King s. Easterat. April Bach St Matthew Passion Messiaen Visions de l Amen MacMillan Seven Last Words Elgar The Apostles

Transcription

1 Easterat King s April 2012 A festival of services and concerts for Holy Week and Easter Bach St Matthew Passion Messiaen Visions de l Amen MacMillan Seven Last Words Elgar The Apostles

2 WELCOME Welcome from Stephen Cleobury, Artistic Director, Easter at King s I am delighted that King's is again able to offer a wealth of seasonal repertoire in the context of the College's traditional chapel services for Holy Week and Easter, and in concert. Easter at King's is now in its eighth year, and has made its mark as an important festival both nationally and internationally. The Chapel Choir is at the heart of the Festival, but we are privileged also to include many distinguished soloists and ensembles. We are again taking the Festival outside King s and we are grateful to Clare and Corpus Christi Colleges for their participation. We are pleased once more to welcome involvement from Duke University, and are grateful to Jeremy Begbie for his part in having made this possible. Easter at King s receives no funding from any official source. I am indebted to those named within this brochure without whose generosity the Festival would not take place. I would be delighted to hear from anyone who might like to support the Festival in future years. Meanwhile we look forward to welcoming you to this year s services and concerts. Priority postal booking until Thursday 12 January Booking in person opens Saturday 14 January Telephone booking opens Monday 16 January For details see page 15 CALENDAR Tuesday 3 April 2.00pm Exploring the Passion (Seminar, Corpus Playroom) 6.30pm Bach St Matthew Passion Wednesday 4 April 5.30pm Rumours of Passion (Clare College Chapel) Maundy Thursday 5 April 11.00am Illuminating Messiaen (Exhibition, Corpus Playroom) 5.30pm Sung Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar 7.00pm Illuminating Messiaen (Talk, Corpus Playroom) 8.00pm Chamber Music for Maundy Thursday 9.30pm Meditation for Maundy Thursday Good Friday 6 April 10.30am Ante-Communion and Veneration of the Cross 5.30pm Choral Evensong 7.30pm MacMillan Seven Last Words from the Cross Holy Saturday 7 April 7.00pm Elgar The Apostles Easter Day Sunday 8 April 10.30am Sung Eucharist with Procession 3.30pm Festal Evensong Easter Monday 9 April 4.00pm Organ Recital for Eastertide Attending Services Members of the public are welcome to attend all services at King s College; no tickets are required for any listed here. Doors open approximately 15 minutes before a service starts. Please be aware that large numbers of people come to the Good Friday and Easter Day services; you should expect to join a substantial queue which often forms in the main Court of King s College well before a service is due to start. All services and concerts take place in King s College Chapel except where stated. KING S COLLEGE CHOIR (Images UK) STEPHEN CLEOBURY (D Scanlan) KING S COLLEGE CHOIR (Images UK) 2 Box office:

3 TUESDAY 3 APRIL 2.00pm Study Afternoon [finish 4.00pm] Corpus Playroom Exploring the Passion An afternoon with leading Bach scholar Professor John Butt, who explores Bach s St Matthew Passion. John will be joined by James Gilchrist and DavidWilson-Johnson in conversation about the Passion and the roles of the Evangelist and Christus. Tickets: 7.50 ( 3 students) With kind permission of the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College and the ADC committee. 6.30pm Concert [finish c.9.45pm] Bach St Matthew Passion Choristers of Jesus and St Catharine s Colleges Academy of Ancient Music James Gilchrist Evangelist David Wilson-Johnson Christ Richard Lloyd Morgan Pilate Sophie Bevan soprano James Laing counter-tenor Thomas Walker tenor Lukas Jakobski bass Stephen Cleobury conductor To me the Matthew Passion is not only a religious work. The Matthew Passion seems to me an unoperatic opera that relives a tragic story of human suffering, from beginning to end. It is among the greatest masterpieces ever written. George Solti Tickets: 55, 45, 35, 25 ( 5 student standby) With generous support from Robin Boyle. JAMES GILCHRIST (operaomnia.co.uk) THOMAS WALKER (Sussie Ahlburg) WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL 5.30pm Concert [finish c.6.30pm] Clare College Chapel Rumours of Passion The Cambridge-Duke Voices Toby Young conductor Micheal O Siadhail reader Gesualdo Ecce vidimus eum Tallis Nunc dimittis Begbie O you whose love laid out our skies arr. Young He never said a mumbling word Tavener Nunc dimittis A sequence of music, readings and poetry based on the strange and stirring Servant Songs of Isaiah takes place in the intimate setting of Clare College Chapel. The evening includes four poems by distinguished Irish poet Micheal O Siadhail, especially commissioned for the occasion and read by the poet. Tickets: unreserved 12 ( 5 student standby) With the generous support of the Bible Society. LUKAS JAKOBSKI DAVID WILSON-JOHNSON MICHEAL O SIADHAIL THE ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC 4 Box office:

