Tag Archives: Venice

All Posts, CLoSer: Debussy Copland and Dance, Education and Outreach, Month in Pictures, RE:Imagine, Retrospect, Venice: Darkness to Light

Month in pictures – September and October

We’ve had two very busy months at CLS. Our RE:Imagine concert series got off to a flying start in September with CLoSer: Debussy, Copland and Dance at Village Underground, and continued at Southwark Cathedral with an atmospheric celebration of the music of one of the most romantic cities in the world, in Venice: Darkness to Light. But that’s not all we’ve been up to so far this autumn. Take a look at some of our highlights of the last two months…

CLoSer: Debussy, Copland and Dance saw us return to the intimate setting of Village Underground with a programme exploring music written for dance from Rameau’s 18th century take on the classical Pygmalion myth to Copland’s evocative Appalachian Spring. The concert opened and closed with two brand new dance interpretations of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune by choreographer Tony Adigun, one contemporary classical, one urban. Photographer James Berry was on hand to capture the concert as it happened. Take a look at some of his stunning pictures…

© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry

Whether you missed the concert, or would just like to relive the evening, you can still watch short highlights on our website.

Our second RE:Imagine concert took us to the magnificent Southwark Cathedral to celebrate one of the world’s most wonderful cities, with Venice: Darkness to Light. Soprano Elin Manahan Thomas and countertenor Alex Potter joined us for JS Bach’s re-imagining of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, and Latvian composer Ugis Praulins continued our theme of re-imagining the works of Bach, with his arrangement of movements from the Mass in B minor. Here are some lovely photos of rehearsals by James Berry.

© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry
© James Berry

On top of all that, it’s been very busy in the education department, as we returned to Suffolk and Essex for our annual Lullaby Concert tour and workshops with Orchestras Live. We also brought a Very Special Bear’s first concert to Warwick, Basingstoke and Saffron Walden with the help of the excellent Simon Callow, who was an absolute natural at conducting! Take a look behind the scenes to see us wrestling with balloons, and a lovely Paddington Bear card made by one of our younger audience members in Basingstoke!

Our RE:Imagine series continues in the new year with The Viennese Salon in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe, and our next Crash Bang Wallop! family concert will take place on 12 December. We hope to see you there!

Crash Bang Wallop! Let it Snow
Saturday 12 December 2015, 11.00am
Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London
Tickets: £8 Children, £10 Adults, £30 Family (four tickets)
Box Office: 020 7730 4500 / cadoganhall.com

The Viennese Salon
Sunday 24 January 2016, 2.00pm
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, London
Tickets: £62 (premium), £15 – 48, £10 (standing)
Box Office: 020 7401 9919 / shakespearesglobe.com

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All Posts, RE:Imagine, Venice: Darkness to Light

Elin Manahan Thomas on BBC In Tune

We loved listening to the wonderful Elin Manahan Thomas and Stephen Farr on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune yesterday evening, performing music from Bach’s re-imagining of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and talking about our forthcoming RE:Imagine concert, Venice: Darkness to Light. You can listen again for 30 days on catch up (their interview and performances start at around 1:01:30).

And because we can never hear enough of Elin Manahan Thomas’ beautiful voice, we’ve put together a short playlist of some of our favourite recordings.

spotify:user:cityoflondonsinfonia:playlist:7p9Vy9GkUWwJe7Wwxu3iDD

Join us on 14 October in the stunning Southwark Cathedral for a musical celebration of Venice, with Bach’s re-imagining of Pergolesi’s haunting Stabat Mater by Elin Manahan Thomas and Alex Potter.

Venice: Darkness to Light
Wednesday 14 October 2015, 7.30pm
Southwark Cathedral, London
Tickets £25, £15, £5* (*restricted view)
£5 tickets available for students and 16-25s (pre-register at www.cls.co.uk/cls-fiver) Box Office / 020 7377 1362

All Posts, Concert Focus, RE:Imagine, Venice: Darkness to Light

Venice: Darkness to Light

Our RE:Imagine season continues this Wednesday with Venice: Darkness to Light at Southwark Cathedral. We’ve put together this playlist as a little guide to the re-imagined sounds of the concert along with the pieces that inspired them.

Following the journey of the concert, first off, we have Bach’s take on two of Italy’s finest 18th Century composers: the first movement of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Bach’s version of it as the cantata Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden; and the first movement of Vivaldi’s violin concerto from L’estro Armonico that Bach re-imagined as a keyboard concerto.

Sticking with Bach, we have the movements from Bach’s Mass in B Minor that Ugis Praulins has re-imagined (you’ll have to come to the concert if you want to hear what Ugis has done with it!). Following the Bach, are John Adams’ orchestral re-imaginings of Liszt’s The Black Gondola and Busoni’s Berceuse Elegiaque, and their piano version originals.

