The Barbican announces its 2017–18 classical music season
The Barbican today announces its 2017–18 classical music season. At the core of the
unparalleled programme are the Centre’s Resident Orchestra, the London
Symphony Orchestra, Associate Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and
the Barbican Associate Ensembles the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten
Sinfonia. Barbican International Associates, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra return to the Centre this season. Highlights of the
season include:
-A ten day celebration to mark Sir Simon Rattle’s inaugural season as the LSO’s
Music Director and Artist-in-Association with the Barbican and Guildhall School of
Music & Drama, 14-24 September 2017
 five evening concerts with the LSO conducted by Sir Simon
 inaugural programme with works by Adès, Birtwistle, Knussen, Elgar and a
world premiere by Helen Grime, commissioned by the Barbican
 Adès, Birtwistle, Knussen and Grime curate four concerts at Milton Court,
presented by the Barbican
 concert relayed live to Barbican Sculpture Court, bringing silent disco
technology to classical music for the first time
 Portraits of Friendship, an interactive multimedia installation devised by
Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning, alongside Anna Meredith and Jonathan
Munro
-International orchestras including
 a residency from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel
 Bavarian State Orchestra conducted by Kirill Petrenko
 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons,
 Orchestra of La Scala conducted by Riccardo Chailly
 Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Herbert Blomstedt
-A composer focus on Esa-Pekka Salonen
 a BBC SO Total Immersion dedicated to Salonen’s music
 a new Barbican co-commission performed by LA Phil and Dudamel
 Salonen conducts the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra in his LA Variations
-UK premiere of Jake Heggie’s opera Dead Man Walking
 featuring Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean, and the BBC SO
 concert-staging by director Leonard Foglia
-Celebrating the centenary of Leonard Bernstein throughout the season
 all three symphonies and musical Wonderful Town with LSO conducted by
Marin Alsop and Sir Simon Rattle
 Bernstein Anniversary Weekend (27-28 January 2018) with BBC SO Total
Immersion and Bernstein Revealed: a Bernstein Cabaret
-A celebration of Finland, marking the 100th anniversary of the country’s
independence
 full Sibelius symphony cycle from the BBC SO conducted by Sakari Oramo
 Independence Day concert on 6 December from the BBC SO
 Susanna Mälkki makes her debut conducting the LSO with Sibelius
-Acclaimed American pianist Jeremy Denk as Milton Court Artist-in-Residence
 Infinite Variations celebrating the variation form
 Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds
with Britten Sinfonia
-An eclectic Milton Court programme featuring:
 celebrations of Couperin and Debussy
 Indian classical music
 Joby Burgess’ Powerplant collective
Please see below for further information on these season stories.
Huw Humphreys, the Barbican’s Head of Music, said:
This is going to be a particularly thrilling season for us at the Barbican. The impending
arrival of Sir Simon Rattle has inspired a celebration of British music from world
premieres by Helen Grime to digital community projects; and the season-long focuses
on Bernstein and Salonen will offer a window into the worlds of two remarkable
conductor-composers featuring an exceptional array of artists. When I look at the
programme we, the Barbican and our family of orchestras, present together, I see no
limits to what we can do. By joining all our respective seasons together into one
whole, we are able to bring something exceptional to the most discerning concertgoers as well as offering newer audiences numerous ways into the life-changing world
of music.
The season opens in September 2017. Tickets go on sale online to Barbican
Members Plus from Wednesday 25 January, Barbican Members on Friday 27 January
and to the general public on Friday 3 February. The detailed listings can be seen here:
www.barbican.org.uk/classical1718
Thousands of discounted tickets are available to 14 – 25 year olds through the Young
Barbican scheme.