4 MAUNDY THURSDAY 5 APRIL 11.00am 7.00pm Photo Exhibition Corpus Playroom Illuminating Messiaen Throughout his composing life Olivier Messiaen thought in highly visual terms he wanted his music to dazzle and overwhelm us like glorious light through stained glass windows. This photography exhibition, by members of Duke Divinity School, takes its inspiration from the Visions de l Amen, one of his most colourful works. Discover a new angle on the music, ahead of the evening concert. Free and open to the public With thanks to Duke Divinity School, Duke University, North Carolina. 5.30pm Service [finish c.6.45pm] Sung Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar Frank Martin Movements from the Mass for double choir 7.00pm Pre-Concert Talk [finish c.7.45pm] Corpus Playroom Illuminating Messiaen David Owen Norris presenter Distinguished pianist, composer and broadcaster David Owen Norris presents an introduction to Olivier Messiaen s Visions de l Amen, which is to be performed in the Chapel immediately afterwards. David s talk will draw on an exhibition of photographs, Illuminating Messiaen, inspired by the music and displayed during the performance. Admission free to ticketholders for the 8.00pm concert. Please book, as places are limited 8.00pm Concert [finish c.9.00pm] Chamber Music for Maundy Thursday Cordelia Williams piano Jeremy Begbie piano JS Bach Chorale Prelude Herzlich tut mich verlangen Messiaen Visions de l Amen Written in the midst of the Second World War in occupied France, Messiaen s spectacular Visions de l Amen for two pianos is one of his most well-known and accessible pieces, encompassing a huge range of emotion and pianistic virtuosity. Messiaen paints a vast panorama in sound, depicting the passage from the World's Creation to its re-creation, including at its centre a profound meditation on Jesus agony in Gethsemane. Tickets: unreserved 15 ( 5 student standby) 9.30pm Service [finish c.10.30pm] Meditation for Maundy Thursday Couperin Lec ons de te nèbres Cressida Sharp soprano Margaret Carpenter soprano Richard Boothby viola da gamba Tim Brown organ continuo Richard Lloyd Morgan cantor Admission free. A retiring collection will be taken to defray the costs of the performance. With generous support from Tim Brown CORDELIA WILLIAMS (Hannah Chlala) JEREMY BEGBIE TIM BROWN RICHARD LLOYD MORGAN 6 Box office:

5 GOOD FRIDAY 6 APRIL 10.30am Service [finish c.11.40am] Ante-Communion and Veneration of the Cross Allegri Victoria Miserere mei, Deus St John Passion 5.30pm Service [finish c.5.45pm] Choral Evensong Choral Scholars of King s College Tallis The Lamentations of Jeremiah (Part 2) 7.30pm Concert [finish c.8.45pm] Seven Last Words from the Cross Guy Johnston cello Britten Sinfonia MacMillan Kiss on Wood Palestrina Stabat Mater Tavener Popule Meus MacMillan Seven Last Words from the Cross... MacMillan's masterpiece... the maturity in this composition is astounding: the tonal structure of the seven settings, harmony which can be spare or lush without ever being overwritten, an inexorable sense of the drama in the text, the balance between voice and strings. A few seconds, in difficult times, when meditation was centre stage, when it was possible to regain optimism. Guardian (on Seven Last Words) MacMillan s tour de force is partnered by Palestrina s intense depiction of Mary, mother of Jesus, at the foot of the Cross and Tavener s meditation on O my people, what have I done to you? The expressive solo cello and serene strings present unwavering faith against the sound and fury of the timpani. Tickets: 30, 22, 18, 12 ( 5 student standby) GUY JOHNSTON BRITTEN SINFONIA (Sussie Ahlburg) KING S COLLEGE CHOIR (Images UK) 8 Box office:

