anniversary with performances of Brahms’ epic masterpiece Ein deutsches Requiem along with lyric soprano Kate Royal and leading baritone Matthias Goerne.
SCO CHORUS 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Entering his 7th Season as SCO Chorus Director, Gregory Batsleer continues to take the Chorus to new heights in its 25th year. As well as Brahms, the Chorus sings in Handel’s Theodora with SCO Associate Artist Richard Egarr conducting and a line-up of distinguished soloists including mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić and counter tenor Iestyn Davies. Historical performance expert Richard Egarr will lead the Orchestra and Chorus in a further programme of Bach (Magnificat) and Mendelssohn in April 2016.
SCO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS
SCO recognises the value of longstanding creative partnerships, such as that with Richard Egarr. Following many successful collaborations over the years, world-renowned French conductor Emmanuel Krivine takes up the post of Principal Guest Conductor with the SCO and conducts several concerts throughout the Season, proudly sponsored by Quilter Cheviot; the first features SCO Associate Artist Karen Cargill singing Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder alongside Brahms and Schubert, while Krivine closes the Season with Beethoven’s triumphant ‘Eroica’ and Albanian violinist Tedi Papavrami playing Sibelius Violin Concerto* in his SCO debut. An array of loyal SCO guest conductors all return to the Orchestra this Season including Olari Elts, John Storgårds and Joseph Swensen*.
COMMISSIONS AND CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
The SCO continues its tradition of regularly commissioning new works with two world premieres for the Season. The first is by Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski as part of an all-Nordic programme conducted by Tuomas Hannikainen, which also includes Nielsen’s Violin Concerto* performed by Pekka Kuusisto and the UK premiere of the conductor’s own arrangement of Sibelius’ Maiden in the Tower Orchestral Suite. The second commission comes from Icelandic composer Hafliđi Halgrímsson, and will be sung by the Finnish soprano Helena Juntunen, conducted by John Storgårds. The SCO features a wide range of contemporary music in the upcoming Season, including Kurtág’s Movement for Viola and Orchestra with SCO Principal Viola Jane Atkins as soloist, Dean’s Testament, the Scottish Premiere of Widmann’s Ikarische Klage and a return of SCO Associate Composer Martin Suckling’s piece Six Speechless Songs, which was commissioned by the SCO in its 40th year.
GUEST ARTISTS AND MORE SCO DEBUTS
The 2015/16 Season sees a host of world-class soloists collaborating with the SCO for the first time: young Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann brings a collection of vivid Mozart Arias and Serbian pianist Anika Vavić appears as soloist for Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 2, conducted by Alexandre Bloch who will make his Season debut having recently toured the North of Scotland with the SCO. Kit Armstrong performs Mozart’s K466 Concerto with Clemens Schuldt (a frequent SCO collaborator) on the podium, while Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi returns to play Mozart’s contrasting Concertos K503 and K537 under the baton of Andrew Manze. Spanish conductor Antonio Méndez, who debuts with the SCO this summer, joins the Orchestra in the main Season with a programme of powerful works by Mozart and Beethoven.
Following the release of their critically acclaimed album of Schumann Symphonies in 2014, the SCO continues its exploration of Schumann (a close friend of Brahms) with Robin Ticciati: distinguished cellist Steven Isserlis returns for Schumann’s Cello Concerto, while violinist Alina Ibragimova makes her SCO Season debut with his Violin Concerto.
SCO CONNECT
SCO’s creative learning team, SCO Connect, continues its dedication towards engaging people and communities in music appreciation and music-making across Scotland. Alongside regular programmes in schools, such as its orchestral fusion project SCO VIBE, the Connect team also runs community initiatives such as SCO ReConnect music and dementia project. SCO Insights provide glimpses into the thinking of our internationally renowned performers, composers and conductors, in the form of Pre-concert Insights and Explore days, which will this Season focus on Brahms, Wagner and JS Bach. Following the great success of the current Season’s family concert, Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants, SCO Connect will present Jonathan Dove’s musical adventure, The Crocodiamond, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz, in February 2016.
Speaking about the Orchestra’s upcoming Season, SCO Chief Executive Roy McEwan commented:
There are many strong contours in our new Season. Robin Ticciati’s Brahms Cycle dominates but the arrival of Emmanuel Krivine also moves us into some great works of the early 19th Century, while Sibelius and Nielsen feature in some very unusual guises. It’s a remarkably wide ranging Season in the diversity of repertoire, returning world-class artists and several debut performances – in many respects summing up the SCO’s artistic aspirations.