Highlights
·
Barbican Presents – the Barbican’s own-curated classical music
season is devised to bring the very best international artists and orchestras to London
to perform music from the Baroque to now. The Los Angeles Philharmonic and
Gustavo Dudamel arrive for an International Associate residency in May 2018 with a
programme including European premieres by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Ted Hearne,
both Barbican co-commissions, and Chichester Psalms by Bernstein. Further
Barbican commissions are two new works by British composer Helen Grime, both to
be performed by the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle during the 2017-18 season. Other
international orchestras in the season include the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
conducted by Herbert Blomstedt, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Mariss Jansons, Orchestra of La Scala conducted by Riccardo Chailly, and the
Bavarian State Orchestra conducted by Kirill Petrenko. In February 2018, the
Barbican and the BBC SO present the UK premiere of Jake Heggie’s opera Dead Man
Walking. The opera is based on the narrative book by Sister Helen Prejean about the
journey of a nun who becomes the spiritual advisor to a convicted murderer on
Louisiana State Penitentiary’s death row. Joyce DiDonato stars as Sister Helen in this
concert-staged performance. Les Arts Florissants, conducted by William Christie, give
a rare performance of Monteverdi’s Selva morale e spirituale in the composer’s
anniversary year 2017, and together with Jardin des Voix and Paul Agnew a
programme of English music, inspired by the landscape gardening of Capability
Brown. To mark International Women’s Day, French conductor Laurence Equilbey
brings her Insula orchestra for a programme that features 19th-century composer
Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No 3, whose music was much admired by Berlioz and
Schumann. Two contrasting French anniversaries are celebrated in the season:
Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and scholar Roger Nichols mark the 100th anniversary
of Claude Debussy’s death with a day of his piano music; while Les Talens Lyriques
and Christophe Rousset explore the music of François Couperin, celebrating the 350th
anniversary of his birth. Continuing their acclaimed series of Handel operas, The
English Concert conducted by Harry Bicket returns to the Barbican with Handel’s
Rinaldo featuring Iestyn Davies in the title role. To celebrate the 75th birthday of Sir
John Eliot Gardiner, the Barbican has invited him to curate a Bach weekend on 15-17
June 2018. It incorporates highlights from the Bachfest Leipzig, where Gardiner is
president, including a three-concert cycle of cantatas performed by the Monteverdi
Choir and English Baroque Soloists, as well as featuring an outstanding line-up of
artists in motets, violin sonatas, cello suites, and the Goldberg Variations. Darbar
Festival will bring two concerts of Indian classical music to Milton Court Concert Hall.
·
London Symphony Orchestra – The London Symphony Orchestra’s
2017-18 season, the first with its new Music Director Sir Simon Rattle, builds on a
number of key musical relationships. The season opens with 10 days of concerts and
events celebrating Rattle’s inaugural season (details below). In December Rattle will
conduct Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with tenor Simon O’Neill and baritone
Christian Gerhaher, alongside Strauss’ Metamorphosen. Music from the early 18th
Century sits alongside 19th and 20th Century works in January 2018 when Rattle
conducts the LSO in music by Handel and Rameau alongside Schubert’s Symphony
No 8, ‘Unfinished’ and Mahler’s Rückert Lieder, with mezzo-soprano Magdalena
Kožená. And later that month, continuing the collaboration with the Barbican that has
seen highly-successful staged productions of Debussy and Ligeti in the Barbican Hall,
the LSO and Rattle will work with the Creative Director Gerard McBurney on the
Genesis Suite, bringing together seven composers who emigrated to Hollywood in the
1940s and Bartók’s symphonic masterpiece the Concerto for Orchestra performed to
specially created visuals. In April 2018 Mahler’s 9th Symphony is performed alongside
a new work by Helen Grime, a composer who has been nurtured by the LSO through
its pioneering composer development programmes, and Tippet’s The Rose Lake is
performed with Mahler’s Symphony No 10. Work with the LSO’s wider family of artists
will bring a huge breadth of programming to the Barbican this season. Gianandrea
Noseda, who began his tenure as Principal Guest Conductor opening the 2016/17
season with two extraordinary performances of Verdi’s Requiem, will continue his
complete cycle of Shostakovich Symphonies in 2017/18, performing Symphonies 8
and 10 in April and June respectively, and continuing the cycle in the coming seasons,
all recorded for LSO Live. Michael Tilson Thomas, LSO Conductor Laureate, will
conduct Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in May, as well as a programme featuring
Sibelius’s last two symphonies and violin concerto, with Janine Jansen as soloist.
Marin Alsop, like Tilson Thomas a protégé of Leonard Bernstein, will open the LSO’s
celebrations for Bernstein’s Centenary in November, with an homage to one of his
Young People’s Concerts, as well as two concerts featuring Bernstein’s Symphonies
Nos 1 and 3. A concert version of Bernstein’s musical Wonderful Town also features,
alongside his Symphony No 2, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. François-Xavier Roth
will present a series of three concerts looking at music by Claude Debussy 100 years
after his death, and on the enormous influence the French composer had on
subsequent music by Boulez, Bartók and Stravinsky. Other conductors who are close
to the LSO feature throughout the season. John Eliot Gardiner turns his attention to
Schumann’s symphonies, following the highly acclaimed Mendelssohn cycle of recent
seasons. Bernard Haitink will conduct Brahms Symphonies alongside, Beethoven,
Thomas Adès, and Mendelssohn’s violin concerto with the soloist Alina Ibragimova.
Mark Elder, who has given outstanding performances of British music with the LSO in
recent years will conduct Elgar’s first two symphonies. There are welcome returns to
the LSO podium for Semyon Bychkov and Robin Ticciati, and Susanna Mälkki makes
her LSO debut in April conducting Sibelius’ Symphony No 5, and Elgar’s Cello
Concerto with soloist Daniel Müller-Schott.