6 HOLY SATURDAY 7 APRIL 7.00pm Concert [finish c.9.00pm] Elgar The Apostles Ailish Tynan Blessed Virgin/Angel Gabriel Susan Bickley Mary Magdalene Timothy Robinson St John/Narrator Mark Stone St Peter Roderick Williams Jesus David Wilson-Johnson Judas Philharmonia Chorus BBC Concert Orchestra Stephen Cleobury conductor You are a great magician wrote A.C. Benson to Elgar after The Apostles was first performed in King s College Chapel in Upon me it produced an extraordinary effect the beauty of certain movements is incredible out of the reach of art. I can t conceive the process by which you dreamed of such sounds. Such is the deeply moving experience in store for the audience that comes to King s Chapel this Holy Saturday to hear in the words and music of this great oratorio the story of Christ s apostles, from their calling, through to the events at Golgotha and the Sepulchre, to the Resurrection. Tickets: 40, 30, 22, 18 ( 5 student standby) The concert is being recorded by BBC Radio 3 and must start punctually. Please arrive in good time; latecomers will not be admitted until the interval. EASTER DAY SUNDAY 8 APRIL 10.30am Service [finish c.11.30am] Sung Eucharist with Procession accompanied by a string ensemble Haydn Kleine orgelmesse 3.30pm Service [finish c.4.30pm] Festal Evensong Howells Collegium Regale Vaughan Williams Rise Heart, thy Lord is Risen AILISH TYNAN (Sussie Ahlburg) SUSAN BICKLEY (Samantha Ovens) MARK STONE (Robert Workman) TIMOTHY ROBINSON (Caroline Hughes) PHILHARMONIA CHORUS, KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, 2011 RODERICK WILLIAMS (Benjamin Ealovega) 10 Box office:

7 (Geoffrey Robinson) EASTER MONDAY 9 APRIL 4.00pm Concert [finish c.5.15pm] Organ Recital for Eastertide John Butt organ JS Bach Prelude and Fugue in C, BWV 547 JS Bach Preludes from Das Orgelbüchlein, BWV Reger Dankpsalm, op 145 no 2 Messiaen Pieces from Livre du Saint Sacrement Dupré Deuxième Symphonie, op 26 Bach s preludes on Easter chorales (from Das Orgelbüchlein ) and the three central pieces from Messiaen s Livre du Saint Sacrement form the core of this programme. These two composers have most obviously provided a bridge between liturgical organ music and the wider world of western classical music. Reger s concise Dankpsalm, based around hymn tunes, offers an obvious development of Bach s idiom in late Romantic guise. Marcel Dupré s second symphony is not unlike so much of his organ music specifically associated with religious devotion, but is perhaps his boldest work in the modernist musical language of the late 1920s. Tickets: 10 ( 5 students) KING S COLLEGE CHAPEL (Images UK) JOHN BUTT The Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury, is always pleased to receive enquiries from potential Choir members Please telephone +44 (01223) or write to him at the College for details King s College, Cambridge, CB2 1ST choir@kings.cam.ac.uk OTHER CONCERTS AT KING S INCLUDE... Saturday 3 March pm [Finish c10.30pm] King s College Hall Badinage Catherine Bott soprano James Bowman counter tenor Jonathan Cohen piano Performed with piano accompaniment, this captivating and witty recital celebrates the long friendship of two great artists. This [is a] hugely entertaining concert, the repertoire wide-ranging, the atmosphere informal (London Evening Standard). Tickets (on sale now): 18, 150 for a table of 10. Wine on sale. Friday 27 April pm [finish c.9.30pm] King s College Chapel Gala Charity Concert Bruckner Strauss Verdi Puccini Motets Oboe Concerto Pater Noster Messa di Gloria Nicholas Daniel oboe, Andrew Kennedy tenor Mark Stone bass, Kings College Choir, CUMS Chorus Philharmonia Orchestra, Stephen Cleobury conductor Richard Strauss's graceful oboe concerto, played by award winning Nicholas Daniel, will soar into the Chapel.This warm, romantic programme continues with Puccini's rarely-performed MessadiGloria. Tickets (on sale now): 60, 50, 40, 25 ( 5 student standby) For VIP seats contact concerts@kings.cam.ac.uk JAMES BOWMAN AND CATHERINE BOTT NICHOLAS DANIEL In support of Homestart and Concerts at King s. 12 Box office:

