Coming up from Ely Sinfonia
Wednesday December 22nd 2010
Ely Cathedral’s
Christmas Carol Concert
Saturday March 5th 2011
Ely Sinfonia March Spectacular
7.30pm
A concert of popular classics.
Local venue to be confirmed.
Saturday July 2nd 2011
Serenade to Music, Chatteris Church
7.30pm
Amazing 13-year-old Cambridge-based cellist
Victoria Nicoll plays Saint-Saëns’ 1st Cello
Concerto. Plus Handel's “Zadok the Priest”,
Vaughan Williams' “Serenade to Music” and
music by Bach and Dvořák .
Saturday October 1st 2011 Raphael Wallfisch plays Dvorak, Ely Cathedral
7.30pm
The return of Ely Sinfonia’s Honorary President,
Raphael Wallfisch, to play the amazing Dvořák
Cello Concerto. The concert will also include
Wagner's stirring overture to "Tannhäuser" and
the ever popular "Háry János" Suite by Kodály .
President: Raphael Wallfisch
presents
Travellers’ Tales
in Ely Cathedral
Saturday October 2nd 2010
at 7.30pm
By kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Ely Cathedral
Brenda Stewart
Steve Bingham
Viola
Conductor
PROGRAMME
Rossini
Gershwin
Berlioz
Overture to “Italian Girl in Algiers”
An American in Paris
Harold in Italy
Saturday 30th October—Ely Cathedral
7.30pm
Ely Choral Society sings Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle”
Andrew Parnell conducts Ely's largest choir in the great opera
composer's last major work, a beautiful setting of the Mass. With piano
and harmonium accompaniment as for the first performance in 1864.
Tickets £12 (£2 children) available online or from Ely Cathedral Box Office
(01353 660349).
Ely Sinfonia wishes to express sincere thanks to all who helped
with this concert and especially:
The Kings School, Ely
ADeC
John Borland
Connie Lawrence
Sallyann Ford and the staff of Ely Cathedral
There will be a 20 minute interval between the Gershwin and the Berlioz
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Programme £1
(free to premium ticket holders)
Bardwyck is delighted to be associated with Ely
Sinfonia and wishes the orchestra all the best
for “Travellers’ Tales”
Bardwyck—making business work better by creating total harmony
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and, in addition, making sure that the rest of the company is geared up to
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Did you know that making a new Will could benefit Ely Sinfonia?
We are pleased to announce a special offer for our friends and supporters. If you
choose to make a Will or Lasting Power of Attorney through the new online
service launched this year by Kester Cunningham John Solicitors, you will benefit
from a 30% discount on their standard rates and the Sinfonia will receive a
donation of £10 per Will made.
To find out more go to www.kcjonline.co.uk. You can create your Will without
obligation using powerful interactive software. If you choose to go ahead and
submit it for review by a lawyer you can obtain your discount by entering the
voucher code Sinfonia2010.
Based just outside Ely, Bardwyck helps businesses, charities and not-for-profit
organisations make the best of the opportunities available to them—and thus
improve their results, even in hard times. To find out more, call 01353 721991 or
email [email protected]
Tonight’s bar has been supplied and sponsored by The Wine Store at La
Hogue — a wine store with attitude! A visit to The Wine Store is a unique
experience—you will be impressed by our knowledge and feel cosseted by our
friendly team in the most congenial surroundings. Come to us for:
• advice on wine for any occasion
• tutored tasting evenings to find great wines for yourself or the perfect gift
for a friend or loved one
• special tastings for groups
• Gifts, presentation boxes
• Gift vouchers
... and a selection of wines that you can’t find anywhere else!
The Wine Store - left off the A11 just north of Newmarket for East Anglia's
most interesting selection of wines....for drinking or laying down.
The Wine Store at La Hogue, La Hogue Road, Chippenham, Cambs, CB7 5PZ
Phone: 01638 555190 Email: [email protected]
www.winetasting.co.uk
www.elysinfonia.co.uk
www.kcjonline.co.uk
… for cost-effective peace of mind
Ely’s oldest established bookshop has worked with Ely Sinfonia for many years
and is proud to sponsor “Travellers’ Tales”.
We started our newsagents in Ely in 1899, and the bookshop opened in 1994.
Today we specialise in local history and children’s books, with one of the area’s
largest ranges of these specialist titles.
We also sell hand and finger puppets, as well as toys and other items related
to children’s books. Look out for our Gruffalo range, recently updated.
Look out for our children’s parties and word perfect parties!
