Ensemble 360
Robert Plane clarinet
Matthew Denton and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan violins
Rachel Roberts viola, Gemma Rosefield cello
with James Gilchrist tenor
and Tim Horton piano
Howard Skempton The Moon is Flashing
Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte Op 98
Howard Skempton Piano Concerto
Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge
We are delighted to be finally putting on this concert which has been twice postponed due to Covid. The music of Howard Skempton makes a recognizable feature in our Festival programmes, and what a delight to have two works that are new to Leamington audiences this year. Both are works originally scored for soloist and full orchestra, which have been re-scored by the composer for chamber ensemble.
We are pleased to welcome James Gilchrist back to the area after a gap of some eight years. This concert was originally conceived to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday back in 2020 and we couldn’t lose the opportunity of having a tenor of this eminence perform the great composer’s only song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, to complement RVW’s sublime On Wenlock Edge in his birthday celebrations.
Concert generously supported by Maurice Millward
Tickets: £25 reserved centre | £17 unreserved sides
Gemma Rosefield cello & Tim Horton piano
Beethoven Cello Sonata in D Op 102 No 2
Bruch Kol Nidrei Op 47
Grieg Cello Sonata in A minor Op 36
Festival favourites Gemma and Tim bring us an intimate Duo performance ahead of their evening concert with Ensemble 360.
Tickets: £17 reserved centre | £12 unreserved sides
Sacconi Quartet
Ben Hancox and Hannah Dawson violins
Robin Ashwell viola, Cara Berridge cello
with Emma Abbate piano
Vaughan Williams String Quartet No 1 in G minor
Ravel String Quartet in F
Elgar Piano Quintet in A minor Op 84
We begin the 2022 Festival with a relatively rare gem from Ralph Vaughan Williams. RVW wrote his First String Quartet in 1908 after studying with Ravel for three months; it seems only natural, therefore, to pair this work with Ravel’s only Quartet which was completed in 1903.
Both RVW and Ravel served in World War I in non-combative roles, as ambulance crew and lorry driver respectively. Elgar’s great period was also the years before and during the Great War, writing patriotic music and following with his three great chamber works including the Piano Quintet of 1918.
The Sacconi Quartet return to Leamington after a superb opening concert of the Autumn Season and Emma Abbate, originally from Italy and now a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, makes her Leamington Music debut in this fine Festival opener.
Tickets: £25 reserved centre | £17 unreserved sides
“The Great Outdoors”
This extra Festival concert brings Roderick Williams to the new King’s High School campus for the first time. It is a chance to celebrate King’s Hall as a new venue for Warwick and there is also a new Music Department for King’s High School and Warwick Prep opening this year.
Williams has been hailed as a national treasure and is a supreme interpreter of English Song. This programme of works by the great English masters – Butterworth, Ireland, Warlock, Gurney, Vaughan Williams and Britten – shows Roderick at his absolute best.
Tickets: £20 unreserved
£1 Student Standby
Plentiful parking available with entry via Banbury Road
Tea and cakes served after the concert with tours of the school possible
JAMES GILCHRIST tenor
ENSEMBLE 360
Matthew Hunt clarinet
Benjamin Nabarro and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan violins
Ruth Gibson viola
Gemma Rosefield cello
Tim Horton piano
Howard Skempton The Moon is Flashing
Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte Op 98
Howard Skempton Piano Concerto
Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge
The music of Howard Skempton makes a recognizable feature in our Festival programmes, and what a delight to have two works that are new to Leamington audiences this year. Both are works originally scored for soloist and full orchestra, which have been re-scored by the composer for chamber ensemble, giving us a wonderful sense of symmetry to have chamber versions of piano concertos bookending the Festival.
We are pleased to welcome James Gilchrist back to the area after a gap of some six years, and when a tenor of this eminence performs at a Largely Ludwig Festival, having Beethoven’s only song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, in the programme is an absolute must. Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge then moves us closer to the delights on 17 May…
Tickets: £25 and £20 reserved central block, £15 unreserved sides.
£1 Student Standby
Concert generously sponsored by Presto Classical
Festival Saver Ticket available – call Leamington Music office on 01926 497000 for more details.