·
BBC Symphony Orchestra – Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo leads the
orchestra in a celebration of Finnish music, including a complete cycle of Sibelius’s
symphonies and a concert marking the centenary of Finnish Independence. The BBC
SO’s acclaimed Total Immersion weekends explore the life and works of three major
musicians: two composer-conductors, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Leonard Bernstein (in
his centenary year), as well as one of today’s most celebrated composers, Julian
Anderson. Conductor Laureate Sir Andrew Davis returns twice, and there are debuts
from some of the most exciting young conductors and instrumentalists performing
today, including conductors Ben Gernon and Daniele Rustioni, and violinist Alina
Pogotskina. The BBC SO’s commitment to new music and rarely-performed works
continues with performances of works by Harrison Birtwistle, Betsy Jolas, George
Walker and Raymond Yiu, among others. The voice plays an important role in the
BBC SO’s season, with two concert-staged operas: Jake Heggie’s powerful Dead Man
Walking and Granados’s Goyescas, the latter performed under the baton of Josep
Pons. As well as closing the season with Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Sakari
Oramo, the BBC Symphony Chorus will appear in Vaughan Williams’ mighty A Sea
Symphony, Elgar’s Spirit of England, and in Total Immersion: Esa-Pekka Salonen.
This season the BBC Singers return to Milton Court for a series of four concerts. They
also host three early evening concerts complementing the BBC SO’s programme that
follows, as well as appearing with the BBC SO in the Barbican Hall and at Total
Immersion days.
·
Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) – Music Director Richard Egarr
opens the season with King Arthur, the second in the semi-staged Purcell opera cycle
co-presented by the AAM with the Barbican and directed by Daisy Evans. Soloists
including Louise Alder, Charles Daniels and Peter Harvey join forces with the Choir of
the AAM to tell tales of battling Britons and Saxons. The celebration of British music
continues, looking at its continental influences. ‘Italy in England’ explores the impact of
composers such as Corelli on music in 18th century England by Handel and others.
Carolyn Sampson celebrates English song in ‘Blest Isle’, with music by Arne, Purcell,
and Dowland. Richard Egarr surveys music from 1790s London with works by Haydn
and his European contemporaries. Soprano Keri Fuge and countertenor Tim Mead
perform Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, directed by Christian Curnyn. The Choir of the AAM
features performing two of the most iconic works of all time: Handel’s Messiah
directed by Richard Egarr with soloists Mary Bevan, Reginald Mobley, Thomas
Hobbs, and Christopher Purves; and Bach’s St. John Passion directed by Bernard
Labadie, featuring the finest Evangelist of his generation, James Gilchrist. Concerts in
December and May celebrate Telemann’s 250th anniversary including music by his
contemporary and friend JS Bach. This celebration ends with Nicola Benedetti making
her AAM debut performing works by Telemann and Vivaldi. The principal player focus
continues with soloists from the orchestra appearing throughout the season, and as
an ensemble of soloists with chamber concerts as a feature of the BBC Radio 3
lunchtime concerts at LSO St Luke’s.
·
Britten Sinfonia – Britten Sinfonia celebrates its 25th anniversary with a
Barbican season that features symphonic masterpieces, choral gems, contemporary
classics and jazz-inspired rhapsodies. It will be the second year of a three-year
Beethoven Symphony Cycle conducted by Thomas Adès, featuring Beethoven’s 4th,
5th and 6th Symphonies, juxtaposed with music by Gerald Barry (22 & 24 May 2018).
Sir Mark Elder returns to conduct the orchestra in an intimate performance of
Brahms’s First Symphony. To accompany the symphony, Elder has chosen poetic
works including Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, with soloist Elisabeth Kulman, and Finzi’s
soaring Fall of the Leaf (9 November 2017). Christmas and Easter are marked by
choral masterworks. The Choir of King’s College Cambridge joins Britten Sinfonia for
a performance of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Vaughan Williams’ impassioned
Dona nobis pacem. Stephen Cleobury conducts the orchestra and soloists including
Ailish Tynan (2 December). Easter is marked by Britten Sinfonia Voices in a
performance of two masses written 170 years apart: Stravinsky’s Mass and Mozart’s
Missa Brevis (28 March 2018). Mercurial American pianist Jeremy Denk, as part of his
Milton Court residency, directs a programme of jazz-inspired works by Stravinsky and
Gershwin (27 February 2018).
