Edinburgh International Festival 2022

Monday 8th August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Ronald Brautigam, Esther Hoppe and Christian Poltéra.

Fortepianist Ronald Brautigam, violinist Esther Hoppe and cellist Christian Poltéra perform Fanny Mendelssohn, Schumann and Schubert in period style, live from the Queen's Hall. Mendelssohn's and Schubert's piano trios are both passionate and melodious, while the Fantastiestücke by Schumann has a touching simplicity and charm. F Mendelssohn : Piano Trio in D minor, Op 11; Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op 12. 11:50 Interval: Donald Macleod talks to director Fergus Linehan as his final festival gets underway and reflects on some of the highpoints over the past eight years. Schubert: Piano Trio No 2 in E flat, D929. Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano), Esther Hoppe (violin), Christian Poltéra (cello).
(Live)

Tuesday 9th August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

The BBC Singers, Violinist Laura Samuel and Conductor Sofi Jeannin.

Live from the Queen's Hall, Sofi Jeannin conducts the BBC singers and violinist Laura Samuel in intimate choral works and a vocal setting of Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending. Presented by Donald MacLeod. Martin: Mass for double choir. Mendelssohn: Motets Op 79. Eriks Esenvalds: Ancient Prairie. 11.45 Interval (recording): Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus. Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor). 12.05 Harris: Bring us, O Lord God. Vaughan Williams arr. Drayton: The Lark Ascending. Cecilie Ore: Toil & Trouble. BBC Singers, Laura Samuel (volin), Sofi Jeannin (conductor).
(Live)

Thursday 11th August 2022 (starting in 4 hours and 9 minutes)
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Sharon Kam and Enrico Pace.

Award-winning Israeli-German clarinetist Sharon Kam makes her Edinburgh International Festival debut with Italian pianist, Enrico Pace in a versatile and wide-ranging recital presented by Donald Macleod. The concert begins with Lutoslawski's popular Dance Preludes infused with the folk music of Northern Poland, followed by Françaix's Theme and variations that he described as "perilous to perform". Brahms' popular Sonata in F minor Op120 features in the second half of this concert before Kam and Pace round off their recital with Horovitz's 1981 Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano that borrows rhythms from jazz. Lutoslawski: Dance Preludes. Schumann: Fantasiestücke Op73. Françaix: Tema con variazioni. Interval. Berg: Vier Stücke. Brahms: Sonata in F minor Op120. Horovitz: Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano. Sharon Kam (clarinet), Enrico Pace (piano).

Saturday 13th August 2022 (starting this evening)
Time: 18:30 to 19:30 (1 hour long)

Queen's Hall Series: Nikolai Lugansky.

A 2013 recital at the Queen's Hall in which Nikolai Lugansky plays Janacek and Schubert. Janacek: In the Mists, JW8/22; Schubert: Four Impromptus, D935. Nikolai Lugansky (piano).

Monday 15th August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

The Takacs Quartet.

Donald MacLeod presents a live recital from the Queen's Hall, with the Takács Quartet returning to the Edinburgh International Festival to perform a programme that begins with Haydn. The Opus 77 quartets were written in Haydn's late sixties and sum up his particular style and mastery of a form that he had shaped for decades. Two works by student composers follow, with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's lushly romantic character sketches written during his studies at the Royal College of Music in London and Ravel's lyrical String Quartet, which was dedicated to his teacher Gabriel Faure. Haydn: String Quartet in F, Op 77 No 2; Coleridge-Taylor: 5 Fantasiestücke, Op 5; 11.55 Interval: Delibes - Coppelia Suite. The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy (conductor). 12:15 Ravel: String Quartet in F. Takacs Quartet.
(Live)

Thursday 18th August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI.

