JUDITH WEIR: TELLING THE TALE
Music, Talks, Films and Free Events |
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 Saturday 19 January
11.00am Film
Cinema 2, Level 4
A Night at the Chinese Opera
Judith Weir struck gold with her first full-length stage work, attracting rave reviews and international interest. A Night at the Chinese Opera, commissioned by the BBC for Kent Opera and premiered in July 1987, offers a scintillating, immediately accessible, totally irresistible response to an ancient Chinese tale from Khublai Khan’s time. Speech and music here fit hand in glove, projecting the composer’s sparky libretto with compelling energy. Recollections of traditional Chinese sounds and a delightful sense of irony, intensified by the tale’s play-within-a-play, add to the opera’s allure. This film captures the dazzling brilliance of Richard Jones’s original Kent Opera production.
Judith Weir will introduce the screening.
UK, 1988, Dir. Barrie Gavin 80mins
2.00pm Concert
Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke's
The Art of Chamber Music
MARTIN BUTLER American Rounds
JUDITH WEIR Music for 247 strings
JUDITH WEIR Arise! Arise! you slumbering sleepers
JUDITH WEIR Piano Quartet
DAVID KNOTTS On such a night as this is!
JUDITH WEIRWhat sound will chase elephants away?
JUDITH WEIRThe Art of Touching the Keyboard
PIERS HELLAWELL Weaver of grass
The Schubert Ensemble
Judith Kleinman double bass
The Schubert Enesemble has transformed the chamber music landscape by commissioning around forty new works and several of the pieces in this programme were created for the group. Echoes of Anglo-American folksong resound in Arise! Arise! you slumbering sleepers, and break through in Martin Butler’s vivacious piano quintet American Rounds and David Knotts’ On such a night as this is!. This concert includes Weir’s Piano Quartet, the slow movement of which is based on a haunting ballad recorded in Louisiana.
5.00pm Film
Cinema 2, Level 4
South Bank Show Classical Music Special:
We Are Shadows
Broadcast as the first of two South Bank Shows on the genesis of new classical compositions, Nigel Wattis’s film provides a compelling insight into Judith Weir’s creative process. The documentary charts the development of We Are Shadows, a six-movement work for unison children’s voices, adult chorus and orchestra, from formative ideas to world premiere. Weir discusses the textual strands that intertwine with her impassioned music to convey what she calls “a series of reflections on the impermanence of life”. We see her working with Sir Simon Rattle and follow rehearsals with the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, Junior Youth Chorus and Symphony Orchestra.
UK, 2000, Dir. Nigel Wattis 60mins
6.30pm Talk
Mozart Room, Level 4
Judith Weir discusses The Vanishing Bridegroom with Christopher Cook.
This event is open to Weekend and Day Pass holders only
7.00pm Free Event
Barbican Foyer
BBC SO Family Orchestra
The BBC SO Family Orchestra, made up of families of all shapes and sizes who enjoy making music together, and members of the BBC SO, perform a new piece of music specially created over the previous few weeks using folk music from the British Isles as a starting point.
To find out how to take part, visit bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra/learning
7.30pm Concert
Barbican Hall
The Vanishing Bridegroom
JUDITH WEIR The Vanishing Bridegroom
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins conductor
Soloists include:
Ailish Tynan soprano
Anna Stéphany mezzo-soprano
Owen Gilhooly baritone
Jonathan Lemalu bass-baritone
BBC Singers
Three ancient tales from the Scottish highlands, handed down the generations and finally published in the 1800s, supply the pulsating heart of this direct, darkly disturbing opera. The devil, a conniving son, troublesome fairies and a riveting story within a story appear during the course of Weir’s riveting drama, which also conveys magic and mystery in abundance. In an exquisitely lyrical passage, the composer manages to compress the events of twenty years into five minutes of extraordinary music. The Vanishing Bridegroom casts the chorus as anonymous characters who help the drama unfold, bringing the story-teller’s intimate world to teeming, surreal life.
Concert staging
9.30pm Foyer Music
Clubstage, Stalls floor
Folk on the Foyers
Stay on after the concert for some late-night merriment on the Barbican foyer as folk music from the British Isles sets your toes tapping and the bars stay open until late.
Admission free
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