MMS brochure 2011-12

For over sixty years our society has been actively
involved in the cultural life of Morpeth, promoting
an annual series of classical concerts performed
by professional artists of national and international
standing. We encourage the town’s young
musicians in a number of ways: artists are invited
to hold master-classes for local schools; members
donations are used to supply some free concert
tickets to schools; the Eileen Bowler Scholarship is
awarded to fund an outstanding student’s additional
music lessons. In addition we are including free
entrance to a child of school age with each adult
membership. As an added bonus, those who
purchase a full membership ticket for £55 will be
allowed to bring one friend free to the first concert
of the season.
67 Season 2011 - 2012
th
All concerts start at 7.30pm in the Methodist
Church, Howard Terrace, Morpeth.
Wheelchair access available.
13 Oct 2011....London Mozart Trio
piano trio
10 Nov 2011....Libor Novacek piano
8 Dec 2011....The Musicke Company
2 Feb 2012....London Haydn Quartet & Clarinet
1 Mar 2012....Joanna MacGregor 12 Apr 2012....Badke Quartet
piano
string quartet
Individual Concerts, adult £12.00, student over
18 £2.50. Full Season Ticket £55
Tickets can be purchased from Chantry Tourist Information
Centre, Morpeth Methodist Church, via our website and at the
door on the night of the concert. For season tickets and contact
address see website below.
Tel: 01670 513369
Email: [email protected]
www.morpeth-musoc.org.uk
Morpeth Music Society is a registered charity No. 1048490
The Badke Quartet string quartet
Joanna MacGregor piano
Thursday 12th April 2012
Thursday 1 March 2012
st
Morpeth Music Society
2011-12
Photograph by Pal Hansen
Morpeth Music Society
Lost Highway Gospel and blues from the
Deep South
Piazzolla
Six Tangos (arr. MacGregor)
Bach
Goldberg Variations BWV988
Haydn
Britten
ˆ Dvorák Joanna MacGregor is an international star in the
music world, renowned for her virtuosic performances
as well as her innovative programming. She is artistic
director of the Bath International Music Festival and
will shortly take up a new post as Head of Keyboard
at the Royal Academy of Music. It is typical for a
MacGregor programme to juxtapose arrangements
of gospel, blues and Piazzolla tangos with the Bach
Goldberg variations. Anyone who was lucky enough
to experience her performances at recent Brinkburn
festivals will see this concert as an essential diary
fixture, while newcomers should prepare to be
overwhelmed by this opportunity to hear one of the
most exciting musicians in the UK.
The Badke Quartet all studied at the Royal Academy
of Music or Royal College of Music and have
performed internationally, winning 1st and Audience
Prize at the 5th Melbourne International Chamber
Music Competition in 2007. The current line up is first
violin Lana Trotovšek, second violin Emma Parker,
viola Jon Thorne and cello Jonathan Byers. They will
open with Haydn’s quartet Op.33 No 1 in B minor.
Britten acknowledged only 3 string quartets among
his mature works: Op.94 is the last, and indeed it was
his penultimate completed work finished only a year
before he died. Finally the Badke Quartet
ˆ will perform
the spirited “American” quartet by Dvorák, reflecting
his New World surroundings during its composition.
‘Joanna MacGregor’s career is practically built on
a reinvention of the star virtuoso tradition, applied
to the often cerebral and style-oblivious world of
contemporary music.’
BBC Classical Review 2004
‘focused energy and lyricism … fully sympathetic…
The Badkes also know how to make Haydn sound
rich and full without ever trespassing into areas of
romantic expression that could undermine the style
or scale of the music.’