Burrows Bookshop
9 High Street Passage
Ely
Tel: 01353 669759
Open Monday to Saturday
9am to 5pm
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FRIENDS WANTED!
Why not join the FRIENDS of ELY SINFONIA? At just £10 a year, it’s a
great opportunity to become part of a lively, social group that meets up
regularly as well as supporting the orchestra.
Being a friend will give you the following advantages:
•
•
•
•
•
Personal email giving advance information of concerts and
special events
10% discount on tickets to Ely Sinfonia concerts
Friends’ newsletter
Free Friends concert once a year
Opportunity to meet the conductor and players at rehearsal
As the local community orchestra, Ely Sinfonia aims to give players the
chance to gain orchestral experience close to home, to provide local
schoolchildren with the opportunity to learn about music and instruments, and to bring a wealth of wonderful music to local music-lovers.
Your subscription will go towards developing the orchestra, allowing
it to give more concerts in Ely and to take live music out to rural East
Cambridgeshire and beyond. Our Friends help us to give concerts in
local venues and to run workshops, which give young players the
chance to play alongside more experienced musicians and learn new,
challenging pieces.
If you would like to become a Friend, please ask for details and a
membership form at the Friends’ stall at the back of the Cathedral or
email [email protected].
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Travellers’ Tales
Welcome to an evening of intrepid travellers and extraordinary locations.
The travellers are Italian, American and French (though Harold in Italy is
supposed to be Byron’s English Childe Harold - but more of that later!).
And the locations? Algiers, Paris and the evocative mountains of southern
Italy. There is something here for everyone, from the energy of a Rossini
overture to the dashing Orgy of the Brigands at the end of Berlioz’ groundbreaking work for solo viola and orchestra - and we haven’t even mentioned
the car horns!
Steve Bingham, artistic director
Gioachino Rossini(1792 - 1868)
Overture
L’Italiana in Algeri
It is quite possible that you are familiar with Haydn’s
Symphony no 94 in G major, although most people
remember it by its nickname, The Surprise Symphony.
Gioachino Rossini certainly knew it too, because he
pulled the same surprise in his overture to his opera
The Italian Girl in Algiers. This opens with a quiet, slow
pizzicato from the strings before there is a sudden,
surprising burst of energy from the orchestra - both
shocking and semi-comic at the same time.
One of the most popular opera composers who ever
lived, Rossini wrote The Italian Girl in Algiers when he
was just twenty-one years old. He completed the piece
in either 18 or 27 days, depending on whom you believe,
though the recitatives and one aria were penned by an
anonymous collaborator. He was an immensely prolific
composer with a gift for catchy tunes and an astute ear
for what would make his audiences happy. The Italian
Girl in Algiers was premiered with considerable success
at the Teatro San Benedetto, Venice in 1813 and has
been popular ever since.
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The opera tells the story of the beautiful Isabella (the Italian)
shipwrecked off the coast of Algeria just in time to satisfy (he
hopes) the lustful curiosity of Mustafa, the Bey of Algiers.
Mustafa has always fancied a bit of Italian (or so he says) and
decides to marry off his wife Elvira—because he’s decided
she’s boring - to his Italian slave Lindoro, who is secretly in
love with Isabella.
Isabella is distraught because she thinks Lindoro loves Elvira.
Meanwhile Taddeo fancies Isabella, and Mustafa just wants....
well, you get the picture. In the end the Bey of Algiers doesn’t
get what he wants because all his soldiers get drunk and can’t
pursue the escaping lovers (Isabella and Lindorno - with Elvira
and Taddeo in tow). As a result, everyone, except perhaps
Mustafa, comes out of it pretty well.
The Italian Girl in Algiers was Rossini’s first great hit and its
overture, like the other popular hits of this most effervescent
composer, has never gone out of fashion. After the ‘surprise’
opening there are two main subjects: a dashing allegro
followed by a cheeky oboe tune leading into a typical Rossini
crecendo, which, via a cunning modulation leads to a final riproaring finish.
George Gershwin (1898 -1937)
An American in Paris
Part 1: Paris George Gershwin is one of the great figures of 20th century
by day
American music. He was special in bridging the gap between
popular music and the more rarified world of the concert
Part 2: Paris hall. This is, after all, the man who brought us Lady be Good
by night
and Fascinating Rhythm, but he is also responsible for
Rhapsody in Blue, a piano concerto and Porgy and Bess.
