Listings for the summer festivals are now in full swing. As usual, our pages have the best of them.
Thanks to those who replied to the newsletter to say they'd be interested in writing reviews for the site. We'll be including the facility to index and find these in the next release of site software, and we'll let you know when it's ready.
- BBC Proms 2010
- Musica Reale: the Concertgebouw plays chamber music in Tuscany
- Innsbruck Early Music Festival
- Cheltenham Festival
- Choral Anniversaries
- Young Reviewer Programme
- Offers for teenagers
- Opera synopsis competition - Warning: 130 character limit!
Happy listening, and the usual plea that if you like what we do, please do tell your friends about us!
David and Alison Karlin
By the way, if you have any trouble reading this or want to see previous newsletters, go to www.bachtrack.com/site-news
BBC Proms 2010 ^Top
The Proms programme was published last week, showing the usual glittering array of international stars who will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall over the summer. The opening week-end is a real humdinger: a £12.50 promenade ticket gets you into all three of the Mahler Symphony of a Thousand, Wagner's Die Meistersingers von Nuremberg and Verdi's Simon Boccanegra starring Plácido Domingo. You can read about our pick of the bunch on our quick Proms guide, or just go straight to the Proms concert listings
Musica Reale: the Concertgebouw plays chamber music in Tuscany ^Top
You are very likely to have heard of the famed Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, but you may not realise that in July, a number of its members escape to Tuscany to play chamber music. This is a private initiative of musicians whose orchestral playing has most frequently been compared to chamber music in its quality and transparency: this year, they will be joined by pianist Ronald Brautigam. The festival takes place in the wine growing village of Montalcino, home of one of Italy's greatest wines "Brunello di Montalcino," so for those of you with a partner less interested in classical music, there is something else to do...
http://www.bachtrack.com/musica-reale-international-chamber-music-festiv...
Innsbruck Early Music Festival ^Top
You may think of Innsbruck as the nearest airport to your favourite ski resort, but in summer, the city holds an Early Music Festival featuring lesser known composers from around Europe. The star attraction this year will be performances of L'Olympiade, an opera by Pergolesi which will be conducted by Alessandro de Marchi. Concerts take place across the city, including in the Spanish Hall of the Ambras Castle which just oozes with charm.
http://www.bachtrack.com/find-events/More/festival=318
Cheltenham Festival ^Top
Cheltenham Festival have a vast array of tempting events on sale too, from Ibragimova and Tiberghien playing together to the Hilliard Ensemble performing in the Cathedral. Steven Isserlis will be concentrating on showcasing Schumann in the festival, and Sarah Connolly will give a recital. Monteverdi's Vespers and separately Pergolesi's Stabat Mater can both be heard in Tewkesbury Abbey.
The Festival will be working with us on our Young Reviewers programme, so please let any friends in the Cheltenham area know that we can offer tickets for young reviewers and we want to hear from them soonest.
http://www.bachtrack.com/hsbc-cheltenham-music-festival
Choral Anniversaries ^Top
Two major choral anniversaries are being much celebrated this year:
Pergolesi was born 300 years ago this year and his Stabat Mater can be found at several venues including both the Cheltenham Festival and the Proms.
http://www.bachtrack.com/find-a-concert/What/work=24774-Stabat-Mater
400 years ago in 1610, Monteverdi composed his Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, a very ambitious 90 minute work. So far this year there have been Vespers performances in Adelaide and Melbourne, Australia and Dayton, Ohio as well as Hitchin, Oxford and Manchester. There are still several chances to go and hear this miraculous work if you can.
http://www.bachtrack.com/find-a-concert/What/work=14743-Vespro-della-Bea...
Young Reviewer Programme ^Top
We've been getting more young reviewers to apply recently: remember we're always looking for secondary school applicants so if you're working with any students that fit into the category and would do a review of 300 – 500 words in return for 2 free tickets (for them and a parent) they should apply to me using this form http://www.bachtrack.com/youngreviewer-apply and pasting it into an email.
13 year old Elspeth was lucky enough to see The Sixteen as a reviewer in St Albans Cathedral and her thoughts on the experience can be found here http://www.bachtrack.com/the-sixteen-choral-pilgrimage
Offers for teenagers ^Top
Young composers have two competitions to enter: the BBC Proms competition has a deadline of 28th May and the prize includes getting your composition played at the Proms. There is also a Philip Bates prize for young composers with an 11th June deadline. Information on both competitions information can be found on http://www.bachtrack.com/for-teens-event-list
The LSO are offering discounted tickets for 13 – 18 year olds and the chance to win an iPod Shuffle,
which you can read about here http://www.bachtrack.com/cut-price-ticket-offer-from-lso.
Orchestras around the country offer amazing discounts to students so if you're not checking their sites before booking your tickets or looking at our special offer pages here http://www.bachtrack.com/for-teens-offers you may well be missing something good.
Opera synopsis competition - Warning: 130 character limit! ^Top
For those of you who like puzzles, here's an Opera puzzle you may enjoy. It started on Twitter and asks you to summarize an opera plot in 140 characters or less, including the tag "#operaplot" as part of the 140 which brings you down to 129 characters (or 130 if you put the tag at the end - that extra character can make all the difference). You must submit your entry or entries between 27th April and 30th April.
Just to give you an idea, here's an example of an entry from last year:
#operaplot There was a young lady called Fricka Who... who...*snore* 'Wake up--it's over.' It's good, I just wish it were quicka. [The Ring]
Prizes and participating Opera Houses (in Eire, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Australia and UK) http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfw6cc9d_19gg5bjbc5
Here are the rules http://theomniscientmussel.com/2010/04/operaplot-2010-rules-and-faq/
Enjoy!
26th April 2010
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