8 SEATING & ACCESS INFORMATION Seating Plan ORGAN SCREEN PERFORMERS KEY: TOP PRICE SECOND PRICE THIRD PRICE LOWEST PRICE Concessionary and discounted tickets A 50% discount is offered to wheelchair users and registered blind people and a companion. We welcome guide dogs. 5 standby tickets are available one hour before concerts to students and registered job seekers. A 2 discount is available to Senior Citizens and those assessed as disabled. Please note that all concessions and discounts are subject to availability, cannot be applied retrospectively, and cannot be combined. Please bring relevant ID to confirm your status. Access The Chapel is wheelchair accessible. Please inform the The Shop at King s Box Office if you have access requirements so that they may advise you on the most appropriate seats. General information and enquiries Please note that tickets are not required for Chapel services. Once purchased, tickets cannot normally be exchanged or refunded unless the concert is sold out. A 10% handling charge will apply. All information is correct at the time of going to press. All finish times are estimates. We reserve the right to alter performers and programme or events if necessary. Please visit our website for changes and additional concerts or provide us with your address and telephone number so that we are able to contact you in the unlikely event of a last-minute cancelled performance. For enquiries not related to booking, contact the series organiser by concerts@kings.cam.ac.uk Easter at King s is promoted by King s College and is made possible with the support of the Provost and Fellows of King s College and BBC Radio 3 King s College acknowledges generous support for the series from Robin Boyle, the Stephen and Margaret Gill Family Foundation, The Bible Society and The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. All the concerts in King s will take place in the Ante-Chapel where seats are numbered and reserved except on Maundy Thursday when seats are unreserved. 14 Box office: BOOKING INFORMATION Priority booking by post Priority booking will be given to postal bookings received by Thursday 12 January. Forms will be processed in order of receipt. We strongly recommend sending back your completed form as soon as possible after receiving it to: The Shop at King s, 13 King s Parade, Cambridge CB2 1SP If booking by post, please enclose a stamped addressed envelope and we will post your tickets to you. Alternately, tickets may be collected at the performance. Payment can be made by cheque or credit card. Credit and debit card payments are subject to a 2 booking fee. There is no booking fee for payment by cheque. Cheques should be made payable to Kings College Enterprises Ltd. Please add your name, address, cheque card number on the rear. Cheques can be left blank with the words, not exceeding xxxx in the bottom left hand corner, where xxxx is the total you are prepared to pay. This allows the box office staff to give you the best available seats if your first choice is unavailable. Postal applications should also include your telephone number and address should we need to contact you. Booking in person Booking opens on Saturday 14 January at: The Shop at King s, 13 King s Parade, Cambridge CB2 1SP Booking by phone or Booking opens on Monday 16 January. By phone: By shop@kings.cam.ac.uk Opening hours the Shop at King's Monday Saturday 9.30am 5.30pm Sunday 10.00am 4.30pm Tickets on the door Any remaining unsold tickets will be available from the North Door of the Chapel an hour before the concert starts. Please note that sighted seats for some concerts may be completely sold out in advance. Where to eat and stay in Cambridge For up to date information on where to stay, eat and shop in Cambridge visit Local Secrets:

9 BOOKING FORM ExploringthePassion..... total St Matthew Passion..... total Rumours of Passion total Illuminating Messiaen..... free total Chamber Music for Maundy Thursday total Seven Last Words..... total The Apostles..... total Organ Recital total total I am willing to accept alternative price tickets I am a wheelchair user Let us know if you have a seating preference we ll try to seat you there: Please note all payments by credit and debit card are subject to a 2 booking fee. There is no booking fee for payment by cheque. If paying by cheque, please leave the amount in both figures and words blank, but cross the cheque with the words not exceeding xxxx (indicating the maximum amount you are prepared to pay for your tickets). Cover photo: Images UK Name Address: Postcode: *Daytime telephone: * Signature *Please provide these so we can contact you about booking queries or any last-minute changes. Please add my details to the King s College Concerts mailing list (We will not give your details to a third party) I enclose a cheque (see overleaf for payee details) I wish to pay by Mastercard/VISA/Switch (delete as appropriate) We are unable to accept American Express. Please give your card details below they will be destroyed after use. Card Number Name on card Issue no (Switch only) Start date / Expiry date / Send the completed form with a stamped, addressed envelope, to The Shop at King s, 13 King s Parade, Cambridge, CB2 1SP 16 Box office: