Chamber Music at its Best
2018-19 PROGRAMME
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Tuesday 16 October 2018 at 7.30 pm
At Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
Ellipsis Ensemble (flute, oboe and piano) James Gilchrist (tenor)
Handel – Eternal Source of Light Divine
Mathias – Sonatina
Vaughan Williams – Blake Songs
Fauré – Sicilenne
Nicholas Korth – War’s Embers
Roxanna Panufnik - The Generation of Love
Telemann - Fantasia no.6 in D minor TWV 40
Plus songs by Quilter, Dubery, Warlock, Dring and Gershwin
James Gilchrist is one of the UK’s leading tenors and has performed in major concert halls throughout the world. He is recognised as ‘the finest Evangelist of his generation’.
Ellipsis performed their inaugural concert in 2009 as part of the St John’s May Festival in Notting Hill and have relished making music together ever since. Their concert programmes are original and varied including combinations of solos, duos and trios for oboe, flute, and piano.
'fresh and invigorating … a committed and persuasive performance from Ellipsis’
Seen and Heard International
Tickets £23 & £18
Under 26 £5
Thursday 15 November 2018 at 7.30
At Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
Pražák Quartet
Smetana - String Quartet no.2 in D minor
Jiří Gemrot - String Quartet no.2
Dvořák - String Quartet in C major op.61
We welcome again the accomplished Pražák Quartet with their new leader, Royal College of Music graduate, Jana Vonášková. They bring an appealing all-Czech programme with quartets by Smetana and Dvořák framing an exciting and virtuoso work by the contemporary Czech composer, Jiří Gemrot (b.1957). This was premiered by the Pražáks in March 2015.
‘With their new leader, the Pražáks provided a reminder that they are one of the world's leading quartets.’
La Baule 2017
Tickets £25 & £20
Under 26 £5
Tuesday 4 December 2018 at 7.30 pm
At Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
The Marian Consort
A Very English Christmas?
A selection of songs on Christmas themes by
Orlandus Lassus
Thomas Tallis
Alfonso Ferrabosco
Christopher Tye
John Sheppard
William Byrd
Nicholas Ludford
(Marian Concert detailed program)
Taking its name from the Blessed Virgin Mary, a focus of religious devotion in the sacred music of all ages, The Marian Consort is a young, dynamic and internationally-renowned early music vocal ensemble, recognised for its freshness of approach and innovative presentation of a broad range of repertoire.
‘fluid, vivid and, crucially, daring’
The Guardian
‘performances that glow with golden purity and soul’
The Scotsman
‘exquisite…the ensemble sings with eloquence and expressive finesse’
Sunday Times
Tickets £25 & £20
Under 26 £5
Thursday 17 January 2019 at 7.30 pm
At Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
Adrian Brendel (cello) Alasdair Beatson (piano)
Fauré - Élégie in C minor op.24
Bach - Gamba Sonata in G, BWV 1027
Widor - Sonata in A op.80
Bach arr. Moscheles - 3 Preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier
Saint-Saëns - Sonata in C minor op.32
Adrian Brendel is one of the most versatile and original cellists of his generation. His discovery of contemporary music through the works of Kurtág, Kagel and Ligeti opened a new
and vital avenue that he continues to explore with huge enthusiasm alongside his passion for jazz and world music.
Alasdair Beatson’s highlights of 2017 included concerts in London’s Wigmore Hall and Kings Place, Zurich’s Tonhalle, collaborations with Adrian Brendel, the Doric String Quartet, Meta4 and the Nash Ensemble among many.
Tickets £20 & £15
Under 26 £5
Wednesday 13 February 2019 at 7.30 pm
At Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
Louis Schwizgebel (piano)
Schubert - Allegretto in C minor D.915
Schubert - 4 Impromptus D.935
Chopin - 24 Preludes op.28
‘Swiss-Chinese pianist, Louis Schwizgebel, has won major prizes at a number of international piano competitions including the Geneva and Leeds competitions. He clearly has a prodigious technique as can be seen from his recent recording of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit’.
Seen and Heard
Tickets £23 & £18
Under 26 £5
Wednesday 20 March 2019 at 7.30 pm
At Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
Dante Quartet
Haydn - String Quartet in G, op.33 no.5
Howells - String Quartet no.3 ‘In Gloucestershire’
Beethoven - String Quartet in E minor, Op.59 no.2
‘Vardar’
The Dante Quartet, one of the UK’s finest ensembles, is known for its imaginative programming and impassioned performances. The Dante Quartet has been honoured with the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music and has also received international awards for its recordings. The wide age-range of the Dante Quartet’s members helps to create a harmonious and exciting blend, marrying youthful enthusiasm with richness of experience and consummate technical skill.
‘The unflinching integrity of their interpretation and the excitement of their playing were consistently superb.’
The Guardian
Tickets £23 & £18
Under 26 £5
Wednesday 24 April 2019 at 7.30 pm
At Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham
Castalian Quartet
Haydn - String Quartet in D minor, op.76 no.2 ‘Fifths’
Britten - String Quartet No.2 in C op.36
Schubert - String Quartet no.13 in A minor D.804 ‘Rosamunde’
The Castalian Quartet is without doubt one of the most exciting new voices on the international chamber music scene. In 2015 they won 1st Prize and three special awards at the Lyon International Competition. In 2016, as the only European ensemble to progress to the live rounds, they won 3rd Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and were selected as YCAT artists. In 2018 they received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award.
‘They seize motives with the core of their sound and press them into a service of thematic contiguity that is enviable, like an orator who knows how to convince with both passion and persuasion’.
Calgary Herald