The 2017-18 season features:
Singers including Cecilia Bartoli, Jamie Barton, Mary Bevan, Florian Boesch, Karen
Cargill, Alice Coote, Diana Damrau, Iestyn Davies, Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli,
Gerald Finley, Christian Gerhaher, Julianna Di Giacomo, James Gilchrist, Ann
Hallenberg, Susanna Hurrell, Christiane Karg, Jonas Kaufmann, Anu and Piia Komsi,
Magdalena Kožená, Anna Larsson, Tim Mead, Nicholas Mulroy, Christopher Purves,
Matthew Rose, Carolyn Sampson, Brindley Sherratt, Stuart Skelton, Toby Spence,
Anna Stéphany, Ailish Tynan, Mark Wigglesworth, Roderick Williams
Instrumentalists including Behzod Abduraimov, Piotr Anderszewski, Martha
Argerich, Emanuel Ax, Lisa Batiashvili, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Nicola Benedetti,
Kristian Bezuidenhout, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Natalie Clein, Michael
Collins, Jeremy Denk, Helmut Deutsch, Veronika Eberle, Isabelle Faust, Sol Gabetta,
Kirill Gerstein, Benjamin Grosvenor, Håkan Hardenberger, Nicholas Hodges, Alina
Ibragimova, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Evgeny Kissin, Alice Sara Ott, Murray
Perahia, Lawrence Power, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Jean Rondeau, Christian Tetzlaff,
Maxim Vengerov, Yuja Wang, Carolin Widmann, Krystian Zimerman, Nikolaj Znaider
Conductors including Thomas Adès, Marin Alsop, Harry Bicket, Herbert Blomstedt,
Martyn Brabbins, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, William Christie, Stephen
Cleobury, Sir Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Tan Dun, Richard Egarr, Sir Mark
Elder, Laurence Equilbey, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Edward Gardner, Bernard Haitink,
Daniel Harding, Mariss Jansons, Oliver Knussen, Susanna Mälkki, Gianandrea
Noseda, Sakari Oramo, Sir Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle,
François-Xavier Roth, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Thomas Søndergård, Robin Ticciati,
Michael Tilson Thomas.
This is Rattle
To mark his inaugural season as Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra,
and as Artist-in-Association with the Barbican and the Guildhall School, the Barbican
and the LSO present a ten day celebration This is Rattle from 14-24 September. At
the heart of these celebrations are five evening concerts with the LSO conducted by
Sir Simon. His inaugural programme will be dedicated to British music and features
works by Thomas Adès, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Oliver Knussen, Elgar’s Enigma
Variations and the world premiere of Fanfare by Helen Grime, specially commissioned
for the orchestra by the Barbican. The first concert on 14 September will be relayed
live to the Barbican Sculpture Court, bringing silent disco technology to classical
music for the first time; and the opening performances of the season will be available
to a global audience through broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, Mezzo, medici.tv and
Classic FM.
Parallel to the LSO’s concerts in the Barbican Hall, the four living composers featured
in the opening performance (Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Thomas Adès, Oliver Knussen
and Helen Grime) will curate their own concerts at Milton Court, presented by the
Barbican. This series focuses on British music from last 50 years. Oliver Knussen will
conduct the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in his curated concert; Thomas
Adès’ concert will feature Guildhall musicians in works by Per Nørgård, Nicholas Maw,
Judith Weir, Niccolò Castiglioni, Birtwistle, Kurtág, Golijov, John Woolrich and
Madness arranged by Adès. Britten Sinfonia performs in Helen Grime’s curated
concert that includes music by Purcell, Britten, Grime, Knussen, George Benjamin,
Colin Matthews, Adès and Stravinsky. The series ends with Birtwistle’s curated
concert featuring BBC Singers and Martyn Brabbins in music by Varèse, Machaut,
Byrd and Birtwistle.
The Barbican Cinema will screen films and documentaries about Sir Simon Rattle and
his work while the Barbican Library plays host to an exhibition about his life and
career. The Barbican Foyers will be brought alive with a new digital installation drawn
from Sir Simon’s conducting, and with Portraits of Friendship, an interactive
multimedia installation devised by Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning, alongside
Artistic Curator Anna Meredith and Artistic Designer Jonathan Munro. In Portraits of
Friendship, over 100 community participants from East London will be introduced to
Elgar’s Enigma Variations and the stories behind the work, after which they will create
their own variations. These 14 new variations will be expressed in different art forms
such as music, dance, illustration, theatre, poetry and visual art. Together the works
will create an interactive digital installation in the foyers which will open on 14
September and continue throughout the autumn.
BBC Radio 3 will be in residence across the celebrations, as well as producing four
Artist Spotlight concerts at LSO St Luke’s. At the Barbican Centre the station will also
host exhibitions and interactive workshops with more details available soon.
Bernstein 100
2018 marks the centenary of Leonard Bernstein, the American composer, conductor,
author, music educator and pianist. This birthday is marked at the Barbican
throughout the 2017-18 season.
In the first half of the season, the LSO celebrates Leonard Bernstein with
performances of all three symphonies, and his musical Wonderful Town. Marin Alsop,
one of Bernstein’s most beloved protégés, will conduct his First and Third
Symphonies, and Sir Simon Rattle the Second Symphony alongside Bernstein’s
musical Wonderful Town. The public will have the opportunity to learn Bernstein’s
Chichester Psalms in a day of choral singing under the expert instruction of LSO
Choral Director Simon Halsey, and Marin Alsop will present an homage to one of
Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts, which brought the appreciation of
classical music to a whole generation of young Americans, and inspired the 9-year-old
Alsop to become a conductor.
