Programme
Grace Williams Sea Sketches, William Mathias Concerto for Harp , Edward Elgar ‘Enigma’ Variations
Artists
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Tadaaki Otaka – Conductor, Catrin Finch – Harp
Although written in London, it is a longing for the seas of Barry that inspired Grace Williams’ surging musical seascape, her Sea Sketches. An unmistakable Welshness also pervades William Mathias’ Harp Concerto; with the harp introduced to the audience as an accompanying instrument, reflecting its traditional role within Welsh music, before assuming a more soloistic position, and quoting the Welsh song Dadl Dau in its closing movement. We’re delighted to welcome Welsh harp sensation, and a regular face with BBC NOW, Catrin Finch to perform.
Striking a balance between the light-hearted and the noble, Elgar’s Enigma Variations is an ingenious collection of musical sketches of his friends and an astute self-portrait – an enigma hidden within the score as each variation is tagged with the initials of the friends’ nicknames. To conduct we’re delighted to welcome back much-loved Conductor Laureate Tadaaki Otaka.
Family Tickets are not available to buy online but can be purchased from the Box Office on 01792 475715. Tickets £12.00 – £20.00
Programme
Caroline Shaw – The Observatory, Maurice Ravel – Piano Concerto in G major, Béla Bartók – Concerto for Orchestra
Performers
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Giancarlo Guerrero conductor, Sergio Tiempo piano
Composers
Caroline Shaw, Maurice Ravel, Béla Bartók
Caroline Shaw’s The Observatory sees its UK premiere – blending chaos and clarity, foreground and background, the piece is inspired by a trip to the Griffin Observatory near the Hollywood Bowl and explores new ways of looking at the universe, melding old and new in a stream of consciousness that never quite ends where it began.
Ravel’s iconic piano concerto, rich with lyrical contrast, jaunty tunes and richly intricate piano lines is performed by the inimitable Sergio Tiempo as he makes his debut with BBC NOW. A pure celebration of music and instrument colours, Bartók’s folk-flecked Concerto for Orchestra closes this breath-taking programme, conducted by the illustrious Grammy Award Winning Costa Rican conductor, Giancarlo Guerrero.
Family Tickets are not available to buy online but can be purchased from the Box Office on 01792 475715. Tickets £12.00 – £20.00
Ryan Bancroft conductor, Alisa Weilerstein cello
Globally renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein joins BBC NOW in this season closing concert for one of the most highly regarded of all cello concerti. Melodic genius, irrepressible energy and a love of his native folk music radiate as Dvořák looks back at life well lived, full of joy but also of deep loss in his virtuosic cello concerto. Similarly, intuitive musical invention, rich orchestration, and an exploration of the cathedral “as a symbolic doorway into and out of this world” form a platform for floating and contemplative other-worldly atmospheres to unfurl in Higdon’s expertly crafted sonic journey through a sacred space and upward into the heavens – Blue Cathedral.
Picture the scene – November 1934, Carnegie Hall and a brand-new symphony is unveiled, receiving rapturous applause and multiple bows for its unassuming composer. That composer was a 35-year old African American man, William Dawson, who had run away from home aged 13 to follow his dream of studying music; and the piece… the Negro Folk Symphony. Oozing a sensuousness and directness of melody, Dawson set out to compose music that was “unmistakeably not the work of a white man” and found his inspiration from the “negro folk music” he had learned as a small child. This expertly crafted and highly emotionally charged symphony is pure genius, and who better to conduct this exhilarating finale to the season than our Principal Conductor, Ryan Bancroft.
Family Tickets are not available to buy online but can be purchased from the Box Office on 01792 475715. Tickets £12.00 – £20.00