ENSEMBLE 360
Matthew Hunt clarinet
Gemma Rosefield cello
Tim Horton piano
Weber Grand Duo Concertant Op 48
Beethoven Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen”
Rossini Introduction, Theme & Variations
Beethoven Trio Op 11 ‘Gassenhauer’
Three of the best known members of Ensemble 360 contribute a concert requiring virtuosic playing and featuring variations.
Beethoven’s Gassenhauer Trio dates from 1797 and the Variations on a theme from The Magic Flute from 1801. Weber and Rossini are both best known in the opera world. Weber was inspired by the clarinetist Heinrich Baermann to write concertos and this duo in 1815 and Rossini wrote his Theme and Variations aged 17 in 1809.
Four remarkable works written in a less than twenty years period makes for an awesome lunchtime feast!
Tickets: £16 reserved central block, £13 unreserved sides.
£1 Student Standby
Festival Saver Ticket available – call Leamington Music office on 01926 497000 for more details.
Concert generously supported by Jennifer Lorch
Beethoven Violin Sonata in F Op 24 ‘Spring’
Brahms Violin Sonata in D minor Op 108
Arvo Pärt Fratres
Beethoven Violin Sonata in A Op 47 ‘Kreutzer’
Tasmin Little has firmly established herself as one of today’s leading international violinists; she has performed on every continent in some of the most prestigious venues of the world, in a career spanning more than thirty years.
Imagine our delight when Tasmin told us she had so enjoyed her Festival concert last year, she would like to return to Leamington with Andrey Gugnin and play for us again before she hangs up her concert gowns for good in the summer.
With a programme featuring two of Beethoven’s finest violin sonatas, this will be one of the last chances to hear Tasmin play in the Midlands and is certainly an opportunity not to be missed!
Tickets: £25 and £20 reserved central block, £15 unreserved sides.
£1 Student Standby
Concert generously supported by Diane Holt
Festival Saver Ticket available – call Leamington Music office on 01926 497000 for more details.
KINSKY PIANO TRIO
Lucie Sedláková Hůlová violin
Martin Sedlák cello
Veronika Böhmová piano
Vranický Trio in G Op 32 No 1
Beethoven Trio in C minor Op 1 No 3
Fibich Trio in F minor
The Kinsky Piano Trio makes its third visit to the Royal Pump Rooms, having previously appeared in the 2014 and 2017 Festivals. One of the great Czech ensembles, the Trio records regularly for Czech Radio, and their concerts have also been broadcast in the USA and Mexico. In this concert, Beethoven nestles comfortably amongst a Czech contemporary and a Czech successor.
Tickets: £16 reserved central block, £13 unreserved sides.
£1 Student Standby
Concert generously supported by the Low-Beer Trust
Festival Saver Ticket available – call Leamington Music office on 01926 497000 for more details.
TRIO SHAHAM EREZ WALLFISCH
Hagai Shaham violin
Arnon Erez piano
Raphael Wallfisch cello
Haydn Trio in C Hob XV:27
Beethoven Allegretto in B flat WoO 39
Beethoven Variations on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’ Op 121a
Beethoven Trio in B Flat Op 97 ‘Archduke’
Festival favourite, Raphael Wallfisch, brings his Trio back to Leamington for the first time since 2015 when they delighted our audience with all of Brahms’ wonderful piano trios; this time, of course, it is Beethoven’s turn for the Shaham Erez Wallfisch treatment with a little sprinkling of Haydn too.
The greatest of Beethoven’s trios, the Archduke, is accompanied by lesser-known works, which makes for an exhaustive picture of the composer’s approach to the medium throughout his life – the Kakadu Variations being the last piece for piano trio that Beethoven published in his lifetime.
Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch has performed, broadcast and recorded widely throughout Europe, Canada and Israel including concerts in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France and Spain. Amongst other recitals the trio enjoys performing regularly at the Wigmore Hall and comes to Leamington direct from there for this visit.
Tickets: £25 and £20 reserved central block, £15 unreserved sides.
£1 Student Standby
Concert generously supported by Paul & Jane Watts
Festival Saver Ticket available – call Leamington Music office on 01926 497000 for more details.
A platform to showcase the cream of Warwickshire Music’s students from across the county, performing works that complement the Festival’s programmes and themes.
Tickets: £2.50 students and children, £8 adults
to include tea, squash and cake
Festival Saver Ticket available – call Leamington Music office on 01926 497000 for more details.