A Bernstein Anniversary Weekend (27-28 January 2018) starts off with the BBC SO
celebrating Bernstein’s life and music in one of its three Total Immersion focuses,
showcasing the composer’s work through concerts, films and conversations, including
a rare chance to hear his orchestral song-cycle Songfest and a lunchtime concert of
chamber music by Guildhall School musicians. The next day includes a screening of
Elia Kazan’s movie On the Waterfront with Bernstein’s score in the Barbican Cinema,
and Bernstein Revealed: a Bernstein Cabaret at Milton Court. In Bernstein Revealed,
two Bernstein enthusiasts, journalist Edward Seckerson and Tony Award-nominated
arranger, composer and musical director Jason Carr, are joined by Olivier Award
nominee Sophie-Louise Dann to explore the life and music of the extraordinary
musician, father and activist. Seckerson conducted one of the last major interviews
with Bernstein less than a year before his death in 1990 and it is that memorable
encounter that is at the heart of this intimate show.
Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms can be heard three times during the season, in two
different versions: the Choir of King’s College Cambridge joins Britten Sinfonia for a
performance of the work in December 2017, and, as part of their International
Associate residency, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel will
perform it with the London Symphony Chorus in May 2018. The BBC Singers will give
a performance of the work in its chamber orchestration, conducted by Ragnar Bohlin,
as part of the BBC SO's Total Immersion focus.
Celebrating Finland
Finland celebrates the 100th anniversary of its independence on 6 December 2017.
The BBC SO’s 2017-18 season has the music of Finland running throughout as
Finnish Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo leads the orchestra in a complete cycle of
Sibelius’ symphonies and a concert marking the centenary on the Independence Day
itself featuring the UK premiere of Sibelius’ Press Celebrations Music alongside his
powerful First Symphony from 1899.
Finnish composer/conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is the subject of a season-long
composer focus at the Barbican. The focus begins in November, when Salonen
conducts the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra in his own LA Variations. A BBC SO
Total Immersion (10 December 2017) is dedicated to his music and will include an
evening concert conducted by Sakari Oramo featuring Karawane with the BBC
Symphony Chorus and works such as Gambit and Wing on Wing, featuring sopranos
Anu and Piia Komsi. The day also includes a lunchtime concert of chamber music by
Guildhall School musicians, the screening of a film portraying the composer and a
“Meet the Composer” talk. On 28 March 2018, as part of Britten Sinfonia’s concert,
BBC Young Musician 2016 finalist Ben Goldscheider will perform Salonen’s Concert
étude for solo horn.
As part of their International Associate residency, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and
Gustavo Dudamel will perform the European premiere of a new work by Esa-Pekka
Salonen, co-commissioned by the orchestra and the Barbican. Salonen is the
Conductor Laureate for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he served as Music
Director from 1992 until 2009 and for which he has composed several works.
Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki makes her debut with the London Symphony
Orchestra on 15 April, conducting Sibelius’ Symphony No 5, and on 17 May, Michael
Tilson Thomas, LSO Conductor Laureate, conducts an all-Sibelius programme. Janine
Jansen is soloist in the Violin Concerto and Sibelius’ last two symphonies, Nos 6 & 7
are also performed.
Milton Court Concert Hall
Jeremy Denk: Milton Court Artist in Residence
As part of Barbican Presents, American pianist Jeremy Denk will be the 2017-18
Milton Court Artist in Residence. An artist The New York Times hails as someone “you
want to hear no matter what he performs”, Denk is the winner of a MacArthur "Genius"
Fellowship, the Avery Fisher Prize and Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year
award, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016. The
residency showcases his extraordinary artistry and ability to connect with audiences in
a series of concerts that begins on 12 October with Mozart’s piano music. Later that
month, his residency continues with Infinite Variations, a three-part day of music
celebrating the infinite variety of the variation form, explored with typical Denk
ingenuity and humour from both musical and philosophical perspectives. In February
Denk is joined by Britten Sinfonia in the original jazz band version of Gershwin’s
Rhapsody in Blue and in Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds. The residency
concludes with a final recital in early March and will be supported throughout by
masterclasses and workshops with musicians from the Guildhall School.
