The Piano

Mitsuko Uchida
Alfred Brendel
András Schiff
Ludovico Einaudi
And more...
The Piano
Various venues,Glasgow, November 2011
Ultimately, the piano, like every instrument is merely a tool,
a means to an end. But no other instrument can compare
with the piano for the power it gives the individual player to
create a whole many-voiced world of colours, lines, arguments,
textures – and emotions. Few other instruments have proven
themselves as multifaceted and versatile as this astounding
creation of wood, metal, wire, felt and lacquer. That is why,
for the month of November, we join forces with the Scottish
Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and
Tramway to celebrate The Piano.
Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Master Pianist
Piano Circus play Steve Reich
Friday 4th November 2011, 7.30pm
£26, £22, £17, £12, City Halls, Grand Hall
Saturday 12th November 2011, 7.30pm
£15, Tramway
Mozart
Schubert
Beethoven
Steve Reich
Shiva Feshareki
Divertimento in F K138
Symphony No. 3
Piano Concerto No. 3
Robert Levin is both international star performer and
high-flying academic. Few people know more about
the age of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert than he
does – but don’t expect a dusty lecture here! Levin’s
research has led him to conclude that Beethoven’s
performances were more like jazz than today’s
classical performances.
Abdullah Ibrahim Trio
Friday 11th November 2011, 8pm
£25, £20, Old Fruitmarket
Long spun melodies, deep harmonies, feather-light
percussion, sonorous chord-shifts – the sound of the
Abdullah Ibrahim Trio in concert: deep, memorable
and moving.
Steve Reich
Graham Fitkin
Four Organs
Jack of All Trades
(World Premiere)
Six Pianos
Log – Line – Loud
Piano Circus
Steve Reich’s Six Pianos is the work that inspired the
creation of Piano Circus, and they come to Glasgow
with Reich’s complete keyboard works alongside Fitkin’s
dancing, pounding three-parter, Log – Line – Loud.
Shiva Feshareki made it to the shortlist for BBC
Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year 2004,
and her new piece fuses electronics and keyboards
to stretch the possibilities of the keyboard even further
into the realm of the fantastical.
An Hour with the Hammerklavier
Sunday 13th November 2011, 3pm
£3, Old Fruitmarket
Piano Family Day
Saturday 12th November, from 11am
Tramway
Beethoven's Hammerklavier is a piece that rewards
careful attention and preparation from the audience
as well as the performer.
Family fun for anyone who fancies the idea of tickling
the ivories. Details will be posted soon and include
the chance to try your hand at accompanying a silent
movie, join a mass performance of In C and more…
Ll^yr Williams prepares us for the performance with
an introductory session.
Llŷr Williams: Hammerklavier
Sunday 13th November 2011, 4.30pm
£12, City Halls, Grand Hall
Hammerklavier stands out among the Himalayan
peaks of Beethoven’s late works, for its scale, intensity
and the formidable difficulty it presents any performer.
Ll^yr Williams is already veteran of the piece, and
brings both quiet authority and ‘demonic’ intensity
to his interpretation.
Abdullah Ibrahim
András Schiff plays Beethoven
Sunday 13th November 2011, 7.30pm
£30, £25, £20, City Halls, Grand Hall
Mozart
Mendelssohn
Haydn
Schumann
Beethoven
12 Variations in B flat on an
Allegretto KV500
Variations Serieuses Op 54
Variations in F minor Hob XVII:6
Theme with Variations in E flat
"Geister Variations"
Diabelli Variations
Unbelievably, this concert marks the Glasgow debut of
the great pianist, András Schiff. He performs what has
been described as the greatest of all Beethoven’s piano
works – Diabelli Variations, a sublime and epic journey
that starts with a short simple melody.
Buy a ticket for this event and see Francesco
Piemontesi for just £5
Scottish Chamber Orchestra:
Keyboard Titans
Friday 25th November 2011, 7.30pm
£26, £22, £17, £12, City Halls, Grand Hall
Beethoven
Beethoven
Mozart
Coriolan Overture
Piano Concerto No.2
Symphony No 41 'Jupiter'
A real treat for lovers of piano music: Leon Fleisher,
a living legend of the keyboard, is now in his 80s but
still shines as a pianist, conductor, mentor and teacher.
For this, his SCO debut, he conducts while his pupil
Nicholas Angelich plays Beethoven’s youthful concerto.
Ludovico Einaudi: Solo Recital
Friday 25th November 2011, 8pm
£25, £20, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall,
Main Auditorium
BBC SSO Thursday Night Series:
Russian Classics and Prokofiev Piano
Concerto 1
“If you expect a normal piano concert, think again! This
is an exploration, a thrilling and unpredictable challenge
that opens up new paths for our music.”
(La Repubblica). Need we say more?
Thursday 24th November 2011, 7.30pm
£23, £19, £16, £10, City Halls, Grand Hall
Presented in association with Serious Music
Prokofiev
Stravinsky
Prokofiev
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 1 ‘Classical’
Petrushka (1911 version)
Piano Concerto No.1
Francesca da Rimini
Young Russian piano virtuoso Denis Kozhukhin embarks
on the second stage of his Prokofiev journey with the
youthful, barnstorming Piano Concerto No.1.
András Schiff
Pandora’s Box with music by Neil Brand
Saturday 26th November 2011, 3pm
£15, Old Fruitmarket
A true tour-de-force, Neil Brand performs his
own virtuosic score for Pabst's great silent movie,
Pandora’s Box. Awash in iconic images and breath
taking shots, the film is a classic, and Brand’s score
heightens the drama – a formidable challenge to any
pianist – nearly two hours of piano fireworks.
