Although there are still restrictions on numbers attending events at the church because of the need for social distancing, we are hopeful that all those wishing to attend in person will be able to do so.
However, if numbers are large, we’re unable to guarantee a place for everyone, and we’d advise arriving in good time so you can make sure of your seat. Or you can watch from home as the performances will be live-streamed on the St Peter Mancroft YouTube channel. You can set a reminder by following the link. St Peter Mancroft YouTube
With true creative resilience, many organisations are bouncing back with online activities to keep us going during tis strange lockdown period. This post has been pulled together by Norwich Chamber Music group to give you an easy-access set of links
Although live concerts, as we know them, have been put on hold, you can get ready for a festival of delights– the Wigmore Hall will be presenting a lunchtime concert every weekday in June, played live to an empty house (In full compliance with current guidelines) and relayed via Radio 3. Recitals will also be available on the Wigmore Hall website and BBC Sounds for the following month. Perhaps an excuse to sit with a glass of wine and imagine you’re in the concert hall (with extra benefits!). Please read the article below for further information. A full programme of artists can be found on the Wigmore Hall website – many of the performers are alumni of the JIC concerts. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/12/glimmer-of-hope-leading-performers-return-to-londons-wigmore-hall
For those of you who enjoy an occasional visit to the world of full orchestral music, American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has created a series of video lectures, liberally illustrated by the San Francisco Symphony, exploring some of the symphonic masterpieces of the repertoire. The series is called Keeping Score, and it’s well worth a look: https://michaeltilsonthomas.com/keeping-score/
Some of us are thinking regretfully of the cancelled 2020 Glyndebourne festival. But there’s some consolation in their programme of streamed past performances, which begins on Sunday 24th May. See here for details: https://www.glyndebourne.com/openhouse/
Why opera matters, a programme from Glyndebourne by Petroc Trelawny, first broadcast in 2014https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b048bghw
Glyndebourne operas also available on Radio 3.
And here’s a reminder of the range of continuing on-line treats:
An excellent summary of global online resources featuring classical music, opera, theatre and dance is on Bachtrack: https://bachtrack.com
Lockdown listening
Whatever you’re listening to – whether on-line streams, forgotten or unplayed CD from the back of the shelf, recommendations from friends, familiar favourites, new discoveries, Radio 3 – we’d be delighted to hear something about your experience of music under lockdown. Just send us a few sentences (or more if you’re feeling inspired) to share with the members of our community. We’ll edit, and circulate in the next newsletter. Think of it as an ongoing concert-interval conversation!
For now, we hope you’re all keeping well, enjoy the sunshine and we look forward to seeing you at the John innes centre for teh next season
The first Assembly House Classical concert of the year is the Brodsky Quartet next Thursday, 9th of January at 1pm at the beautiful Assembly House.
The Brodsky Quartet are one of the top string quartets in the country. They have recorded soundtracks for film and TV as well as working with artists like Bjork and Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney. Start the year off by coming to this wonderful concert.
Since its formation in 1972 the Brodsky Quartet has performed over 3000 concerts on the major stages of the world and released more than 60 recordings. A natural curiosity and insatiable desire to explore has propelled the group in many artistic directions and continues to ensure them not only a place at the very forefront of the international chamber music scene but also a rich and varied musical existence. Their energy and craftsmanship have attracted numerous awards and accolades worldwide, while ongoing educational work provides a vehicle for passing on experience and staying in touch with the next generation.
“There was a pause of almost a minute before the audience applauded – testimony to the spell that the new-look Brodsky Quartet had cast.
…it was obvious to all that the “new era” will be as exciting as all those that have gone before.” Limelight Magazine
“…the players gave unstintingly of their passion and energies, playing with a spirit so transformational you felt they were actually improving the world.” The Strad
Violin Sonata in D, Op.12 No.1 Violin Sonata in A, Op.12 No.2 Violin Sonata in A minor, Op.23 Violin Sonata in E flat, Op.12 No.3
(The cycle will be completed next season, 2019-2020)
James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong begin their journey through the Beethoven violin sonatas with the first four works of the series. The triptych, Op.12, shows the young composer’s style at its most wilfully subversive, from the energy of the opening work and the elegant wit of the middle sonata to the dazzling virtuosity of the last in the series. More mysterious and subdued is the highly compressed A minor Sonata Op.23.