Live from the Queen's Hall, international viol player and master of historical performance Jordi Savall takes us to 18th century Istanbul and the height of the Ottoman empire. Joining his early music ensemble Hesperion XXI are musicians from Greece, Morocco, Armenia, Turkey and Israel. Together they will bring to life the Sephardic, Armenian and Islamic music traditions of the time, when Istanbul stood at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Hespèrion XXI. Jordi Savall (Director, Rebec, Rebab, Treble Viol).
(Live)

Thursday 18th August 2022 (starting this evening)
Time: 23:00 to 00:30 (1 hour and 30 minutes long)

Chiaroscuro Quartet.

The Chiaroscuro Quartet, led by international soloist Alina Ibragimova, bring period-instrument performances of core classical repertoire to the Edinburgh International Festival. They perform extracts from Bach's enigmatic Art of Fugue, written without specification of instrument or ensemble by the composer. Haydn's Op 76 quartets demonstrate an ambitious and future-looking Haydn at work, while Schubert's late quartet 'Death and the Maiden', based on one of his songs, is one of the masterworks of the genre. Presented by Donald Macleod. Bach: Art of Fugue (1, 4 and 9). Haydn: String Quartet in E flat, Op.76 No.6. Schubert: String Quartet No.14 in D minor, D810, 'Death and the Maiden'. Chiaroscuro Quartet.

Friday 19th August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Florian Boesch and Malcolm Martineau.

Schubert's lonely tale of lost love against the backdrop of a winter walk is one of his finest works. A critic of the time wrote 'none can sing or hear without being deeply moved.' The song cycle of 24 songs traces the journey by a broken-hearted young man whose love has deserted him, the wintry scenes of nature around him reflecting his sadness, defiance and resignation as he reaches a cemetery and finally encounters a hurdy-gurdy player in the street playing whose enigmatic drone paints a picture of complete desolation. Schubert: Die Winterreise. Florian Boesch (baritone). Malcolm Martineau (piano). Presented by Donald Macleod.
(Live)

Monday 22nd August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Bruce Liu.
Kate Molleson presents live from the Queen's Hall as pianist Bruce Liu makes his debut at the venue following his win at the 2021 Chopin Piano Competition. Mozart's opera Don Giovanni is the inspiration behind two pieces in his programme - a set of theme and variations by Chopin and a fantasy by Liszt. The recital opens with a selection of music by Rameau, from his Suites in D and G, and Liu closes with Ravel's musical depictions of moths, birds, boats and church bells in a colourful five-movement suite. Rameau: Les Tendres Plaintes; Les Cyclopes; Rameau: Menuets 1 et 2; Les Sauvages; La Poule; Gavotte et six doubles. Chopin: Variations on La ci darem la mano from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Op 2. 11.45 Interval: A recording of Peter Maxwell Davies's Carolisima, performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. 12.05 Ravel: Miroirs. Liszt: Reminiscences de Don Juan, S 418. Bruce Liu (piano).
(Live)

Tuesday 23rd August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Queen's Hall Series - Pavel Haas Quartet.

The Pavel Haas Quartet - named after the pupil of Janacek who died in Auschwitz during the Holocaust - play Haydn, Martinu and Schubert, live from the Queen's Hall. Haydn: String Quartet in G major Op. 76/1; Martin: String Quartet No 7 H314. 11.55 Interval: The Czech Philharmonic play Dvorák's Slavonic Dances Op. 46 nos 1,2 7 & 8 recorded in Prague's renowned Rudolfinum and conducted by Ji?í B?lohlávek. Schubert: String Quartet in G D.887. Presented by Kate Molleson.
(Live)

Wednesday 24th August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Queen's Hall Series: Richard Egarr and Friends.