The Guildhall School’s state of the art Milton Court Concert Hall is the venue for
several other Barbican Presents concerts in the 2017-18 season. In January, French
period ensemble Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset will bring to
the venue a half-day exploration of the music of François Couperin, celebrating the
350th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Entitled Lumière et ombre (Light and
Shadow), the event comprises two concerts on those themes, separated by a talk,
and culminating in a performance of the exquisite Trois leçons de ténèbres by
candlelight. Another French composer’s oeuvre is celebrated in March, when pianist
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and scholar Roger Nichols mark the 100th anniversary of
Claude Debussy’s death with a day of music exploring the composer’s poetic and
pianistic imagination. An ideal venue for chamber music, Milton Court Concert Hall will
play host to two recitals as part of the Barbican’s Bach Weekend in June 2018: cellist
Jean-Guihen Queyras will perform Bach’s cello suites and harpsichordist Jean
Rondeau his Goldberg Variations. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the
Republic of Estonia, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir will perform a
programme of Estonian and British choral music in January 2018. Baritone
Christopher Purves sings Handel with the acclaimed ensemble Arcangelo; and
dynamo percussionist Joby Burgess and his sound and video trio Powerplant perform
works by Nicole Lizée, Will Gregory, Graham Fitkin and the world premiere of a
Barbican commission by Linda Buckley. Adventurous American pianists Timo Andres
and David Kaplan perform canonic works of symphonic repertoire, Rachmaninov’s
Symphonic Dances and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in versions for two pianos; and
Indian classical music can be heard in two concerts co-presented by Darbar Festival
and Kaushiki Chakraborty (khayal vocal) and the maverick sitar maestro Niladri
Kumar.
The BBC Singers return to Milton Court in 2017-18 to perform a series of rich
programmes including works by Varèse and Birtwistle (23 Sep, as part of This is
Rattle), Esa-Pekka Salonen (10 Dec as part of Total Immersion), Bach’s St Matthew
Passion (Mendelssohn’s performing edition, 11 Feb), Handel (4 May) and Joseph
Horowitz (23 June).
The Academy of Ancient Music celebrates Telemann’s 250th anniversary at Milton
Court, and surveys continental influences in Italy in England and Classical 1790s
London. Christian Curnyn is joined by Tim Mead and Keri Fuge for Pergolesi’s Stabat
Mater and cantatas by Handel and Bach.
Aside from Milton Court appearances with Jeremy Denk and in a concert curated by
composer Helen Grime, Britten Sinfonia and its acclaimed vocal ensemble, Britten
Sinfonia Voices, directed by Eamonn Dougan, celebrate Easter with a concert
juxtaposing Masses by Stravinsky and Mozart, alongside works for wind. BBC Young
Musician 2016 Finalist, Ben Goldscheider features in Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Concert
étude for solo horn.
International Orchestras
Visits from major international orchestras form a central part of Barbican Presents,
and two of the Barbican’s International Associate Orchestras will return to the Centre
in the 2017-18 season: the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra for one concert and the
Los Angeles Philharmonic for a residency.
On 22 October, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performs a concert conducted by
Herbert Blomstedt, Honorary Conductor of the orchestra who served as its
Gewandhauskapellmeister from 1998-2005. Their concert celebrates the orchestra’s
275th anniversary by presenting works that were first premiered by the orchestra,
featuring Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, featuring soloists Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier
Capuçon and Kirill Gerstein, and Bruckner’s mighty Seventh Symphony.
Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel’s residency in the first week of May
2018 will include three concerts and creative learning activity. As part of the
Barbican’s focus on the music of Esa-Pekka Salonen, the residency’s first concert
includes a new Barbican co-commission from him. The new work opens a typically
innovative programme of pioneering 20th-century works, including Edgard Varèse’s
classic encounter with the New World, Amériques. The American theme continues
with the European premiere of American composer Ted Hearne’s Place. Set in a
country at a crossroads where the intersections of manifest destiny and gentrification
meet history and personal experience, Place explores the complex and contentious
map of the place we call home. This performance is part of Green Umbrella, the LA
Phil’s acclaimed series of new music, and will be performed by the LA Phil New Music
Group. The orchestra celebrates Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday year with a
performance of his Chichester Psalms with the London Symphony Chorus, juxtaposed
with Beethoven’s Symphony No 9. This visit will include a cross-cultural exchange
involving young musicians from Los Angeles and Great Britain working with Dudamel
as part of a national youth orchestra conference. This two-day convening will aim to
explore the role of music and the arts in young people’s lives.
Two celebrated orchestras from Munich will perform at the Barbican in the season.
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Mariss Jansons on 24
November in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4, featuring soloist Yefim Bronfman,
and in Prokofiev’s Symphony No 5. The Bavarian State Orchestra, orchestra of the
renowned Bavarian State Opera in Munich that can look back on a history of over 350
years, will visit the Barbican in June 2018 for the first time. Conducted by the opera’s
Generalmusikdirektor Kirill Petrenko (also chief conductor designate of the Berliner
Philharmoniker), the orchestra will perform Mahler’s Symphony No 7. Petrenko began
his tenure in Munich in 2013 and has been gaining tremendous critical acclaim for the
extraordinary virtuosity, precision, energy and emotion of his performances with the
orchestra, even inspiring reviews to use the word “miraculous”.
Another opera orchestra, the prestigious Orchestra of La Scala in Milan comes to the
Barbican in January. Led by Principal Conductor Riccardo Chailly, it will perform a
sparkling programme of Rossini, Tchaikovsky and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No 2,
featuring soloist Benjamin Grosvenor.