Postlude:
It
was while he was performing in Paris that Gershwin
Memories
accepted a commission from the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra. The resulting piece is a reflection of his feelings
about a city he loved to visit. Famously, he scored his new
work for a full symphony orchestra with celeste, saxophone
and car horns. For the premiere in 1928, he took genuine
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Ely Sinfonia
Artistic Director Steve Bingham
Violin 1
Christina Everson (Leader), Ann Claydon , Mark
Hutchinson, Rob Millman, Chris Moule, Mark
Webb, Josh Williams, Rosemary Whittington,
Richard Williamson
Violin 2
Roz Chalmers, Donna Allum, Fiona Gloag, Peter
Threlfall, Ijmkje van der Werf
Viola
Katy Baker, Becky Brown, Ingrid Kimbell, Patricia
Mathieson, Marlen Moss-Eccardt, Susan Pyke,
Yvonne Williamson
Cello
Dave McLeish, Bryan Austin, Nick Balaam, April
Bowman, Charlotte Dean, Fionna Hall, Helen
Hills, Joan Marchbank, Rachel Mycock, Sally Parnell
Double Bass Chris Finch, John Chalmers, Rosemary Hughes,
Joel Humann
Flute
Helen-Louise Baker, Jean Swift, Ellie Reeves
Oboe
Jenny Sewell, Carol London, Jenny Nicholls
Clarinet
Peter Fisher, Michelle Heathcote, Martin Kemp
Saxophone Julian Landymore, Michael Haller, Angela Bennett
Bassoon
Philip Evans, Julia Hudson, Simon Laughlin, Katherine
Worster
Horn
John Cronin, Martin Richards, Owen Rose, Nick SimsWilliams
Trumpet
Dan Alt, Graham Berridge, Evert Bokma, Claire Haskins
Trombone Roger Nunn, Alan Dimond, Dave Perkins
Tuba
Alan Sugars
Harp
Rohan Platts
Timpani
Alan Silverstein
Percussion Zoe Bridel, Dave Ellis, Joe Pope, Sheri Rutland
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Steve Bingham stud ied violin with
Emmanuel Hurwitz, Sidney Griller and the
Amadeus Quartet at the Royal Academy of Music
from 1981 to 1985, winning prizes for orchestral
leading and string quartet playing. In 1985 he
founded the Bingham String Quartet, internationally known for its performances of both classical
and contemporary repertoire. Steve has
appeared as guest leader with many orchestras, including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra , English National Ballet and
English Sinfonia. He has given solo recitals in the UK and America and his concerto performances include works by Bach, Vivaldi, Bruch, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and Sibelius. Steve is also keenly interested in improvisation, electronics
and World Music. He has released two solo CDs, Duplicity (2005) and Ascension
(2008). Steve has many years of experience conducting both youth and amateur
orchestras. This is his third season as Ely Sinfonia’s Artistic Director.
w w w.s t ev eb in gh a m .c o. uk
Brenda Stewart began learning the violin at the age of 11
and changed to viola 5 years later. She read music at
Manchester University and did postgraduate studies at the
Royal Academy of Music, where she won two chamber
music prizes and was awarded the Charles Black Scholarship. In 1999, she was awarded an Associateship of the
Royal Academy of Music.
Violist of the Bingham String Quartet since its formation
in 1985, she has established a reputation for richness of
tone and musicality. She has also been an active freelance
orchestral player, performing with English Sinfonia ,
London Festival Orchestra, the Sarum Chamber Orchestra,
the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra , New Sadlers Wells Opera, D'Oyly Carte,
and London City Ballet. She has given concerto performances with London String
Soloists and the Lecosaldi Ensemble.
From 1991 to 2000, Brenda was a Professor at the Junior Royal Academy of Music,
teaching viola and chamber music. More recently, she taught violin and viola at
Queenswood School, Potters Bar. Brenda continues to perform professionally, as
well as being curate of parishes near Huntingdon.
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French taxi horns to New York to ensure accuracy. Gershwin
scored the work himself, writing out all the parts in meticulous
detail.
In the programme notes that he co-wrote for the premiere,
Gershwin said that his purpose was “to portray the impression of
an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city and listens
to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere."
When the tone poem moves into the blues, "our American
friend ... has succumbed to a spasm of homesickness." But,
"nostalgia is not a fatal disease." The American visitor "once again
is an alert spectator of Parisian life" and "the street noises and
French atmosphere are triumphant."
There are two parts to An American in Paris, plus a ‘postlude’.