Renowned harpsichord player Richard Egarr is joined by Baroque soloists for a survey of European chamber music from the 1600s, live from the Queen's Hall. Gabrieli: Sonata 21 for 3 violins; Fontana: Sonata 16 for 3 violins; Rossi: Toccata Settima; Marini: Sonata in ecco; Purcell: Fantasia: Three Parts on a Ground Z.731. 11.45 Interval: Copland: Billy the Kid - ballet suite in a recording performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy. 12.05 Lully: Salve Regina 'Petit motet for 3 sopranos'; Froberger: Lamentation faite sur la mort très doloureuse de Sa; Majesté Imperiale, Ferdinand le troisième; Schmelzer: Sonata for 3 violins; Buonamente: Sonata secondo for 3 violins; Pachelbel: Canon and Gigue. Richard Egarr (harpsichord), Bojan Cicic (violin), Rachell Ellen Wong (violin), Ruiqi Ren (violin), Alex McCartney (Theorbo), Jonathan Rees (viola da Gamba).
(Live)

Thursday 25th August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 13:00 (2 hours long)

Musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Now in his tenth year as music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin will be appearing with them on four occasions across the 2022 Edinburgh International Festival. For this performance, he is joined by musicians from the orchestra in an intimate, all-Mozart recital which starts with one of the earliest and best-known works written for the clarinet. The Clarinet Quintet in A K.581 was the only quintet for the instrument that Mozart wrote and its beautiful, lyrical melodies have ensured that it is enduringly popular. After the interval, the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra are joined by their music director in Mozart's graceful Piano Concerto No 12, K.414. Though written for a sophisticated Viennese audience in 1872, it contains a heartfelt and personal quotation in the second movement to his former teacher, Johann Christian Bach, who died earlier in that year. Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A K 581. Interval. Mozart: Piano Concerto No 12 in A K 414. David Kim (violin), Juliette Kang (violin), Choong-Jin Chang (viola), Hai-Ye Ni (cello), Ricardo Morales (clarinet), Yannick Nézet-Séguin (piano) Kate Molleson presents.
(Live)

Great String Quartets at Edinburgh
Thursday 1st September 2022 (starting this evening)
Time: 23:00 to 00:30 (1 hour and 30 minutes long)

Pavel Haas Quartet.

The Prague-based Pavel Haas Quartet perform the second of Brahms's three string quartets, alongside Erwin Schulhoff's lively folk-influenced Quartet No 1 and a late chamber work by Shostakovich. Recorded at the Queen's Hall during the 2014 festival. Schulhoff: String Quartet No 1. Shostakovich: String Quartet No 10. Brahms: String Quartet in A minor No 2 Op 51. Pavel Haas Quartet.

Great String Quartets at Edinburgh
Thursday 8th September 2022 (starting this evening)
Time: 23:00 to 00:30 (1 hour and 30 minutes long)

Takács Quartet.

The internationally renowned Takács Quartet at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival perform personal works by Janacek and Smetana alongside the second of Beethoven's Rasumovsky quartets. Janácek: String Quartet No 2 'Intimate Letters'. Smetana: String Quartet No 1 'From my Life'. Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor Op. 59 No. 2. Takács Quartet.

Wednesday 14th September 2022 (starting this evening)
Time: 19:30 to 22:00 (2 hours and 30 minutes long)

Edinburgh International Festival 2022 (2/4).

The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Chief Conductor Edward Gardner conjure the spirit of the dance in works by Ravel and Rachmaninov and reveal the passionate emotions of Schumann with Icelandic pianist, Víkingur Ólafsson. Ravel's La Valse conveys a very clear image. In his score Ravel described an immense hall hung with chandeliers, waltzing couples and whirling crowds. Víkingur Ólafsson makes his Edinburgh International Festival debut in Schumann's long awaited, and only, piano concerto which he composed for his wife Clara, who premiered it in Dresden in 1845. Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra conclude their performance with Rachmaninov's Hollywood-style Symphonic Dances. The original inspiration was a 1915 ballet called 'The Scythians' but it took another 30 years before those early sketches became his Symphonic Dances and ultimately his final full orchestral work. Ravel: La valse. Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 54. Interval. Ólafsson: Reflection (Improvisation on Debussy's Bruyeres). Debussy: Pour le Piano. Rachmaninov: Symphonic dances. Víkingur Ólafsson (piano). Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner (conductor).