19 Year Old Saxophonist ROB BURTON – one of the stars of the BBC YOUNG MUSICIAN 2018 – will be in Norwich on Thursday 1pm for one of the Assembly House classical lunchtime concerts. Those of us who watched the televised final last year will not forget Rob’s charismatic performance. He brings with him pianist CHRISTINE ZERAFA for an exciting programme details below;-
Music Room, Assembly House, Norwich Thursday March 28 at 1pm
Rob Burton (saxophone) & Christine Zerafa (piano) BBC YOUNG MUSICIAN 2018
Programme Debussy; Saxophone Rhapsodie
Paul Creston; Saxophone Sonata Op.19
Marcello; Concerto in D minor
Robert Planel; Prelude et Saltarelle
Pedro Iturralde; Pequena Czarda
Sometimes all the good things is life come at once and if you are a classical chamber music buff this is it!
The lunchtime Assembly House concert this Thursday 19 April features a rare visit from the Hungarian born KATONA TWINS the finest Guitar duo in the world to-day.
The next BRITTEN SINFONIA lunchtime concert this month is on Friday at St Andrew’s Hall – always a stimulating experience.
Then Friday evening the NAVARRA QUARTET will give an all Schubert concert at The Chapel Park Lane at 7.30pm. but perhaps the highlight will be the grand finale to the N& N Chamber Music Season at the John Innes Centre when the NAVARRA & ELIAS QUARTETS will combine to give a performance of Mendelssohn’s Octet – it doesn’t get better than that – so look forward to seeing you all – details below, Roger Rowe
Manuel de Falla; Miller¹s Dance Piazolla; Tango Suite – andante & allegro Bernstein; West Side Story – Maria – America – Somewhere – Mambo Granados; Oriental Manuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo
Britten Sinfonia St Andrew’s Hall At Lunch Four 2017-18 Friday 20 April at 1pm
Schumann arr. Tom Coult Studies in Canonic Form JS Bach arr. Webern Ricercar a 6 Ravel Mother Goose Suite
The Chapel, Park Lane, NR2 3EF Friday 20th April 2018, 7.30pm Tickets £15 on the door
Navarra Quartet Magnus Johnson – violin
Simon van der Giessen – violin
Marije Johnston – viola
Brian O’Kane – cello
Schubert: Quartetsatz, D703 Schubert: Quartet D 810 Death & the Maiden
N&N Chamber Music at John Innes Centre
Saturday 21 April at 7.30pm
Elias Quartet & Navarra Quartets
Mozart: 5 Variations on ‘Salve tu Domine’, K.398 Beethoven: Quartet in F minor, Op.95 (‘Serioso’) Smetana: Quartet No.1 in E minor (‘From My Life’) Mendelssohn: Octet in E flat, Op.20
We are fortunate to be able to welcome the distinguished Dutch–Italian baroque violinist Cecilia Bernardini, widely considered to be one of the most accomplished in the field together with that master of the theorbo Matt Wadsworth, Roger
The Chapel, 64 Park Lane, Norwich NR2 3EF Sunday 8th April 2018, 6:30pm Cecilia Bernardini – baroque violin Matthew Wadsworth– theorbo
Musicus Transalpina Schmelzer; Sonata No 4 Castello; Sonata Seconda Soprano solo Piccinini; Partita Variate Sopra Pandolfi; Sonata Op 4, No 1 Biber; Sonata No 3
Friday 20th April 2018, 7.30pm Navarra Quartet Schubert: Quartetsatz, D703 Schubert: Death & the Maiden, D810
Sunday 29th April 2018, 6:30pm Mark Bebbington This brilliant pianist makes his long overdue first visit to the chapel
Ivor Gurney; Sehnsucht , The Sea , Prelude John Ireland; Sarnia – an island sequence Debussy; La Cathedrale engloutie, Feux d’artifice Chopin;Nocturne Op 9, Ballade Op. 23/1
Sunday 6th May 2018, 12 noon Guarneri Trio Welcome return of this great piano trio from Prague