In the first, Paris by day, we can hear a bustling city - a mix of
strident car horns sounding through the streets, and the calm of
the city’s peaceful parks. In Part 2, Paris by Night, the city gradually goes to sleep and a solo violin cadenza leads in to the famous
‘blues’, played on a trumpet, signifying the romance of what
another composer, Delius, called ‘A great city’, together with
the visitor’s mellow nostalgia. In the Postlude, the street music of
Part 1 reappears in the dawn light, and then all the themes from
both parts bubble up noisily and joyfully as the visitor revels in his
experiences.
And what an experience it must have been to have attended that
premiere, to hear a work which effortlessly combines the formality of the classical tradition with the exuberance of popular song
and jazz rhythms. Without a doubt, American in Paris puts us, with
Gershwin, the American, right into the beating heart of a lively
city of energy and romance.
Hector Berlioz (1803 – 1869)
Harold in Italy
Pity poor viola players! They, or rather their instruments, are the
butt of countless orchestral jokes (Question: what’s the difference between a viola and a trampoline? Answer: you take your
shoes off to jump on a trampoline!). It was no different and no
less unfair in the 1830s but, after a performance of the
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Harold aux
Montagnes
Marche des
pélerins
chantant la
prière du soir
Sérénade
d’un
Montagnard
des Abruzzes
à sa
maîtresse
Orgie des
Brigands
composer’s Symphonie Fantastique, ‘a man with long hair,
piercing eyes and a strange haggard face’ introduced himself, as Berlioz recalled in his memoirs later. The man was
Paganini, the violin virtuoso and rock star of his generation,
and he wanted a concerto to show off his newly acquired
Stradivarius viola. Berlioz, who was deeply unhappy with the
disrespect accorded to the viola, was eager to oblige.
Ostensibly, Harold in Italy is based on Byron’s epic poem
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, though the work that finally
emerged with its colourful titles (probably chosen as an
afterthought to attract audiences to the new sound world
that Berlioz created) doesn’t match any of Byron’s descriptions. Instead, what emerges, in a work of dazzling originality, is a far more powerful sense of the solo viola, like the
composer himself, as an outsider, sometimes at one with
the orchestra, but at other times disruptive, as in the second
movement, or marginalized, as in the third movement, until
it is finally, at the end of the work, silenced completely.
The first movement seems to represent the composer’s
own escape from melancholy (the plangent opening viola
theme) into his beloved Italian mountains as the movement
explodes with unabashed joy.
Is it fanciful to think of the second movement as a prelude
to minimalism? There are sixteen repetitions of a gentle
pilgrims’ march (with subtle variations), a religious canto
that builds into an urgent harmonic progression and an
extraordinary coda in which clashing notes on the horns,
harp, oboe and flute are repeated 11 times before relaxing
into a final E-major chord.
The third movement opens with a cheerfully rustic oboe
and piccolo tune before a plaintive horn melody leads into a
return of the ‘Harold’ theme which, in a fabulous coda mixes
itself with the horn and the opening melody, the three
events occupying the same sonic space. Remarkable!
Reminiscent of previous scenes, the fourth and final movement
begins with the solo viola, sympathetically supported by the
orchestra, recalling the themes of the previous three movements. But then, as the viola bows out, the fun really begins,
with the Orgy of the Brigands. There are moments of quiet
concord, true, and the music shimmers with resolution, even
in the midst of chaos. But it’s one hell of a riotous party!
Suffused with the composer's own idiosyncratic genius and
beautifully allowing the viola’s mid-range eloquence to shine
through, Harold in Italy is a truly original work, and a joy to
experience.
Jeremy Harmer
About Ely Sinfonia
Ely Sinfonia is the first ever high quality orchestral ensemble to be
based in Ely. The orchestra was founded in November 1999 by a
group led by ADeC (Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire) with
the aim of becoming a beacon of excellence as East Cambridgeshire’s
own community orchestra.
Since then, it has become one of the region’s best respected
orchestras. Today, Ely Sinfonia is made up of players of all ages and
backgrounds, including school and college students, business professionals, retired individuals and local music teachers. The orchestra’s
repertoire includes a wide range of contemporary music as well as
mainstream works such as those you are hearing tonight.
In addition to playing works for full orchestra, Ely Sinfonia also
provides smaller groups to play at events such as the Easter Day
mass in Ely Cathedral. Other projects include training days, coached
by professionals, for less experienced players who want to develop
their orchestral and ensemble playing techniques.
The orchestra’s president is the internationally renowned ‘cellist
Raphael Wallfish, and we are delighted to announce that he will
be joining us to play Dvořák’s cello concerto in Ely Cathedral on
Saturday October 1st 2011.
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[email protected]
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