Rex Lawson’s Dead Pianists Society
Pianola Recitals by Great Pianists of the Past
The Glasgow UNESCO City of Music Lecture
Sir Alfred Brendel: The Character in Music
Saturday 26th November 2011, 6pm
£10, City Halls, Recital Room
Sunday 27th November 2011, 3pm
£20 (£10 child), City Halls, Grand Hall
Hear the pianists of centuries past thanks to the
hugely popular pianola. Rex Lawson is the foremost
authority and performer on the instrument, and comes
to Glasgow with a selection of fascinating performances
by great figures from the past. Reflecting Mitsuko
Uchida’s selection of repertoire in her recital, Lawson
performs a number of interpretations of works by
Chopin and Schumann.
There was widespread dismay when Alfred Brendel
announced his retirement from performing in public –
so it is with great pleasure that we welcome him as
a speaker and thinker to reflect on ‘character’ in music.
IIlustrating his thoughts at the piano, Brendel speaks
with all the authority of a lifetime of performing, writing,
talking, mentoring and teaching music.
Mitsuko Uchida in Recital
Saturday 26th November 2011, 7.30pm
£30, £25, £20, City Halls, Grand Hall
Chopin
Chopin
Chopin
Schumann
Schumann
Schoenberg
Nocturnes Op. 62
Polonaise-Fantasie Op. 61
Ballade No. 4
Waldszenen
Davidsbündlertänze
Six Little Pieces
For her first Glasgow appearance in more than a decade,
Mitsuko Uchida returns to the heartland of the great
Romantic piano repertoire. Chopin and Schumann are
composers to whom she has returned again and again
with fresh insights and ever-deepening understanding
and mastery.
Buy a ticket for this event and see Francesco
Piemontesi for just £5
Buy a ticket for this event and see Brendel protégé
Francesco Piemontesi for just £5
Rex Lawson’s Dead Pianists Society
Pianola Recitals by Great Pianists of the Past
Sunday 27th November 2011, 4.30pm
£10, City Halls, Recital Room
Lawson speaks fascinatingly about the history and
development of the pianola and performs some rare
rolls, including Liszt’s B minor Sonata as it was
performed by the performer Liszt himself admired.
Francesco Piemontesi in Recital
Sunday 27th November 2011, 6pm
£12 (£5 for Brendel, Uchida or Schiff ticket holders)
City Halls, Grand Hall
Mozart
Chopin
Debussy
Lachenmann
Schubert
Fantasy in D minor
Barcarolle
Préludes (selection)
Schubert-Variations
Sonata D959
Still in his 20s, Francesco Piemontesi is already
a prominent figure on the international stage.
He made quite an impact at his SCO debut last season,
and returns to Glasgow with one of his very favourite
pieces – Schubert’s late sonata, D.959.
Alfred Brendel
The Piano Concert Diary — Dates throughout November 2011
Fri 4th, 7.30pm
Fri 11th, 8pm
Sat 12th, from 11am
Sat 12th, 7.30pm
Sun 13th, 3pm
Sun 13th, 4.30pm
Sun 13th, 7.30pm
Thu 24th, 7.30pm
Fri 25th, 7.30pm
Fri 25th, 8pm
Sat 26th, 3pm
Sat 26th, 6pm
Sat 26th, 7.30pm
Sun 27th, 3pm
Sun 27th, 4.30pm
Sun 27th, 6pm
Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Master Pianist
Abdullah Ibrahim Trio
Piano Family Fun Day
Piano Circus play Steve Reich
Llŷr Williams: An Hour with the Hammerklavier
Llŷr Williams: Hammerklavier
András Schiff plays Beethoven
BBC SSO: Thursday Night Series
Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Keyboard Titans
Ludovico Einaudi Solo Recital
Pandora’s Box with music by Neil Brand
Rex Lawson’s Dead Pianists Society
Mitsuko Uchida in Recital
The Glasgow UNESCO City of Music Lecture: Alfred Brendel
Rex Lawson’s Dead Pianists Society
Francesco Piemontesi in Recital
City Halls, Grand Hall
Old Fruitmarket
Tramway
Tramway
Old Fruitmarket
City Halls, Grand Hall
City Halls, Grand Hall
City Halls, Grand Hall
City Halls, Grand Hall
GRCH, Main Hall
Old Fruitmarket
City Halls, Recital Room
City Halls, Grand Hall
City Halls, Grand Hall
City Halls, Recital Room
City Halls, Grand Hall
Booking Information
Online:
www.glasgowconcerthalls.com (24 hours)
By phone:
0141 353 8000 (Mon – Fri 9am – 6pm, Sat 10am – 6pm)
In person:
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3NY
(Mon – Sat 10am – 6pm)
City Halls and Old Fruitmarket, Candleriggs, Glasgow, G1 1NQ
(Mon – Sat 12noon – 6pm)
Tickets for all performances can be booked at both box office locations. Sunday opening hours may vary,
please contact the box office to confirm. The box office counter and phone-lines will remain open later on
concert evenings.
Venues
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
2 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3NY
City Halls & Old Fruitmarket
Candleriggs, Glasgow, G1 1NQ
Tramway
25 Albert Drive, Glasgow, G41 2PE
Please note a transaction charge of £1 (online) or £1.50 (telephone) applies to all bookings.
Concession prices are available for certain performances; please ask at the time of booking.
Ludovico Einaudi presented in partnership with Serious Music
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registered as a charity with the office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (No SCO37844).
All details were correct at time of going to print, but may be subject to change.