The most intriguing of the re-imaginings, however, is the overture to Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. Stravinsky based his piece on music by Pergolesi… except that it wasn’t by Pergolesi at all. Most of it was by a little known Venetian composer by the name of Domenico Gallo, who was little known because his publishers passed off most of his music as being by Pergolesi, because that way they knew it would sell more copies! Gallo is restored to his rightful place here, next to Stravinsky’s re-imagining.

spotify:user:cityoflondonsinfonia:playlist:4MBlS8ad60WwDc88Grbxn3

Venice: Darkness to Light
Wednesday 14 October 2015, 7.30pm
Southwark Cathedral, London
Tickets £25, £15, £5* (*restricted view)
£5 tickets available for students and 16-25s (pre-register at www.cls.co.uk/cls-fiver) Box Office / 020 7377 1362

All Posts, RE:Imagine, Spotlight on..., Venice: Darkness to Light

Interview with Amelia Singer

Ahead of our concert and wine tasting next week, we sat down with founder of Amelia’s Wine, Amelia Singer to explore the fascinating world of music and wine…

What drew you towards wine, and how did you get started in the business?

Wine has always been part of my life. I was practically weaned on it by my father! I have always loved cooking and finding the flavours in food, so it was a very natural fit.

I studied acting at university, but I was very involved with the food and wine society, which I absolutely loved. There are so few young women in the wine industry, I decided I would use my acting training to become the Jamie Oliver of wine! So, I spent the next six years working in wineries all over the world, learning all I could about wine and the business, and two years ago I started Amelia’s Wine.

blog wine

Can you tell us a bit about Italian wine?

I adore north east Italy, so preparing the wines for this tasting has been great. One of my favourite wines, which I first remember enjoying with my father, is a classic Amarone. It’s an elegant, robust and reflective red, with dried fruit, chocolate, and smoky flavours. It’s a great wine to savour as it has so many layers; there’s a lot going on, so you can keep going back to it. When it comes to bubbles, rather than a Prosecco, I love a Franciacorta which is also from the region, and is aged longer than Champagne.

How did you go about pairing the wines with the music?

I always go straight to the music and the context and ethos of the programme, and in this case the themes of recreating and re-imagining; playing with the imagination and perceptions and expectations, creating a new way of tasting what you think you know well. I knew the area to focus on, and that I wanted to reflect the idea of darkness to light in the colour spectrum of the wine. I’ve chosen a wine that combines the best of Italy and Germany to complement the Bach in the programme, a bubbly but more serious wine to bring out the Commedia dell’arte themes of Pulcinella, and an elegant, multi-faceted red inspired by Liszt’s The Black Gondola.

What can we expect from the evening?

Something that’s interactive, fun, social, and friendly, with lively, diverse, curious people. You’ll learn something, and hopefully feel confident and empowered, and see the pieces of music and the wine in a new light. I’m really excited about holding the tasting in the intimate space at Bedales.

And finally, what music are you listening to at the moment?

It’s been a very hectic week, so during the days it’s something upbeat. In the evenings I’ve been chilling out to some Jazz with Gregory Porter and Claire Teal.

Tickets for this special wine tasting event at Bedales Wines are limited, so book soon!

Venice: Darkness to Light
Wednesday 14 October 2015, 7.30pm
Southwark Cathedral, London
Tickets £25, £15, £5* (*restricted view)
£5 tickets available for students and 16-25s (pre-register at www.cls.co.uk/cls-fiver) Box Office / 020 7377 1362

All Posts, Composer Focus, RE:Imagine, Venice: Darkness to Light

BACH RE:IMAGINED – UGIS PRAULINS

Bach RE:Imagined is a thread which ties together our new season of concerts. We’re incredibly proud to continue the tradition of re-imagining great works and we have commissioned seven wonderful composers to re-arrange the works of JS Bach. At our CLoSer concert on 22 September we heard our wonderful principal conductor, Michael Collins’ clarinet transcription of Bach’s Cello Suite in D Minor. On 14 October, we present Ugis Praulins’ Bach re-imagining at Southwark Cathedral during Venice: Darkness to Light, and so we’ve put together a little guide to this marvellous Latvian composer…

Ugis Praulins

We’ve put together a short playlist of Praulins’ work to give you an idea of his unique sound:

spotify:user:cityoflondonsinfonia:playlist:2ovgICdh25SrIhDiY3wk5A

Join us for an exciting concert of the music of Venice. We bring the atmosphere of this breathtaking city to the banks of the Thames, with music by Vivaldi, Liszt, Stravinsky and more, including a performance of Pergolesi’s dark and mournful Stabat Mater with Elin Manahan Thomas.

We hope to see you soon!

Venice: Darkness to Light
Wednesday 14 October 2015, 7.30pm
Southwark Cathedral, London
Tickets £25, £15, £5* (*restricted view)
£5 tickets available for students and 16-25s (pre-register at www.cls.co.uk/cls-fiver) Box Office / 020 7377 1362

All Posts, RE:Imagine

Re-imagined works, musical experiences and new interpretations in our 2015-16 season

Today we are very excited to announce our 2015-16 season, RE:Imagine featuring re-imagined works, musical experiences and new interpretations.

There is plenty to look forward to in the series as we recreate the Grand Salons of Venice, Paris, Vienna and the English Parlour through new musical perspectives, while great voices Dame Felicity Lott, Elin Manahan Thomas, Roderick Williams and Gwilym Bowen present their own personal takes on works by Mahler, Strauss, Pergolesi and Butterworth. Throughout the season, we’ll also be presenting a series of new commissioned arrangements of works by Bach.  Continue reading Re-imagined works, musical experiences and new interpretations in our 2015-16 season →