Premieres and Commissions
The 2017-18 season will include several premieres, ranging from the UK premiere of
Sibelius’ Press Celebrations Music which was first composed in 1899, to world
premieres by Linda Buckley, Ewan Campbell, Patrick Giguère and Helen Grime. The
Barbican and the BBC SO co-present the UK premiere of Jake Heggie’s first opera
Dead Man Walking in a concert-staged performance, directed by Leonard Foglia. The
BBC SO continues its strong commitment to new works and this season is proud to
present several further UK premieres including works by Thomas Larcher, Betsy
Jolas, Anders Hillborg, George Walker and Ross Harris. Emma-Ruth Richards will
write a new work for Britten Sinfonia and King’s College Choir.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s residency includes two European premieres: a new
work by Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen and the American composer Ted
Hearne’s Place, both co-commissioned by the Barbican.
Today it was also announced by the LSO that a commitment has been made to open
each of the orchestra’s coming seasons with a new work by a British composer, all
commissioned by the Barbican. The world premiere of a fanfare by Helen Grime, who
was part of the LSO’s composing schemes early in her career, will open the 2017-18
season in a concert featuring works by Thomas Adès, Sir Harrison Birtwistle and
Oliver Knussen. A new orchestral work by Helen Grime will be given its world
premiere later in the season, which also features the world premiere of a work by
Ewan Campbell, who was part of the LSO’s composer development programmes in
2015. A fascinating workshop with the current intake of young composers working with
the LSO and two concerts showcasing some of their work will also take place at LSO
St Luke’s. Over the past decade and more, the LSO has worked with nearly 200
young and early-career composers, over 40 of whom have had works commissioned
and premiered by the orchestra at the Barbican.
Young People
The ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation) Rising Stars Series presents
emerging young talent tipped for stardom by the directors of Europe’s premier concert
halls. This season, the Barbican showcases the rising stars series in the UK at LSO St
Luke’s. Each artist’s performance features a short new work, commissioned by ECHO
from a range of international composers. In the 2017-18 season the young musicians
are Quatuor Van Kuijk (nominated by Cité de la musique – Philharmonie de Paris &
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden), percussionist Christoph Sietzen (nominated by
Philharmonie Luxembourg), violist Ellen Nisbeth (nominated by Stockholm’s
Konserthus), trumpeter Tamás Pálfalvi (nominated by Müpa Budapest), violinist
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian (nominated by Wiener Konzerthaus & Musikverein Wien) and
soprano Nora Fischer (nominated by Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam).
Thousands of discounted tickets are available to 14 – 25 year olds through the Young
Barbican scheme. Since the scheme launched in Autumn 2014, it has attracted
33,000 members, and in the last academic year alone, 29,000 Young Barbican tickets
were sold across the Centre’s programme.
Young people will also have a chance to connect with the Barbican’s programming in
more interactive ways, for example by participating in the youth orchestra conference
as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s International Associate residency, as well
as by being part of the This is Rattle celebrations.
In a new scheme announced today by the LSO, all tickets for under 18s will be £5 for
all of the orchestra’s Barbican concerts. The LSO also announced the launch of early
evening concerts in the Barbican Hall, this season conducted by Sir Simon Rattle,
Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth. Starting at 6.30pm the concerts will
feature music by Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Debussy. Three of the LSO’s
popular Family concerts, which are specially devised for families to enjoy together are
presented this season in the Barbican Hall, as well as a series of free lunchtime
concerts for children at LSO St Luke’s, and three musical storytelling sessions for the
under-5s.
The BBC SO presents learning events throughout its 2017-18 season, including three
Journey Through Music sessions before evening concerts – interactive, family-friendly
explorations of the music that will be heard. Performances from BBC SO and BBC
Singers, learning masterclasses and events will also form an important part of the
orchestra’s three Total Immersion events.
ENDS
Barbican Box Office: 0845 120 7550
www.barbican.org.uk
Notes to Editors
For any further information, images or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Barbican:
Annikaisa Vainio-Miles, Media Relations Manager
t - +44 (0)20 7382 7090
e – [email protected]
London Symphony Orchestra:
Kenny Morrison, Hatcham Communications
t - +44 (0)20 7207 9481
e – [email protected]
BBC Symphony Orchestra:
Madeleine Castell, Communications Manager
t – +44 (0)20 7765 4714
e - [email protected]
Academy of Ancient Music:
James Hardie, WildKat PR
t - +44 (0)20 3422 3344
e - [email protected]
Britten Sinfonia:
Sophie Cohen
t - +44 (0)20 7428 9850
e - [email protected]
About the Barbican
A world-class arts and learning organisation, the Barbican pushes the boundaries of
all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts. Its creative
learning programme further underpins everything it does. Over 1.1 million people
attend events annually, hundreds of artists and performers are featured, and more
than 300 staff work onsite. The architecturally renowned centre opened in 1982 and
comprises the Barbican Hall, the Barbican Theatre, The Pit, Cinemas One, Two and
Three, Barbican Art Gallery, a second gallery The Curve, foyers and public spaces, a
library, Lakeside Terrace, a glasshouse conservatory, conference facilities and three
restaurants. The City of London Corporation is the founder and principal funder of the
Barbican Centre.
