Classical Music at NNF10

NORFOLK & NORWICH FESTIVAL 2010 (7-22 MAY 2010)
ANNOUNCES HEADLINE PROGRAMME OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

Norfolk & Norwich Festival, a jewel in the regional festival calendar, features headline performances in its classical music programme for 2010. Under the inspired artistic direction of Jonathan Holloway, ground-breaking plans include the UK première of Jordi Savall’s Jerusalem; Michael Nyman’s critically acclaimed The Glare, in collaboration with singer David McAlmont; violinist Chloe Hanslip performing Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto with Moscow State Symphony Orchestra; and I Fagiolini’s enthralling Tallis in Wonderland alongside classical giants such as the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Chamber Orchestra, Louis Lortie, Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff and The Royal Academy of Music as well as Dan Jones’ world première of Music for Seven Ice-cream Vans.

Commenting on the Festival, artistic director Jonathan Holloway said: “The heart of Norfolk beats to the sounds and sights of Norfolk & Norwich Festival in May, and this year will be no different. Our music programme will delight and challenge, as we bring the world’s very best to our East of England doorstep.”

Jordi Savall – Jerusalem: City of two Peaces - Heavenly Peace and Earthly Peace
(Saturday 15 May, Norwich Theatre @ 7.30pm, Tickets £6-£36)

“Quite simply an affirmation of humanity”, BBC Music Magazine

Early-music champion and viola da gamba virtuoso, Jordi Savall, leads his inspired Spanish ensembles, Hesperion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya, and a group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim performers from the Middle East and beyond, for this UK première of Jerusalem. Up until now, only available in the UK on sell-out CD, this extraordinary piece uses religious songs, texts, chants and instrumental arrangements to explore how the cultural traditions of the three major monotheistic religions have shaped the history of the ancient city of Jerusalem from Biblical times through the Crusades to the present day.

Michael Nyman/David McAlmont: The Glare
Friday 7 May, Norwich Theatre Royal @ 8pm, Tickets £5-£36
Following dazzling reviews for Michael Nyman and David McAlmont’s CD, The Glare (released at the end of 2009), Norfolk and Norwich Festival is delighted to present this rare live performance. David McAlmont, a singer from Croydon who sounds like a celestial mix of Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Antony Hegarty performs soul songs inspired by contemporary news stories about the glare of the media set against re-arrangements of Michael Nyman's movie themes.

Chloe Hanslip and Moscow State Symphony Orchestra
(Friday 14 May, St Andrew’s Hall @ 7.30pm, Tickets £5 - £40)
As part of a select, whistle-stop UK tour, Norfolk and Norwich Festival is delighted to present the prodigious star Chloe Hanslip performing Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto with world-renowned Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. Glass’ Violin Concerto was first performed in 1987 and voted a favourite by Classic FM listeners. This tour, which starts in Moscow, will be the first time Chloe Hanslip has played the work in public.

I Fagiolini – Tallis in Wonderland
(Thursday 20 May, St John’s Church @ 8pm, Tickets £5 - £15)

I Fagionlini, the British group renowned for experimenting with the performance of Renaissance polyphony, dazzles once again with Tallis in Wonderland, a performance and sound installation combined. It’s an aural fantasy which invites listeners to hear the music in a new way and to watch it afresh too, as six singers interweave both vocally and physically around a church laden with whispering speakers.

The Academy of Ancient Music with Elin Manahan Thomas: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
(Tuesday 18 May, St Andrew’s Hall @ 7.30pm, Tickets £5- £30)

The Academy of Ancient Music takes a fresh look at Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, one of the best-loved works of the baroque period. Less well known are the Italian sonnets, which the composer penned to introduce the concertos. Originally read before each concerto was performed, the sonnets were intended to “explain the music more easily”. Welsh soprano, Elin Manahan Thomas, gives a new bent to Vivaldi’s idea as she performs arias celebrating the seasons alongside each of the four concertos.

Leif Ove Andsnes, Christian Tetzlaff and Tanja Tetzlaff
Monday 10 May, John Innes Centre @7.30pm, Tickets £5 - £15)

Norwegian pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes, first performed with the German violinist Christian Tetzlaff in 1992 when both musicians were starting out as professionals. Nearly twenty years later they have become great friends and collaborators with Christian’s sister, cellist Tanja joining the “band”. This evening, the three perform 100 years worth of music from Schumann, Janacek and Dvorak.

Louis Lortie
Wednesday 19 May, St Peter Mancroft Church
7.30pm Chopin Complete Etudes
10.30pm Chopin Nocturnes
Tickets £11 - £27

It is said that every great pianist learns the Chopin etudes and many pianists venture to play a few of them in public. But it is a rare keyboard athlete who dares to play all 27 in one sitting in front of a live audience. A rarer one still then, who goes on to play Chopin’s 21 Nocturnes three hours later. This daring double-bill is the equivalent of running a marathon and swimming the Channel on the same day and only the brilliant Louis Lortie would attempt it.

Royal Academy of Music Lunchtime Concerts at the Assembly House
Assembly House, Norwich (10, 12, 14, 17 19 and 21 May @ 1pm Tickets £7)

Following the huge success of last year’s lunchtime series, rising stars from London’s Royal Academy of Music showcase their talent including violinist Charlotte Bonneton, tenor Julian Forbes, clarinet ensemble – Trilogy Ensemble, cellist Jessica Hayes playing with accordian player, Rafal Luc, pianist Reinis Zarins and guitarist, Milos Karadaglic.

Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien
John Innes Centre, 17 May @ Tickets £5-15)

BBC New Generation artist, violinist Alina Ibragimova, makes her Festival debut when she performs Beethoven Sonatas 3, 6 and 9 alongside her regular recital partner, French pianist Cédric Tiberghien. The Times recently described Alina as “a joyous breath of fresh air blowing through our concert halls”.

Festival Chorus with the English Chamber Orchestra
Saturday 8 May, St Andrew’s Hall @ 7.0pm Tickets £5 - £40
Conductor David Parry takes up the baton for this year’s Festival curtain-opener, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the English Chamber Orchestra and an international line-up of soloists including Judith Howarth, Yvonne Howard, Gwyn Hughes-Jones and Andrew Foster-Williams. The orchestra will also play Beethoven’s Symphony No 1 in C.

World Première: Dan Jones and Suburban Counterpoint – Music for Seven Ice-Cream Vans
Co-commission with Norfolk & Norwich Festival and LIFT
Venues to be confirmed – check www.nnf10.org.uk for more details.
Music For Seven Ice Cream Vans is a work designed to reach thousands at once. A set of seven vans, with modified ‘music boxes’ created specially for the performance, will weave a spellbinding counterpoint across an entire suburb at a time. Melodies will echo from one van to another, calling out across great distances through the evening and sometimes into the night.

Box Office

For further information about Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2010 and for ticket reservations visit www.nnf10.org.uk or call 01603 766400. To find out more or to request a brochure, please email info@nnfestival.org.uk.

Ends

For press enquires: Kate Gedge 01874 730300 or kr.pr@btinternet.com