Music, Classical

Scottish Opera: Falstaff

8 May 2008

OPERA Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 13, Thu 15, Sat 17, Wed 21 & Sat 24 May; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 18, Sat 21, Thu 26 & Sat 28 Jun Long before any government directives on obesity, Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff knew all about the challenges…

Peter & The Wolf

13 Mar 2008

DANCE & CLASSICAL MUSIC Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Wed 26 & Thu 27 Mar To young ears, an orchestra can seem like a giant melting pot of sound. And picking out which instrument is playing when is a rather tricky affair. Which is why Sergei…

Sarah Chang

18 Oct 2007

GUEST PERFORMER Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Wed 24 Oct Glasgow’s International Classical series has some impressive names attached to it this season. Alfred Brendel, Kurt Masur, Ian Bostridge and Antonio Pappano are just a few of those who are in…

Gianni Schicchi/L’heure espagnole

RSAMD Opera, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Fri 19 &Sat 2

15 Jan 2007

OPERA DOUBLE BILL USA and Canada, England and Wales, Sweden, Iceland, Singapore and Brazil are all countries that are fielding singers in the RSAMD’s comedy double bill of operas from Italy and France. Although a one-off blip means that Scotland is…

Sally Matthews and Toby Spence

3 Jan 2007

VISITING VOCALISTS As Scotland’s various concert promoters revive themselves in the wake of the festive season, two organisations - totally coincidentally - choose to start the new year with stars from the younger generation of British singers. Tenor…

Music of Thomas Adès

9 Aug 2007

For some inexplicable reason, the music of the young English composer Thomas Adès doesn’t get much of an airing north of the border. Putting that to rights is the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, with Adès himself conducting his violin concerto and the…

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

17 Jan 2008

CLASSICAL City Halls, Glasgow Fri 18 Jan; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 19 Jan From the familiar tunes of Vivaldi’s pre-Christmas Four Seasons to four saxophones performing a brand new piece of music is quite a leap. Four is also the number of…

Children’s Classic Concerts

29 Nov 2007

CLASSICAL CONCERT Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Sat 1 Dec; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 16 Dec He’s more at home behind the shop counter in Still Game, but this Christmas Sanjeev Kohli is branching out. Instead of hanging out with old boys Jack and…

Classical hitlist - the best classical music

4 Oct 2007

The Scottish Ensemble: Passionate Romantics Starting their winter season with the fire of passion and romance, the SE play the luscious, but infrequently aired Chausson Concert for violin, piano and strings. A great success when first performed, its…

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

20 Sep 2007

NEW SEASON Classic Bites, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 21 Sep; Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sat 22 Sep; Opening Concert, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 28 Sep; Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sat 29 Sep The leaves on the trees are starting to…

* Hitlist (Classical)

Hitlist

26 Apr 2007

The Sixteen: Music from the Sistine Chapel The seventh choral pilgrimage of this outstanding group of 16 singers takes the Renaissance music of the Papal chapels as its inspiration. The sumptuous sounds of Allegri’s famous Miserere forms the centrepiece…

Royal Scottish National Orchestra: Naked Classics

Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Thu 26 Oct

11 Oct 2006

STANDARDS REVISTED AND REWORKED Naked and orchestras are two words which (probably thankfully) don’t usually appear in the same sentence. The RSNO’s new Naked Classics series is set to change that, albeit the collective body of the orchestra that is…

Royal Scottish National Orchestra: Finale! Brilliant Benedetti

24 Apr 2008

Playing the Szymanowski concerto (and look out for his opera King Roger at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival) that shot her to fame as winner of the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year in 2004, violin prodigy Nicola Benedetti (pictured) is top…

Edinburgh International Festival programme unveiled

2 Apr 2008

This year’s Edinburgh International Festival will take the changes and challenges facing contemporary Europe as its theme, it was announced today. Highlights of the programme include the world premiere of Matthew Bourne’s new dance work ‘Dorian…

Messiaen Centenary

28 Feb 2008

One of the greatest figures of 20th century music, the French composer, organist and ornithologist, Olivier Messiaen was born in 1908. Celebrating his centenary, Edinburgh University, ECAT and the RSAMD collaborate with leading Messiaen scholar, Peter…

Trilok Gurtu

31 Jan 2008

CELTIC CONNECTIONS Trilok Gurtu may have begun his musical life in a family thoroughly steeped in the strict disciplines and formal cohesion of Indian classical music, but his own career has taken him into some of the most diverse world-jazz fusions…

Hitlist - The best classical & opera

20 Sep 2007

• BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Thursday Night Series The opening concert of the BBC SSO’s new series is inspired by heavenly bodies, centred on Holst’s everlastingly vivid portraits of The Planets, one of the most popular pieces of classical music…

Benedetti: Cult of reality TV ‘disturbing’

3 Sep 2007

Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti has lashed out at the ‘reality’ culture responsible for spawning pointless celebrities, such as footballers’ wives and socialite Paris Hilton. The 20-year-old from Ayrshire also directed her criticisms at fellow…

Christine Brewer

23 Aug 2007

As comfortable chatting about American Idol as she is arias, Christine Brewer is swift to dispel any notion of the opera diva. Indeed, from the moment she burst onto the stage as a teenager with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Brewer knew she had…

Gürzenich Orchestra

Carol Main

23 Aug 2007

Of all the orchestras appearing at the Festival, there is none with a more impressive pedigree than the Gürzenich from Germany. Mahler, Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms and Stravinsky all wrote for and conducted this orchestra, whose Cologne roots stretch…

Second Life to host first online symphonic concert

14 Aug 2007

The virtual world Second Life has added another string to its bow of real-life pursuits, with plans to stage a full scale symphonic concert on the site. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic has created a virtual version of its concert hall in which it will…

L’Orfeo

9 Aug 2007

‘Festivals are a sort of personal odyssey,’ says EIF director Jonathan Mills, ‘like a pilgrimage or rite of passage, where you can learn about yourself.’ In programming his first Festival, Mills also threw down a personal gauntlet, meeting the challenge…

National Youth Choir of Scotland

3 Jul 2007

CHORAL CONCERTS While the professional outfits take a summer break, it’s the turn of Scotland’s musical youth to take to the stage. First off on the round of summer courses, concerts and tours is the National Youth Choir of Scotland. In preparation…

Orchestra of Scottish Opera

Orchestra of Scottish Opera

28 Sep 2006

CLASSICAL They may not be very visible when Scottish Opera is on the main stage, but the Orchestra of Scottish Opera is not one to shy away from appearing in public on their own so that audiences can get a chance to hear and see them a bit more…

Opera Unwrapped returns

10 Apr 2008

Book now for Scottish Opera's behind-the-scenes scheme SCOTTISH OPERA’S Opera Unwrapped season kicks off again next month in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The strand offers fans and novices an hour-long behind-the-scenes look at the new season’s…