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About the London Symphony Orchestra
The LSO was established in 1904 and has a unique ethos. As a musical collective, it
is built on artistic ownership and partnership. With an inimitable signature sound, the
LSO’s mission is to bring the greatest music to the greatest number of people. The
LSO has been the Resident Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in the City of London
since it opened in 1982. Giving 70 symphonic concerts there every year. Through
LSO Discovery, it is a pioneer of music education, offering musical experiences to
60,000 people every year. With the formation of its own recording label LSO Live in
1999 the LSO pioneered a revolution in recording live orchestral music. The LSO
strives to embrace new digital technologies – having successfully moved into digital
film, Blu-Ray Audio, downloads and streaming – and it continues to innovate with
platforms such as LSO Play, a web-based video player that allows people to observe
the Orchestra from different angles. The LSO is also a highly successful creative
enterprise, with 75% of all funding self-generated.
lso.co.uk
About the BBC Symphony Orchestra
At the heart of British music for over 80 years, the BBC Symphony Orchestra performs
an exciting, distinctive and wide-ranging season of concerts at the Barbican in its role
as Associate Orchestra, offering everything from works at the heart of classical music
to world premieres from today’s finest composers. The BBC SO provides the
backbone of the BBC Proms, performing around a dozen concerts each year,
including the First and Last Nights. It performs throughout the world, and works
regularly with its Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo, Semyon Bychkov, its Günter Wand
Conducting Chair, Conductors Laureate Sir Andrew Davis and Jiří Bělohlávek, as well
as Brett Dean, the Orchestra’s Artist in Association. Strongly committed to twentiethcentury and contemporary music, it has given recent premieres of works by Kevin
Volans, Thomas Larcher, Ryan Wigglesworth, Brett Dean, Unsuk Chin, Thomas Adès,
and Colin Matthews. Central to its life are recordings made for BBC Radio 3 during
sessions at its studios in Maida Vale, London, some of which are free for the public to
attend. The vast majority of its concerts are broadcast on BBC Radio 3, streamed live
online, and a number are televised, giving it the highest broadcast profile of any UK
orchestra. Among ongoing learning projects are the BBC SO Plus Family scheme,
which introduces families to live classical music, BBC SO Family Orchestra and
Chorus, Total Immersion composer events, and work in local schools.
www.bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra
About the Academy of Ancient Music
Under the direction of Richard Egarr the Academy of Ancient Music engages
audiences across the world with historically informed performances of Baroque and
Classical music. Creativity and spontaneity in performance is grounded in scholarship
and a constant exploration of music in its broadest cultural context. International in its
outlook after more than forty years of performing and recording, the AAM is rooted ‘at
home’ in London and Cambridge as Associate Ensemble at London’s Barbican Centre
and Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1973 by the
late Christopher Hogwood and originally established as a recording orchestra, the
AAM has an unrivalled catalogue of more than 300 CDs reaching millions globally with
countless accolades, including Brit, Gramophone, Edison and MIDEM awards. As part
of the AAM’s commitment to bring to life lesser-known works with the more familiar,
recordings on its in-house label AAM Records include both JS Bach’s St Matthew
Passion and St John Passion in their original versions, and most recently a set of
sonatas by Dario Castello, a contemporary of Monteverdi’s. In 2010 the AAM
launched its education and participation scheme. With partnerships in Cambridge,
London, Manchester and Cardiff the orchestra now reaches thousands of children and
young people each year, with future plans to develop programmes which will increase
access to the orchestra and its music-making through partnerships with
healthcare institutions in Cambridgeshire.
www.aam.co.uk
About Britten Sinfonia
Britten Sinfonia is one of the world’s most celebrated and pioneering ensembles,
renowned for the quality of its performances and an intelligent approach to concert
programming that is centred on the development of its players. Unusually it does not
have a principal conductor or director but chooses to collaborate with a range of the
finest international guest artists from across the musical spectrum as suited to each
particular project. Founded in 1992, the orchestra is inspired by the ethos of Benjamin
Britten through world-class performances of the highest quality, illuminating and
distinctive programmes where the old meets the new, and projects in the local
community as well as in the world’s finest halls. Britten Sinfonia is Associate
Ensemble at London’s Barbican Centre, Resident Orchestra at Saffron Hall, has longstanding residencies in Cambridge (where it is the University’s Ensemble-in
Residence) and Norwich and makes regular guest appearances at UK festivals
including the BBC Proms. Its blossoming international profile has recently included
acclaimed tours to India and China. Britten Sinfonia is a BBC Radio 3 broadcast
partner, and records regularly for Harmonia Mundi and Hyperion.
www.brittensinfonia.com