The Irish Times 2009
Supported by The Joicey Trust and BWJ Mitford
Supported by Northumberland
County Council Community Chest
String quartet in B minor Op.33 no.1
Quartet Op.94 no.3
String quartet no.12 in F major
Op.96 "American"
Classical Music in Morpeth
The London Mozart Trio
The Musicke Company
The London Haydn Quartet
Thursday 10th November 2011
Thursday 8th December 2011
Thursday 2nd February 2012
with Eric Hoeprich, clarinet
Photograph by Hanya Chlala
Thursday 13th October 2011
Libor Novacek piano
ˆ
Dvorák Shostakovich Schubert Beethoven
Brahms Liszt
Colin Stone (piano), Krzysztof Smietana (violin) and
Sagi Hartov (cello) are the current London Mozart
Trio, originally formed in 1989. All of the musicians
are established solo performers and have flourishing
ˆ
teaching careers. The concert opens with Dvorák’s
last trio, the ‘Dumky,’ named after a type of Slavic
epic ballad. Shostakovich’s famous second trio,
based on Jewish folk themes, was written in 1944
as a lamentation for the death of a close friend and
also for the victims of the Holocaust. The programme
concludes with Schubert’s first piano trio, its beauty
belying the fact that it was written during his terminal
illness.
Libor Novacek was inspired to become a concert
pianist after attending a recital by Lazar Berman at
the age of four in his homeland of Czechoslovakia. He
later studied at the Guildhall and on graduation was
accepted by the prestigious and highly competitive
Young Concert Artists Trust scheme. Libor now
performs as a soloist and recitalist all over the world
and has released several well received recordings.
Beethoven’s early sonata in C Major provides a
typical classical opening to this concert. Novacek is
particularly noted for his performances of Brahms and
Liszt and we can look forward to hearing the seven
romantic Phantasien and the virtuosic B minor sonata.
‘… exceptionally fine playing, in which every detail
was handled with evident care and thought…’
Music & Vision 2011
‘If Brahms himself had been recorded playing his own
music, this, I believe, is how it might have sounded:
the young Czech pianist Libor Novacek gives these
majestic pieces a dazzling sweep and splendour.’
The Independent 2009
Supported by Morpeth Town Council
Sonata in C major Op.2 no.3
Phantasien Op.116
Sonata in B minor
Supported by Northern Rock Foundation
and MMS Members donations
A Yuletide Tale A seasonal tale of poetry &
prose combined with songs,
duets & instrumental music by
Mozart, Purcell, Monteverdi,
Grandi and Scarlatti.
‘A Yuletide tale’ is a semi-staged performance of
music, poetry and prose telling the Christmas story,
and including music by Monteverdi, Grandi, Scarlatti,
Purcell and Mozart as well as traditional carols.
Philippa Hyde (soprano), Paul Esswood (countertenor), Jennifer Janse (cello) and Helen Rogers
(harpsichord and chamber organ) specialise in playing
the music of the 17th and 18th centuries and aim to
bring this repertoire to life with their unique approach.
The Musicke Company performs a variety of unusual
programmes throughout Europe and the society is
delighted to bring this exciting group to Morpeth.
‘One of the most gifted and more musically intelligent
of all the early music groups currently before the
public.’
Musical Opinion
Supported by The Barbour Trust
Beethoven Quartet Op.18 no.3 in D major
Haydn
Quartet Op.50 no.4 in F sharp
minor
Mozart
Clarinet quintet
Catherine Manson, violinist, and James Boyd, violist,
ˆ
inspired to play the Haydn string quartets on gut
strings with classical bows formed the London Haydn
Quartet in 2001. Violinist Michael Gurevich and cellist
Richard Lester complete the quartet. The group has
received critical acclaim for their live performances and
recordings particularly of the Haydn string quartets.
Beethoven’s first string quartet, composed to a
commission by Prince Lobowitz, opens the recital.
One of the ‘Prussian’ quartets by Haydn will then give
the musicians a chance to live up to their name. The
recital concludes with Mozart’s clarinet quintet, for
which the quartet is joined by period clarinettist Eric
Hoeprich.
‘The emphasis on line, clarity and movement found its
ˆ
fulfilment
in a performance that moved from sublimely
beautiful to wrenchingly tragic without slipping out of
scale.’
The Strad
Supported by Hardington Hogg Solicitors
and The Community Foundation